What titles should be on any retailer’s bookshelf? Having taught MBA students about retailing for seven years, it would be churlish to overlook the key texts I recommend to them. It would be even more churlish to overlook my teaching partner’s book; E-Business: A Management Perspective by Jonathan Reynolds (2009) is the definitive work on the subject that is transforming the industry.
Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill (2000) is a highly readable romp through the findings of his observational research. It articulates what most retailers instinctively know, but without his supporting evidence from the disciplines of anthropology and behavioural psychology.
The Wal-Mart Effect: How an Out-of-Town Superstore Became a Superpower by Charles Fishman (2007) is a sobering tale of the responsibilities that retailers have to society, and should be required reading for any young retailer. At times it is unfair to a great company, but is much more balanced than the tabloid sensationalism of the UK counterpart Tescopoly: How One Shop Came Out on Top and Why It Matters by Andrew Simms (2007).
Of course, MBAs need textbooks and the most comprehensive, albeit US-centric, is Retailing Management (8th edition) by Michael Levy and Barton A. Weitz.
British retail marketers should opt for Peter McGoldrick’s Retail Marketing (2002), which looks at the industry overall through a marketing lens. It is not exactly an easy holiday read, but is an essential and timeless reference.
A lighter but compelling read is The Rise And Fall Of Marks & Spencer… and How It Rose Again by Judi Bevan (2007). Perhaps that should be ‘[Sir Stuart] Rose’; for Marc Bolland’s sake, let’s hope Judi does not have to reissue a third version of this corporate roller coaster.
In running retail businesses, however, I have most frequently turned to two books not specific to the sector: Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (1997), and Collins’ sequel Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t (2001). These books helped me pull together a young, talented but somewhat disjointed management team when I ran Waterstone’s. Books were an obvious resource for us to turn to, but these titles still provide inspiring and easy-to-use frameworks that act as a road map for any young company aspiring to last the course.
This review was taken from the March 2014 issue of Market Leader. Browse the archive here.
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