3 minute read
5 Things Retail Leaders Must Do to Make Business Relevant
Ritesh helps retail businesses with his expertise in Franchising, sales management, e-commerce strategies, Business development and leasing. He is the author of two books, “Simplifying Retail” and “How to be a shark salesman.”
RITESH MOHAN
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As the retail sector shows signs of recovery, here are some of the major challenges the retail leaders is facing today. I have summarized some ways to overcome these challenges for the benefit of our MECS+R members.
RETAIL EXPERT/AUTHOR RETAILRITESH
Keep Your Ears and Eyes on the Shop Floor
The basic rule of retail management which is forgotten amidst technology revolution stands the test of time. Retail will never be the same as it was pre-pandemic. Consumers’ buying behaviours have changed. As per Alixpartners’ study, UAE shoppers are reducing conspicuous consumption to focus on values with 41% shifting consumption away from non-essential categories and 41% also reducing consumption to be more sustainable.
Needless to say, the Retail Leader needs to spend more time on the shop floor rather than in seminars, buying trips, etc. From the book, “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon,” authored by Brad Stone, narrates this fact beautifully. Jeff Bezos says that till today, he tries his best to read every customer complaint or even receives the call centre call on an ad hoc basis to listen to customers’ grievances and listen to them to understand their expectations from Amazon. This allows him to set goals for his company and put it on the path of continuous improvement.
Look Away From Discounting Strategy
Every Retail Leader should be answerable to their investors and board of directors to explain the loss of margins due to wrong forecasting of merchandising or poor demand forecasting. Loyalty is taken for granted and it is the most abused word in our retail world. Retail leaders need to look beyond basic customer loyalty and data points since customers are more than data points. Try to personalize their experiences at all touchpoints irrespective of the medium i.e., physical store or e-commerce site or social media.
In uncertain times, communication becomes an integral part of brands or companies’ existence. Communicating consistently with internal stakeholders as well as external customers becomes crucial. As a Retail Leader, you need to develop channels of communication wherein customers can reach you not only in case of issues, but also relays information about your sector regularly to learn the latest developments. For example, a cosmetics brand could start posting content on social media, newsletters, blogs etc, educating their customers on the importance of organic and sustainable and clean beauty products which they could incorporate into their daily beauty regime. Distribute free samples, and invite loyal customers to an event that shows loyalty is beyond points accumulation.
Drive Digital Transformation
The phenomenon of e-commerce growth shouldn’t be considered a threat but an opportunity. Retailers can merge online and offline businesses.
Deloitte reported that 56% of in-store retailers involve a digital website and web-influenced physical store sales are about 5X online sales. Therefore, an omnichannel marketing strategy can help retailers reach a broader brand audience.
Embrace Future Disruptions
The only way to survive any disruptions is by embracing them and by staying agile. As a Retail Leader, one needs to stay abreast with the latest technological advancements happening in the retail sector. Metaverse is one such phenomenon wherein brands like Nike, NARS Cosmetics, and Alo Yoga is betting big on a new format of metaverse by opening their immersive and engaging experiences on Roblox and Decentraland platforms. Mantra to be followed “Go where your customer is moving.” Plan for a 5 or 10 years horizon while keeping a firm foot on present scenarios. Work your current capabilities while building the future competencies that your organization may need, may it be a bigger warehousing facility, faster deliveries, accurate demand forecasting tools, etc. Most retail companies are still working on overcoming the SEO challenges for their e-commerce websites wherein the future belongs to “Voice Searches.” Is your website equipped with “voice search” programs? I am sure 99% of the retail leaders would reply negatively. The problem lies in micromanagement and getting tied up with day-to-day retail operations that leaders do not even get time to think about strategically. I would like to end my article with a quote from Jeff Bezos.
“If you double the number of experiments you do per year, you’re going to double your inventiveness.”
