VM Unleashed

Discover a ‘Five-Star Christmas: “Meaning in the Retail Madness”

“An excellent read *****” “Valuable reference for anyone in retail *****” “This book is more relevant now than ever! *****” ‘Meaning in the Retail Madness’ explains how touchpoints have replaced channels, how linear supply chains will become circular, why assortments are increasingly virtual, how physical is turning to local, and why products and shops are not necessarily made for each other anymore. It supplies a blueprint for retail’s new ‘agile-

Is eBay the Sustainability Hero of Black Friday?

In case this sounds far-fetched we should remember that eBay began life as the online equivalent of a glorified car-boot sale. We all spent time selecting our target products, planning our bid strategies, and we passed some enjoyable and exciting times counting down the auction clock and firing in our last-minute offers. Before sustainable retailing became a significant movement, and re-sell was still largely restricted to charity shops, eBay was at the-

“2p or not 2p:” What is the point of Ultra-Fast Fashion?

This story begins with a Channel 4 documentary behind the scenes of the world’s largest ultra-fast fashion retailer. Against a backdrop of endless working hours and horrendous working conditions, apparently each worker earns as little as 2p for every garment they stitch and sew! The next chapter takes us to the inventory bloodbath of what has become Black Friday. For ultra-fast fashion, this is not about exclusive product drops and-

Discussing ‘Experiential Retailing’: Next – ‘The Smooth Operator’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the much vaunted but little understood concept of ‘Experiential Retailing!’ Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep1 Store Concepts (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Next, a highly successful mid-market clothing & home brand, but not one you would usually associate with the expression ‘Experiential Retailing.’ The fact is that a great customer experience-

Discussing ‘Experiential Retailing’: Hotel Chocolat – ‘Vertically Integrated Indulgence’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the much vaunted but little understood concept of ‘Experiential Retailing!’ Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep1 Store Concepts (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Hotel Chocolat, a brand that not only transformed the ways to create, package and display chosolate, but also revolutionised the vertical supply chain behind the beans. Hotel Chocolat is-

Discussing ‘Experiential Retailing’: Dark Sugars – ‘Drama & theatre in Chocolate’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the much vaunted but little understood concept of ‘Experiential Retailing!’ Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep1 Store Concepts (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Dark Sugars, and its chocolate destination shop on Brick Lane, with its wonderful and beguiling atmosphere. Dark Sugars is no ordinary chocolate shop. The trademark truffles, in evocative flavours,-

Discussing ‘Experiential Retailing’: Lush – ‘Nurturing Shiny Happy People’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the future of physical shop concepts and omni-channel ‘Experiential Retailing!’ Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep1 Store Concepts (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Lush. I absolutely love taking people into Lush. My favourite shop is the one near Oxford Circus, in London. It is an experience where every sense is brought to-

Read “Creating Customer Lifecycles:” Coat Paints – A Brighter Future!

Join me, Tim Radley, in “Meaning in the Retail Madness,” discussing how considerations about the product lifecycle must now be extended forwards to the customer purchase, their relationship with the product, and its disposal. The retail lifecycle must evolve into the customer lifecycle. Solutions must make more use, and more uses, of what the customer buys. Turning away from the throwaway, embracing and enjoying what we have. The terminology needs-

Discussing Visual Merchandising & Shop Design: Zara – ‘A Storyteller by Design’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the future of visual merchandising, and the changing world of physical shop spaces for both large brands and small independent retailing. Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep2 ”Shop Merchandising and Display” (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Zara. For me their name represents so much more than fast-fashion. They are restless innovators, from-

Read: “Passion Generators & End-to-End Facilitators” – The House of Vans

Join me, Tim Radley, in “Meaning in the Retail Madness,” discussing how retailing without passion is alienating consumers, and handing customer relationships to distributors. Modern retailing is so complex. It is now almost impossible to be an engaging brand & product innovator, and also best practice distributors of communication and physical stock. The game changing model involves ‘Passion Generators’ & ‘End-to-end Facilitators.’ Allowing retailers to focus on building product authority-

Discussing Visual Merchandising & Shop Design: Abercrombie & Fitch – ‘Creating Theatres for Retail’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the future of visual merchandising, and the changing world of physical shop spaces for both large brands and small independent retailing. Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep2 ”Shop Merchandising and Display” (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Abercrombie & Fitch. For me their name still stirs up magic and wonder, despite their slow-

Discussing Visual Merchandising & Shop Design: Crate & Barrel – ‘The founders of modern VM?’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the future of visual merchandising, and the changing world of physical shop spaces for both large brands and small independent retailing. Join the free podcast now through this link…Retailing with Meaning Ep2 ”Shop Merchandising and Display” (podbean.com) The podcast features a discussion on Crate & Barrel. For me their name and visual merchandising are synonymous. Visiting their famous flagship-

‘Is Brand more important than Product?’ A question for students at the London College of Fashion (LCF)

The LCF student’s collaborative challenge module is now entering the creative phase. Always a fascinating period of any project, when all of that valuable research and benchmarking needs to be translating into customer facing outputs. The students are so tech native that visual imagery and social media communication is second nature to them. It is the polar opposite to me and many of the lecturers who were initiated into retail-

Discussing Sustainability & Ethical Retailing: Timberland – ‘Local Responsibility’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the world of retail sustainability, from diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, to on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Join the free podcast now through this link…https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ua8ca-1307ed8 The podcast features a discussion on Timberland. They have a long history already as a sustainable brand, working with the environment,-

Discussing Sustainability & Ethical Retailing: Elvis & Kresse – ‘Masters of Slow Fashion’

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the world of retail sustainability, from diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, to on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Join the free podcast now through this link…https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ua8ca-1307ed8 The podcast features a discussion on Elvis & Kresse. Their story is fascinating. Several years ago, they discovered that the London-

Discussing Sustainability & Ethical Retailing: LOANHOOD – Taking fashion rental by storm

Listen to myself, Tim Radley, on the Louise Lally podcast, discussing the world of retail sustainability, from diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, to on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Join the free podcast now through this link…https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ua8ca-1307ed8 The podcast features a discussion around LOANHOOD and their impact on the fashion rental market. Loanhood is a new rental brand-

Exclusive Interview with Tim Radley: “Sustainability & Ethical Retailing”

Join Tim Radley, international retail specialist, and founder of VM-Unleashed, as he chats with Louise Lally about the world of retail sustainability, diverse shopping channels, rental & second-hand resell, on-demand manufacturing & the virtual inventory, and how sustainability, ethical governance and diversity are intrinsically linked. Please click on the image link below… In this interview Tim explains and illustrates with best practice examples, the important areas that all retailers should-

Is pureplay just a replay of retail’s oldest mistake? ‘Dumbing down retail to distribution domination!’

So here we are, less than a couple of years after the peak of lockdown. Less than a couple of years after the stella rise of ecommerce market share, and the adoption of every app and touchpoint available to engage with digital retail and diverse home delivery services. So, here we now are, with some of the biggest names in pureplay retail suffering, losing sales and profits eroding, scrambling to-

Fast-fashion: Selling its soul for a slice of the second-hand market?

Fast-fashion: Selling its soul for a slice of the second-hand market? As the resale market grows and evolves at a pace, it is more important than ever to dig deeper behind the businesses involved, particularly if your motives for buying second-hand are to reduce the volume of new product sales, and to divert used products away from landfill. There is no shortage of choice when it comes to buying second-

A rejuvenated Marks & Spencer proving that ‘Less is commercially More!’

It has always been one of the most difficult messages to get across to buyers & merchandisers. That by reducing your number of options, you can drive more sales & profit. M&S has kindly released figures that prove exactly this. A recent reduction in womenswear options has certainly not held back sales growth. Although its womenswear range was streamlined by 5%, sales jumped 15%. Of course, it is more complicated-