Competing in Tough Times brings together the powerful new strategies that world-class retailers, like Trader Joe's, Costco, and Nordstrom, are using today to survive--and thrive--in a brutally unforgiving retail environment. Internationally respected retail management expert Barry Berman shows retailers and their suppliers exactly how to build effective strategies based on cost and differentiation, plan and implement those strategies, and measure the results. Berman offers detailed coverage of implementing strategies based on becoming the low-cost provider and minimizing product proliferation; enhancing the service experience; developing and maintaining a strong private label program; and more. To support each approach, he presents full-length examples from retailers covering every market sector, from consumer goods to apparel to technology. He thoroughly examines top retailers such as Aldi, Amazon.com, L.L. Bean, Publix, Stew Leonard's, Wegman's, and Whole Foods, and shares powerful insights drawn from the experiences of other leaders--from Au Bon Pain to Best Buy, Family Dollar to Target, Tesco to Walgreen.

Competing in tough times : business lessons from L.L. Bean, Trader Joe's, Costco, and other world-class retailers

Berman, Barry R.

Financial Times/Prentice Hall ; Pearson Education [distributor

Globe Fearon Educational Publishing

Longman Publishing

Cengage Gale

United States, United States of America

Upper Saddle River, N.J., London, 2011

1, 2010

In Competing in Tough Times, leading retail consultant Barry Berman systematically examines ten world-class retailers, identifying shared strategies that every retailer can use to drive dramatic, sustained performance improvement. Berman highlights what these widely diverse retailers have in common in terms of both operational cost structures and differentiation. He reveals how they've developed low-cost strategies without cutting crucial "muscle," better rationalized product selection, optimized human relations and the service experience, and taken full advantage of private labeling. He presents his recommendations in an easy-to-read decision-making format, supported by current data and detailed implementation guidance. Book Jacket

xvi, 239 p. ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index

2023-06-28