Retail Week Live in London just wrapped up this week. The event had over 1,000 guests from 200 brands, and more than 150 speakers.

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Text and photo by Nils Vanebo

During a panel discussion at Retail Week Live in London, two leaders from Norwegian retail chains (who are also Maze clients) participated: Heidi Engan from Gina Tricot and Espen Karlsen from Jernia. One of the discussions was about what retailers can do in these trying times.

Heidi Engan, country manager for Gina Tricot, said that Gina Tricot focuses a lot on younger customers, who stay up to date.

– We have to be where they are, and keep progressing to engage on their terms. We also must develop our omnichannel, the physical stores and the e-commerce. 2023 is the year we have to deliver on service, and we work on that every day, she said.

Heidi also explained that they’re always looking for ways to be more effective, and improve planning, and become better every day.

– We believe that we can always improve.
Advancements are fast, and it’s important to work with the right people. Heidi praised Maze, the main sponsor for Retail Week Live.

– Before we started to use Maze, we saw that we had the right localisation, customer process and planning. But we also saw that we could improve our service and that we missed data about that, she said.

Gina Tricot got results after starting to working with Maze. The NPS tripled.

– We got better at coaching our employees and getting them into the culture. Our colleagues liked the app. Our numbers improved, and I monitor our progress each day, said Heidi.

Data is key for Jernia

CEO of Jernia, Espen Karlsen, said that the customers are now buying less costly products, and more products that they need, instead of want. He also said that Jernia has a broad assortment and therefore it’s important that the store teams have great knowledge so they can give good advice to customers.

– We see that people are adapting and shopping online, but stores are important. The main reason our customers are visiting our stores is to get help to find the best possible solution, he said.

Espen Karlsen also said that data has become a far greater focus for Jernia.

– We spend a lot of time tracking data, and our competition. It’s become more important than before.

He concluded by pointing out that the most important thing Jernia is doing, is to keep investing in the employees.

Image text: Jernia CEO Espen Karlsen and Gina Tricot country manager Heidi Engan (number 2 from the right) participated in a panel discussion during Retail Week Live on the 28th of March.