Navigating the retail apocalypse

Early this spring I was at Shoptalk in Las Vegas, along with + 8000 other attendees. Had coffee with business friends of the last decade, spent relaxing and learning moments with some of our long-term partners (customers).

Listened to established retailers trying to transform themselves, brands struggling with omni-channel dilemmas, and many amazing start-ups trying to tap into the potential of artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality for retail.  

Reflecting on all of this, I wonder what I should share with all of you who did not have the opportunity to join the event. One attendee can only absorb 5% of this big conference, so you may have heard different stories and summaries from this event all over the web. 

But, OK, here my 5-cents for all you B2C companies wondering how to move forward is this ever-changing digital retail jungle depending on what you are.

Are you a (start-up) company with amazing (new) product (or service)?

You are all set; the speed at which you can grow your business globally is now mind-boggling. Just focus on the following very simple basics:

• Go where the customer is! (Hint: that is not your brand new site, which you just fell in love with.
• Build a brand using the customer’s voice. (Hint: let them talk about you.)
• Talk to that customer using smart technology. This is probably the only place where you need artificial intelligence in the near future.
• Outsource everything (but make sure the customer is yours and yours only)

Are you an established brand ? With strong wholesale roots (and some retail) ?

You have a great opportunity to be an eCommerce/Digital winner in this digital transformation era. Just focus on the following very simple basics:

• Add ‘inspirational’ USP’s that cannot be mirrored by anybody else to your brand site (so your brand lovers keep on visiting your site).
• Re-organise from being product and brand first to customer first. All company, cultural and (digital) transformation must be centered around the customer first.
• (Re-)build the brand using the customer’s voice. (Hint: let them talk about you. Crowdsource Ideas)
• Talk to that customer using smart technology. This is probably the only place where you need artificial intelligence in the near future.
• To solve the Amazon / pricing dilemma? Think about the following value equation :

Value = convenience + price

Are you a pure play online retailer (but not a big marketplace) that is buying/selling products in one or several categories?  

Challenging. Just focus on the following very simple basics:

• Go where the customer is! (Hint: that is not your retail site)
• Focus on value added services that allow you to differentiate yourself from the marketplace and make you loved by your supplier (the Brands).
• Talk to that customer using smart technology. This is probably the only place where you need artificial intelligence in the near future.
• Provide the ultimate delivery convenience.

Are you a bricks and mortar retailer at heart ?

Challenging as well. Just focus on the following very simple basics:

• Re-organise fast and make your entire staff omni-channel literate and passionate.
• Revisit the ROI calculation of your stores and the entire incentive system around it.
• Focus on value added services that allow you to differentiate yourself from marketplaces. Hint: Turn stores into experience and convenience centers. Not just click & collect centers.
• Sorry, but you will have to get rid of some legacy IT systems, and a lot of fixed cost/overhead in general. Digital is a ‘variable cost’ business model.

Need some inspiration?

Follow the following companies:

• Houzz.com – on how they use emerging AR-technologies. (Note: AR / VR is still 3-4 years away for becoming mainsteam in retail my opinion.)
• Boxed.com on how they re-invent eCommerce logistics and turn this into a USP.
• Target.com on whether they succeed in becoming customer centric.
• GAP.com as they transform their organisation to succeed their digital retail apocalypse.

That’s it y’all.  Benny