Written by Arleen Quigg
Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) held a two day retreat in the Lyrath Hotel in Kilkenny in mid-September. Arleen Quigg, Manager of Cpl Retail attended along with Retail team consultants Emily Mason and Marie Bowler. REI Retreat was head to toe in Retail with topics covering Memorable Customer Experience, the Changing Role of Technology, and Audience Retail Surveys – ‘The Big Vote’, Retail Market upcoming trends and Future of the industry. Advisors and speakers from the REI, Joe Barrett of Applegreen, Sahar Hashemi of Coffee Republic, Javelin Groups’ Matthew Houston gave exceptional insights into the market, while Google reviewed the audiences online retail presence and websites.
“What stood out for me is the changing trends in consumer buying behaviour and if Retailers do not move to selling online they will lose out. Google presenters said the Irish consumers spent over €4 billion in 2011 Online with 3/4 of this spend going oversees! There could be a huge loss to High-Street Retailers and this will impact on jobs. They also estimated that by 2020, 30% of High-street business will be obsolete or greatly reduced by 2020. . After speaking to a number of delegates at the retreat, some were very much aware of this trend and were putting systems in place to stay ahead of the game, while some of the independent retailers were still holding on to the fact that customer service is the best way to keep customer..” Marie Bowler, Retail Recruitment Consultant
During day two, Arleen Quigg spoke about “How to Make Better Hiring Decisions for your Business”. She spoke about the effects of the following topics on Retail employment: the marketplace, statistics, future trends, cost of turnover to how hiring mistakes are made and how to retain top talent in Retail.
Key takeaway tips:
240,000 people are employed in the Retail sector in Ireland (IBEC – Sept 2012).
Talent shortage exists across Fashion, Non-food and Cosmetics –retail management.
Some hiring mistakes employers make:
- The person you want for the job is not the one that left
- You didn’t check references
- You gave the candidate a poor impression of the company
- Not involving the Line Manager in the hiring process
Note on Top Talent: An engaged Top Performer is not just little bit better, they are 225 times better!
Arleen Quigg and her team attend various Retail related events, they are available to discuss the market and employment opportunities in Ireland. For more information please contact Manager of Cpl Retail Arleen.Quigg@cpl.ie or call 01 614 1904
