It seems that not a day goes by without news of a major shake up in retail. Yet many consumer goods companies seem to be continuing with the same old strategies. This week Aeon, the mega Japanese retailer, announced the acquisition of Boxed – an online retailer specializing in bulk deliveries. In discussions with a number of people around the industry, this throws up a number of questions, well worth asking of your own business, and your customers. Use this check list to consider how well you are prepared for this era of retail disruption.
How many of you had heard of Boxed?
Most people I spoke to haven’t. Does that suggest that teams and leaders in consumer goods companies aren’t paying enough attention to what is going on? When I mention e-commerce does your mind go beyond Amazon, Alibaba, etc? E-commerce is a massively fragmented world, . How aware is your team? Are you thinking about which channels might attract your target shoppers in the coming years?
What are your major customers likely to do to respond to these challenges?
Will is be acquisitions? Mega mergers between companies that used to be competitors? Do your team have a view on this, and the potential implications?
What will happen to your target shoppers?
Shoppers are faced with more choices of where to shop than ever: which shoppers are you targeting and where will they go? Is your team focused on your target shoppers? Do you have plans that reflect target shoppers, or just shoppers in general?
Retail disruption drives retail cost
What actions will your major customers take to maintain profitability while they fight these battles? It is likely to be painful for suppliers that aren’t prepared. How prepared are you for when offline retail fights back?
We’re working hard helping companies work out what is likely to happen in their market, what the implications of this are, and helping build strategies to help brands thrive in what are turbulent times. If you’d like to know how we might help you, please get in touch!
