This is a common complaint for shoppers across the UK and doesn’t just lead to a disappointing customer experience but also leads to high return rates.

N Brown have taken an innovative approach to this problem, utilising tech and data as part of its ‘Fashion for All’ campaign, which aims to make it easier for people to enjoy fashion and the confidence and wellbeing boost it can bring.

On this episode of the Retail Inside Out podcast we’re joined by Sarah Ewens-Smythe, head of buying, N Brown, to find out how and why it developed Fashion for All and what it has learned and achieved from its successful deployment.

We discove how N Brown’s returns rate has declined and sustainability increased as a result of the initiative, which was named the Fashion Game Changer at the 2023 Retail Gazette Awards.

Also joining us on this deep dive is Lewis Rhys Davies, senior account executive from loyalty scheme experts SheerID. Rhys Davies weighs in on the hot topic of personalisation, and how retailers can convert shoppers into loyal customers.

Stream the episode through the player on this page, or listen on Spotify, Apple or your preferred podcast platform.

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How do retailers manage to achieve this with their customers increasingly looking at more factors than ever when choosing where to shop?

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Joining the Retail Gazette Retail Inside Out Podcast to discuss the topic and share there unique perspectives are Christina Downend, head of climate change, Dunelm and Marcus Henley, senior account executive, enterprise, Yext.

Dunelm is the recent winner of the Best Retailer Over £500m award at the Retail Gazette Awards 2023, and have put sustainability at the heart of their business success.

Yext is a leader in the world of digital experience, and have a broad view of what brands can do to connect with their customers and achieve success.

Both provide excellent insight into the steps retailers can take to build their customer proposition and deepen their relationships with their audience.

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Focusing on sustainability and circularity

At the heart of Dunelm’s business is a focus on sustainability and circularity, and this played a big role in the judges decision to award it the Best Retailer Over £500m award.

Christina Downend, head of climate change at Dunelm, explains why sustainability is so important to their brand purpose.

“We’ve been really focusing on ensuring that our sustainability strategy is fit for purpose and also fit for the future because we absolutely recognise that we will need to and want to exist within a circular economy that is going to be the future economy,” she says.

“So in doing so, over the last few years, we’ve really solidified our environmental sustainability strategy.

“We already had a good foundation on our ethical sourcing but we’ve really upped it by focusing on circularity and the role that plays and looking at each lifecycle stage of the product, because more than 90% of our carbon emissions actually come from the products that we sell.”

Marcus Henley, senior account executive, enterprise at Yext, elaborates on why brand purpose is so important for customers.

“If you are a retailer, it’s highly likely there are other retailers offering the same products and services you do, right? If not at the same price point, a similar price point.

“So how do you differentiate? A lot of the time that can be around simply wrapping a top class service around your offering that the competition might not offer.”

Listen to the full, fascinating conversation on the Retail Inside Out podcast on Spotify now.

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//  In the latest Retail Inside Out podcast, discover the metrics and tests all marketing teams, from retailers big or small, can use to create successful, engaging campaigns

Sleep experts’ Dreams became the Official Sleep Partner of Team GB in 2019, supporting the team at the Olympics in 2020, expanding the partnership to include ParalympicsGB shortly after. A massive marketing partnership is a challenging endeavour at the best of times, but the pandemic and subsequent delay of the Tokyo games added an extra level of complexity to the mix. What can marketing professionals learn from Dreams partnership at the Olympics, and how they utilised a truly multi-channel approach to maximise their campaign impact?

To find out we’re thrilled to be joined by Simon Moore, director of marketing, Dreams, who were the winner of this years Retail Gazette Awards Marketing Gamechanger category, to hear the ins and outs of running a complex and impactful marketing campaign. Adding further insight is Andy Houstoun, chief commercial officer for Crimtan who shares his perspective on the metrics and benchmarks brands need to keep in mind to truly measure their campaigns to judge their success.

From geotesting to where to spend to deliver the results you need, we go for a deep-dive into the fundamentals that all marketing professionals can apply to help them achieve success, whether they have a huge budget or small.

READ MORE: More from the Retail Inside Out podcast

About Dreams

Established in 1985, Dreams are the UK’s most loved bed retailer – backed by Tempur Sealy and led by CEO Jonathan Hirst.

Headquartered at their ‘Bedquarters’ in High Wycombe, they have around 2300 colleagues across the UK, and sell around 14,000 mattresses, bases and headboards per week to customers nationwide through their store network of 208 sites and online.

They’re a proudly British business, committed to continue making their products in this country, at their Dreams Workshop in Oldbury. Currently Dreams makes 290,000 mattresses and over 200,000 divan bases & headboards a year before delivering to customers across the UK through its 11 delivery centres and fleet of 155 home delivery vehicles.

About Crimtan

Crimtan was founded in 2009 with the purpose of delivering maximum performance for their clients, with the reassurance of complete compliance.

They’ve continued to grow year-on-year since, winning awards such as RAR Best Online Media Buying, achieving Gold Standard certification by the IAB, DTSG Brand Safety certification by JICWEBS and featuring in Raconteur/The Times Future CMO marketing report.

Moving into the future, their mission is to be a trusted partner, delivering the most relevant, consented programmatic advertising, driving exceptional incremental ROI across every stage of the customer lifecycle. And helping more brands reach customers who need and want what they sell.

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//  What fuels their passion and how can retailers learn from their success?

In 2023 most consumers would say they care about sustainability. The impact of the products we buy on our planet and the connection between the actions we take and our impact on our environment are clear for all to see. As sustainability becomes a way for businesses to demonstrate their value to customers, we ask what it means to be truly sustainable. To find out we couldn’t imagine a better retailer to speak to than this years Retail Gazette Awards Sustainability Game Changer award winner, Lush.

Lush are no newcomers to the sustainable space, with the business holding ethics and reducing their environmental impact as key core values for the entirety of their 27-year existence. What challenges do they face, how do they bring their staff with them as sustainability stakeholders, and how do they ensure their supply chains are complying with their mission? We’re thrilled to be joined by Ruth Andrade, Earth Care Strategy Lead for Lush to find out answers to all of those questions and more.

Also joining us to give us a wider view of the retail world and how brands are upping their sustainability game is Caroline Sajas, UK Business Director, Locala. Together they share insight into the challenges, opportunities and paths that retailers can take to become truly sustainable.

Listen to the full conversation in the latest Retail Inside Out podcast:

MORE FROM RETAIL INSIDE OUT: What are the keys to building a new ecommerce experience people love?

About Lush

Lush was founded in 1995 by six co-founders; Mo Constantine, Mark Constantine, Rowena Bird, Helen Ambrosen, Liz Bennett and Paul Greeves.

Emerging from the demise of a previous mail order business called Cosmetics To Go – a massive success that collapsed through a combination of over-trading and flooding – it was the same team that created and inspired this new venture called Lush.

Lush is 10% Employee Owned and our people are the heart and soul of our business.

About Locala

Trusted for more than a decade by the world’s top retailers, restaurants, and auto brands, Locala is the recognised leader in driving consumers to stores and measuring the results. Locala’s powerful and complete suite of digital marketing tools provides unmatched visibility into shoppers and competitors while delivering complete control over where and when brands can reach high-potential consumers and drive them to buy. Founded in 2011, the company has offices in the United States, France, Belgium, the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, Italy, Canada, Mexico, and the UAE.

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// Find out how Silentnight have implemented personalised experiences and thought leadership to add value for their customers

Customers are demanding more than just a place to purchase goods from their ecommerce experience. We want personalisation, we want to understand the benefits of the products we choose, the impact they will have on our lives and our homes. It’s no longer good enough to offer a simple portal to buying products, savvy ecommerce brands are going the extra mile by offering thought leadership, curated recommendations and adding value that goes beyond a one-time transaction.

In this episode of Retail Inside Out we speak to Tom Sloan, Head of Ecommerce and Digital at Silentnight, winner of this years Retail Gazette Awards Ecommerce Game Changer award to discover how they’ve revolutionised the shopping experience for their customers. From their sleepunique mattress algorithm to their plans to be the sleep experts that shoppers can rely on, we find out how they embarked on their current ecommerce journey and the learnings they’ve discovered along the way.

We’re also joined by Kath Brameld, Industry Solutions Adviser – Retail and Wholesale, Oracle NetSuite to hear how the landscape is changing for retailers in the ecommerce space, and where brands should spend their money to weather the storm in 2023.

MORE FROM RETAIL INSIDE OUT: Will flexible spaces offer direct-to-consumer brands a chance to revitalise the high street?

About Silentnight

Silentnight is the UK’s most trusted sleep brand, helping the nation sleep better for over 75 years. Their mattresses have won awards from trusted bodies such as Which? And Mother&Baby, and most recently won the 2022 Retail Gazette Awards Ecommerce Game Changer award.

About Oracle NetSuite

Oracle NetSuite is the number one cloud business ERP solution. It gives businesses the visibility and control to make the right decisions, now. NetSuite’s flexibility lets you do it all, quickly and easily. With every NetSuite upgrade, your configurations and customisation migrate seamlessly.

About Retail Inside Out

Retail Inside Out is a new podcast series from Retail Gazette. Each episode will focus on the topics, trends, news and personalities that are changing the face of retail. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast platform to hear every episode as soon as it goes live.

Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter

// Will flexible spaces create an opportunity for direct-to-consumer brands to revitalise our high street?

Up and down the UK our once-bustling high streets are becoming overrun with unused retail space. A combination of the pandemic lockdowns and the convenience of direct-to-consumer (DTC) shopping has created a situation where many retailers simply can’t commit to long leases and expensive rents on the high street, with labour shortages and supply chain issues meaning some businesses are struggling to survive in the traditional retail space.

However, as lockdown restrictions eased and people returned to meeting in person, the lack of physical retail outlets has created a hole in our communities. With many high streets now functioning as community hubs and consumers yearning for in-person experiences, could the advent of shared flexible retail spaces create a revitalised high street built around brands that were once DTC only?

Listen now

To discuss the changing face of DTC we’re joined by John Hoyle, founder and CEO of Sook, winner of this year’s Retail Gazette Awards Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Game Changer Award and Ian Moore, head of services for DTC experts Excellent Zephyr. We’ll find out how the DTC world is changing, how flexible digitally fitted-out spaces that can be hired by the hour could save the high street, and what the future holds for the UK’s hybrid retail ecosystem.

About Sook

Sook is on a mission to revolutionise the high street. Founded by John Hoyle in 2019 from an empty restaurant in Cambridge, Sook now offers flexible, sustainable, digitally-enabled ‘pop-up’ space to any brand, business or community who needs it – whenever they need it – in prime retail locations.

Sook transforms empty shops into adaptive, ‘pop-up’ spaces, which are rentable by the hour. It does this by installing a modular digital fit-out, which occupiers can design and curate online. The Sook model removes the inefficiencies and cost of a traditional fit-out and allows multiple occupiers to use the space throughout the day.

About Excellent Zephyr

Excellent Zephyr’s core mission is simple: to deliver the best solutions and services that transform, innovate and grow retail businesses.

The Excellent Zephyr approach is built upon years of experience and countless projects within the NetSuite and Retail sector, so the team understands retailer challenges, needs and ambitions.

About Retail Inside Out

Retail Inside Out is a new podcast series from Retail Gazette. Each episode will focus on the topics, trends, news and personalities that are changing the face of retail. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast platform to hear every episode as soon as it goes live.

Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter