For Marketing and sales directors
Retail and store chains: making every store in the network perform
A chain of stores, owned or franchised, must sell and act consistently with the promise made online: products in stock, accurate hours, staff trained on digital tools. Retail is therefore governed as a single system, from head office to the last store and its digital channels, and results are measured across the network, store by store.
The next step: Performance Optimisation Consulting
The topic map
What to read, and why
What is changing in retail, and which model fits my network?
- New Retail vs Smart Retail: What They are, why They Matter, and 10 Key Questions You Need to Ask as a Manager.
Compares the two models point by point and ends with the questions a manager asks before choosing.
- The Evolution is Now: Mastering the AI Shopping Mindset for Unprecedented Retail Relevance
AI shopping tools work only when Marketing, Sales, IT and Customer Service play in unison around the customer.
Can customers find every store, and find what the website promises?
- Beyond the Map: ERP-Digital Retail Convergence as a Driver for Financial Velocity
The real risk for a Head of Retail is a promise made on a screen that the shelf does not keep, and how real-time sync fixes it.
- Structured Data for Retail: Why a Retail Manager Should Exploit Them
How structured data (the markup search engines and assistants read) lets a store answer at the moment a need arises.
How do I bring the whole network up to the same level?
- Smart Retail: 7 Key Principles to Empower Retail Outlets
Seven principles that make a store perform, from digital training to the right KPIs (the indicators that measure results).
- AI for Trade Marketing: Shaping a New Mindset for a Competitive Edge
How managers train the sales force to use AI on field data, from demand forecasting to patterns at the point of sale.
An interview
L'Erbolario: digital training extended to independent retailers
In 2023 Enrico Giubertoni designed for L'Erbolario a training programme on digital tools for independent retailers, beyond the affiliated network. Isabelle Avenel, the company's Training Manager, explains in episode 45 of the Digital Marketing Mentality podcast (in Italian) why the choice benefits both shop owners and end customers.
The next step
Readers who got this far have a precise question about their network: in which stores does the promise made online break, and how much does it weigh on total revenue? Performance Optimisation Consulting starts from that measurement, store by store, and ranks the actions by their effect on revenue.
Frequently asked questions
Where does a chain start when it wants to align stores and digital channels?
With the two places where customers check the promise before leaving home: the store listing on maps and product availability on the website. Then with training the network, so that what customers find at the counter is consistent.
What should be measured, store by store?
Several KPIs (the indicators that measure results) and SLAs (the service levels agreed between head office and the network) measure the performance of each single store: calls and direction requests coming from its listing, the availability shown online compared with the shelf, what customers find at the counter. These are the points where the brand's promise is tested, and head office reads them across the whole network.
Is it worth training the independent retailers that sell a brand?
The L'Erbolario case says it is: training shop owners on digital tools benefits them and the end customer, and the brand gains consistency across its whole distribution.