Look Book

38 | The Jewelr y Book THE JEWELRY BOOK INTERVIEW WITH THE RETAIL SMITHS TJB – Peter, you're working with vendors at e Retail Smiths, and you've held senior roles with multiple brands in the past. What are the top three things vendors need to be doing now that they might be getting wrong? TJB – And Sherry, you're working with retailers at e Retail Smiths, could you do the same from their perspective. What matters most to them when they consider what vendors to work with? PS – It's hard to pick just three things, but one of the themes I see over and again is brands and suppliers trying to be all things to all people. ere's an innate fear that if they don't carry everything, they'll miss out on something and, of course, that's an awful way to run your business. Brands and suppliers should spend less time thinking about differentiation, and more time working on relevance. You can't be all things to all people, so pick your lane and be great there. SS – First, stop treating all of your retail customers the same. In most businesses, a relatively small percentage of customers drive a disproportionate share of the revenue and gross profit. ese are oen the retailers who replenish their fast sellers, train their teams, market your product, and show up at trade shows looking for what's next. Why should they have the same stock-balancing privileges, support, and access as the retailer you hear from once every two or three years? Your best partners should be treated like your best partners. PS – e second point is related to the first in that many companies try to create demand by constantly throwing new products at the wall. Again, there's this fear that if they don't have anything new, retailers won't have a reason to visit with them. With companies we've worked with, the opposite is true. Culling bloated sku counts and curating stories with intentional negative space, both literally and metaphorically, can result in major upswings in the business. at doesn't mean you can't introduce new styles, but when you curate your line, you can maintain shelf-stock, when you have shelf-stock, you can replenish more quickly, when you replenish more quickly you get better turn. We asked Peter and Sherry Smith (The Retail Smiths) to put their vendor hats on for this issue and answer an important question from both perspectives. by Peter Smith R E T A I L F O C U S

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