Retail has always been a dynamic industry but right now it is going through an unprecedented pace of change. Seismic economic shifts and breath-taking technological advances are changing the shopping experience faster than most retailers are able to react. Customers are demanding ever more exciting experiences when they shop and have higher expectations of product, service, value and environment. And, as if that isn’t enough to contend with, there is the multichannel reality to get to grips with too, which means the lines are continually blurred between virtual and physical space. Any retailer that wants to stay in the game, let alone ahead of it, has to think in an entirely different way. Get it wrong, or move too slowly and the customer will be lost forever. They’ll already be onto the next Big Thing. Andrew Jennings is a global retail executive with four decades of leadership experience at some of the world’s top retail brands from Harrods, to Saks Fifth Avenue, to Holt Renfrew to Karstadt. In his first book Almost is not Good Enough he shares his secrets on how retailers can go beyond just surviving in this dynamic environment and instead learn to thrive. Using his unparalleled knowledge of consumer trends in both mature and emerging markets he outlines his strategies on how to stay ahead of the game anywhere in the world, even though the rules of that game change every day. By taking the best, and worst, lessons from international retailing he presents the winning formula to keep stores on top. No one can stop change from happening, nor should they try. The secret to success is, Andrew says, to be relevant. Know your customer, constantly innovate, hire talented people, embrace change and never ever accept things are nearly OK. To explore what being relevant really means, Andrew has enlisted the help of more than forty of the world’s top retail CEOs who have contributed to this book. Each one has, for the first time, given their unique insight on how to create and maintain the wow factor today. Packed with real life examples and stories about exceptional retailers throughout the globe, Almost is not Good Enough explores every aspect of retailing, from new and predicted technological innovations, to how to meet rising customers expectations, to inventory management. Almost is not Good Enough is the up-to-date guide anyone involved with modern retail cannot afford to miss. | Almost Is Not Good Enough by Andrew Jennings, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters