Competing in Tough Times: Business Lessons from L.L.Bean, Trader Joe's, Costco, and Other World-Class Retailers - Hardcover

Berman, Barry R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0132459191 ISBN 13: 9780132459198

Publisher: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall, 2010

Synopsis

Competing in Tough Times brings together the powerful new strategies that world-class retailers, like Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Nordstrom, are using today to survive--and thrive--in a brutally unforgiving retail environment. Internationally respected retail management expert Barry Berman shows retailers and their suppliers exactly how to build effective strategies based on cost and differentiation, plan and implement those strategies, and measure the results.

 

Berman offers detailed coverage of implementing strategies based on becoming the low-cost provider and minimizing product proliferation; enhancing the service experience; developing and maintaining a strong private label program; and more.

 

To support each approach, he presents full-length examples from retailers covering every market sector, from consumer goods to apparel to technology. He thoroughly examines top retailers such as Aldi, Amazon.com, L.L. Bean, Publix, Stew Leonard's, Wegman's, and Whole Foods, and shares powerful insights drawn from the experiences of other leaders--from Au Bon Pain to Best Buy, Family Dollar to Target, Tesco to Walgreen.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Barry Berman is the Walter ‘Bud’ Miller Distinguished Professor of Business and Director of the Executive M.B.A. program at Hofstra University. He earned his Ph.D. degree in marketing management from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).

 

Barry Berman is co-author of Retail Management: A Strategic Approach (Prentice Hall). This is the best-selling retail management college textbook in the world. Currently in its 11th edition, this book has been published in Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Philippine, and Russian editions. Dr. Berman has also published articles that have appeared in Business Horizons, California Management Review, The International Journal of Retailing and Distribution Management, and other journals.

 

Dr. Berman is Vice-President of the American Collegiate Retailing Association. He was also co-founder of the American Marketing Association’s Special Interest Group in Retail Management.

 

Barry Berman has consulted for Duane-Reade, Fortunoff’s, Kohl’s, Simon Properties, NCR, Lord & Taylor, Tesco-Ireland, and other retailers.

From the Back Cover

“If you’re in retail, this is a must-read! I’m buying copies for all of my managers and executives. And since I’m in retail, I’m also going to try for a discount!”

--Stew Leonard, Jr., CEO, Stew Leonard’s

 

“Competing in Tough Times should be required reading for anyone interested in what it takes to be a successful retailer in the ‘new normal’ marketplace.”

--Bill Bishop, Chairman, Willard Bishop

 

“Tough times are no excuse for complacency. To gain a competitive advantage in today’s ‘new normal’ economy requires retailers to have a clear vision of their cost structure, their strategic differentiation, and the varied hues of value. Filled with meaty revelations and compelling insights and data, this book is a building block in the quest for retail success.”

--Susan Reda, Editor, STORES

 

Learn How to Achieve and Sustain Success in Any Retail Segment and Business Climate

 

Specific, actionable lessons from Aldi, Amazon.com, L.L.Bean, Costco, Nordstrom, Publix, Stew Leonard’s, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Whole Foods, and more

 

Competing in Tough Times brings together powerful new strategies that world-class retailers are using to thrive in today’s brutally unforgiving business environment.

 

World-renowned retail expert Dr. Barry Berman shows how to plan, build, and implement proven strategies based on both cost and differentiation. You’ll learn how to safely reduce costs and prices without increasing risk, minimize product proliferation, enhance the service experience, strengthen your private label program, and more. To support each approach, Berman presents full-length examples from outstanding retailers in every market sector, from consumer goods and apparel to technology.

 

Whether you’re a retail executive, owner, supplier, consultant, or student, these are the tools you need to compete, win--and keep on winning. In Competing in Tough Times, leading retail consultant Barry Berman systematically examines ten world-class retailers, identifying shared strategies that every retailer can use to drive dramatic, sustained performance improvement.

 

Berman highlights what these widely diverse retailers have in common in terms of both operational cost structures and differentiation. He reveals how they’ve developed low-cost strategies without cutting crucial “muscle,” better rationalized product selection, optimized human relations and the service experience, and taken full advantage of private labeling. He presents his recommendations in an easy-to-read decision-making format, supported by current data and detailed implementation guidance.

 

Whatever your role in retail, Competing in Tough Times will help you implement the best practices that really matter--and get the results you really need. 

• Practical, usable lessons from great retailers!
• Plan a low-cost provider strategy that works
• Minimize product proliferation
• Strengthen linkages between employee satisfaction, customer delight, and profits
• Engage customers in a shopping experience that’s pleasant, exciting, and fun
• Develop and maintain a stronger private label program
• Implement a value-driven retail strategy
• Effectively execute on the strategies you choose

Edition details

• Publisher: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0132459191
• ISBN 13: 9780132459198
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300