Meet the community: A conversation with Nicolas Rebet

Nicolas Rebet is a retail and customer service expert within the Dweet community. Over the past 10 years, he’s focused his career on brand strategy, developing customer experiences and enhancing the in-store experience.

As part of our new Meet the Community series, we spoke to Nicolas about his journey so far, and what it’s really like to make the shift from employee to consultant. Here’s what he had to say.

Tell us about your career journey so far.

My career has been completely focused on the retail and luxury sector. I am the fourth generation of retailers in my family. I grew up in a store and I learned to count with my mom’s cash register. 

After gaining a scholarship at Kedge Business School, I had the opportunity to work as an intern in the General Management office at Printemps Haussmann. That put me right on track. I worked for four years at Printemps Haussmann as an Area Manager and Retail Analyst. To begin with, I started as a Luxury Tableware Manager before moving to managing the retail relaunch of the Printemps private label. From there, I kept on developing my retail expertise as a European Sales Manager for an international jewellery group. 

From there I decided to switch to retail and customer experience specialised advisory. I worked on sales and marketing strategy, as well as customer relationship management with a range of companies in the retail, travel and fashion industries. 

Around this time, you founded Retailoscope. Tell us more about that.

It all started in September 2019 as a personal project. I had been looking at people talking about retail on social networks, specifically on Instagram. I didn’t really like the way people were talking about it, because they only showed high-profile stores or talked about the architecture. Nobody was talking about strategic analysis in small and medium stores. So, I started my own Retailoscope Instagram and LinkedIn accounts. Twice a week, I started to analyse stores and trends in Paris. Then I looked at other examples from around the world, offering new insights. I got really good feedback from my followers. Over time, things gained momentum and now I have over 6,500 professionals in my community.

Now you’ve launched Retailoscope as a business. Can you tell us more about what you do in your day-to-day role?

Today I advise retailers on their commercial strategy. They come to me to discover new retail concepts, ideas or customer journeys and we work together to adapt them according to their DNA.  I also help them to define their retail customer experience or the creation of digitalised points of sales. Overall, I analyse data and trends to make strategic recommendations to improve their retail experience. 

I’ve worked on a range of different projects. For example, I’ve worked with an Italian luxury brand in helping them to build out an omni-channel model. For others, I work on defining the customer experience, developing retail policies or work on elevating points of sales.

I also regularly write for specialised newspapers such as LSA or Journal du Luxe and also speak at conferences, with a strong focus on retail of course.

It sounds as though your entrepreneurial journey has evolved over time. Did you always want to work independently?

I always had the idea to launch my own company, I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spark. But I didn’t want to dive into it without considering it properly. I had to wait for the right idea. After I started experimenting with Retailoscope on social, I saw that it used my experience and was gaining traction: the two elements that I believe are important when going into business. 

I fundamentally believe in what the Retailoscope concept can bring to retailers and my vision of the sector.  I believe it adds value, so I decided to take the idea further. I want to become established as a thought-leader that’s recognised by both professionals and stakeholders. So, I’m determined to develop it over the long term. 

How would a colleague describe you?

Above all I would say passionate! Passionate about my sector. I’m always on the lookout for the latest news. I would also say I’m ambitious and willing to  discover new things. I like exploring off the beaten-track in my work. And sometimes I’m also a bit (too?) organised, I’m always planning 🙄.

What draws you towards working in fashion & luxury?

When I was about ten years old, I wanted to become a nose for a perfumery. I think that’s what triggered my journey into luxury, fashion and of course perfumery. But it was really when I came back to Printemps Haussmann that I launched my career in the sector. I quickly felt at home. I shared their values in excellence, recognition, and innovation. But I’ve also worked outside the luxury sector, and this has really strengthened my experience with best practices from different sectors. 

Did you always know you wanted this career?

Absolutely not! When I was studying, I wanted to do strategy consulting. Printemps offered me an internship in internal strategy for the general management office. I liked retail and the company so much that I stayed there after my studies. After that. I followed a series of opportunities and personal projects in the retail and luxury sector.

What’s your biggest learning so far?

You must believe in yourself, believe in your projects and give yourself ALL the resources you can to get there. Above all, do not stop at the first failure or back down in the face of difficulty. Moreover, you can be strategic, you can forecast, but you must always keep a close link with the retail field because it’s the economics that are at the heart of a brand.

And finally, wake up and go to bed curious! Curiosity will take you a long way.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to someone that’s considering working for themselves?

“Are you capable of challenging yourself every morning? 

Are you able to give yourself a framework without the need for third party control? 

Are you able to overcome your shyness to tell others about your project? »

If the answer to all three questions is yes, then go for it! If not, think again because you need to think about all the risks first.

Nicolas Rebet is a retail and customer service expert. You can see more of Nicolas’ work on Instagram, Linkedin and online.