John Dixon, the 30-year British retail veteran lured to Australia to revitalise David Jones, has a message for Woolworths and Coles: supermarket shopping has become old-fashioned and people want more inspiration and less choice.
The former chief of the £5 billion ($9.7 billion) food business of the famous Marks & Spencer’s chain said people no longer shop once a week with a trolley looking up and down aisles for groceries. They shop more frequently, buying less each time.
Mr Dixon is expected to play a major role in developing David Jones’ new gourmet food strategy, which includes revitalised food halls, new coffee shops and wine bars and eventually a chain of stand-alone food stores.
"The really great food retailers are not only innovating on product, they’re thinking about the in-store experience and how can they make it a more pleasurable experience and create theatre, using colour and freshness and smell and taste to excite and inspire customers while you’ve got them," he told the Retail Futures forum in Sydney on Thursday. Sydney Morning Herald – Read more…
The former chief of the £5 billion ($9.7 billion) food business of the famous Marks & Spencer’s chain said people no longer shop once a week with a trolley looking up and down aisles for groceries. They shop more frequently, buying less each time.
Mr Dixon is expected to play a major role in developing David Jones’ new gourmet food strategy, which includes revitalised food halls, new coffee shops and wine bars and eventually a chain of stand-alone food stores.
"The really great food retailers are not only innovating on product, they’re thinking about the in-store experience and how can they make it a more pleasurable experience and create theatre, using colour and freshness and smell and taste to excite and inspire customers while you’ve got them," he told the Retail Futures forum in Sydney on Thursday. Sydney Morning Herald – Read more…