EKN: Customer-Centric Retailing Demands New Retailer Capabilities
10/8/2013
The convergence of 4 macro trends - a new normal economy, pervasive consumer technology adoption, individualization of the consumer and technology innovation - is reshaping retail.
While the underlying changes afoot are not to be trivialized, at times our industry is guilty of over-complicating relatively simple ideas. In doing so, the opportunity to have a meaningful conversation about how retailers can serve this new consumer is lost, and instead the focus shifts to describing what omnichannel retail is.
The tenets of retail haven’t changed – merchandise based on customer needs and preferences, be equipped to fulfill customer demand, make shopping an experience for the customer, engage with them at a personal level, reward them for their loyalty. What have changed dramatically are the capabilities retailers need in order to excel at each.
While the underlying changes afoot are not to be trivialized, at times our industry is guilty of over-complicating relatively simple ideas. In doing so, the opportunity to have a meaningful conversation about how retailers can serve this new consumer is lost, and instead the focus shifts to describing what omnichannel retail is.
The tenets of retail haven’t changed – merchandise based on customer needs and preferences, be equipped to fulfill customer demand, make shopping an experience for the customer, engage with them at a personal level, reward them for their loyalty. What have changed dramatically are the capabilities retailers need in order to excel at each.