1. Institute training programs, both managerial and low-level staff.
2. Compensation - alter managerial compensation to include measures of transaction volume, market share, customer satisfaction, and staff training.
3. Pricing – maintain price-points if possible; cut margins on cash-cows, especially if perceived as discretionary purchases; lower price-points on specials, especially fads. Avoid price wars – no-one wins.
4. Product - allow more purchases of items at local levels; localize product lines; search for special purchases from suppliers; do data mining to determine concordances; substitute product lines; but only if perceived as equal or better value. For low-end retailers, deepen lines upward in price-point. For high-end retailers, deepen the product line to lower overall price-points, but retain quality levels. For mass retailers, decrease product-line depth and increase breadth. Use ideas from staff to improve product lines (data mining will not accomplish this), but be sure to visibly reward contributions from staff.
5. Supply - develop multiple supply channels; establish relationships with on-shore suppliers (promote this aspect), or better, local suppliers; establish long-term contractual alliances with suppliers.