Back to Basics in Retail

10 most important points that businesses must take into account in Retail

Retailing is an excellent method for companies to foster an intimate relationship with their customers. Over the past two decades, retail has experienced seismic changes. So, in 2023, it will be all the more essential to consider the 10 most crucial points to attain success in retail.

1. Retail is facing a transformational shift as a result of COVID-19, with customer behaviors and expectations changing significantly. Walmart has invested heavily in data analytics to better understand its customers and create personalized experiences. As ProjectPro preports, 沃尔玛 collects 2.5 petabytes of unstructured data from 1 million customers every hour. One petabyte is equivalent to 20 million filing cabinets; worth of text or one quadrillion bytes. The data generated by Walmart every hour is equivalent to 167 times the?books in America’s Library of Congress. But quantity is not quality: the way to go for brands in retail will be the ability to tap into the wants of consumers using their digital graph.

2. In response, retailers need to shift their focus towards a customer-obsessed approach in order to drive growth. SEPHORA has created an omnichannel experience for its customers, allowing them to seamlessly transition between online and offline channels. SEPHORA 's Beauty Insider program also uses data to offer personalized recommendations, and customers can use the Sephora app to book in-store appointments and receive notifications when their favorite products are back in stock.

3. Retailers need to use data to understand their customers and create personalized experiences across all touchpoints. 耐克 has created immersive retail experiences in flagship stores around the world, including a basketball court in its New York store and a soccer field in its Beijing store.

4. To deliver on this promise, retailers need to break down silos within their organization and collaborate more closely across functions. As a result of close collaboration between the creative director teams and the operations side of the business, Zara has built an agile supply chain that allows it to quickly respond to changing customer demand. But, at a time when "fast-fashion" is no longer sustainable, Zara will also have to adapt its model

5. Retailers should also focus on building adaptable supply chains in order to meet customer demands. 亚马逊 has invested heavily in artificial intelligence to offer recommendations to its customers, with the supply chain organization a key success-factor.

6. Technology plays a critical role in enabling a customer-obsessed approach, and retailers should invest in tools such as automation to deliver more personalized experiences. Walmart's "My Time" platform uses data to offer personalized promotions, store layouts and product recommendations to its customers. ( https://one.walmart.com/content/usone/en_us/me/time.html )

7. Retailers should also rethink their physical store footprint, with a focus on creating experiential and immersive environments. Groupe SEB 's retail stores provide immersive retail experiences and offer customers a unique way to interact with the brand and its products. Groupe SEB's journey ( with world famous brands Tefal, Krups, Rowenta..) has been a hallmark and a true success-story in retail execution, a first for an industrial company coming to retail rather late in the game.

8. Retailers need to create a culture of innovation and experimentation, where failure is seen as an opportunity to learn and improve.

9. Retailers need to focus on building trust with their customers by being transparent about their data usage and protecting customer privacy. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. uses machine learning algorithms to analyze customer data and suggest products that are likely to be of interest to each individual customer.

10. Properly showcasing a brand that is featured in retail locations plays a critical role in ensuring its financial well-being. A consistent execution showcasing the unique design language of the brand is essential. Dyson has had probably one of the best execution strategy of any brand in retail.

PS. Some key ressources and leaders in the field are Thierry de La Tour d'Artaise who has scaled-up Groupe SEB's presence worldwide with flawless execution. The team at Groupe SEB now has close to 1.300 retail outlets worldwide. Laura Alber at Williams-Sonoma has followed on the legacy of Chuck Williams to execute flawlessly at Point of Sale Williams-Sonoma's philosophy. At Amazon, Frédéric Duval has turned the power of data into a key strategic advantage.