FEATURE
The Australian retail landscape
in 2015 and beyond
By Paul Greenberg – Executive Chairman, National Online Retail Association
B
eing asked to write an editorial
piece on the future of retail is
both an honour and more than
a little daunting. With the seismic shifts in
technology-led retail, crystal balling our
retail future is not easy. So as I began writing
this piece, from the NRF Big Show in New
York, I naturally focused on the themes that
dominated 2014 as my departure point.
These themes include how mobility
has profoundly changed the retail rhythm.
How social media had seen a shift of
power away from the retailer to the hyperconnected shopper. How we, as an industry,
wrestle with ‘big data’ and indeed, how we
convert mountains of data into insights that
help us understand our customer in a most
personal way. That 2015 will see further
proof that customers shop by brand, not by
channel, with customers rewarding retailers
with multiple touch points. How the ‘flat
world’ had seen a flurry of global retailers
open shop in Australia, and how some of our
best and brightest have made some global
ripples themselves. How cross border trade
is an incredible opportunity to expand our
addressable markets.
I pondered the explosion of retail
in China, which is fast moving from the
manufacturer to the world, to the retailer to
the world. I also noted the acceleration of
‘disintermediation’- where manufacturers
and brand owners are increasingly going
“
…crystal balling our
retail future is not easy.
direct to consumer, challenging the ‘middle
man’ retailer. All of these themes were to
be central to this opinion piece, and then
I stumbled on a quote by Bill Webb, an
academic in Retail Management, University
of the Arts London, Honorary Member
Ebeltoft Group of Global Retail Experts.
Webb writes: “As I see it, the key challenge
for 2015 is to reinstitute humanity as the
central core of the retail marketing mix.”
With this short quote, Webb makes a
profound statement. Firstly, a veiled caution
that with our obsessive focus on big data, we
dare not forget that retail is a deeply creative
endeavour at its core. I believe in 2015
retailers will moderate the pendulum swing,
which in 2014 felt more ‘head than heart.’
08
Webb’s point speaks to the fact that in 2015
good retailers will balance that commendable
focus on data insights with what I term
‘retail feel’- a more emotive connection with
shoppers. Great musicians have always
appreciated that the space between the notes
are just as important as the notes themselves.
Indeed, behavioural scientists have always
hypothesised that transactional decisions by
customers are in fact emotional decisions, not
rational. Good retailers will therefore focus
on the ‘post-rational’ drivers of customer
engagement. The emotive connection
is where the art of retention dwells, in an
increasingly homogenous retail environment.
Lastly, Webb’s quote must surely have
reference to leadership in retail, both in
Australia and around the globe. I would
argue that we will see the shift from ‘IQ to
EQ’ as the core skill driving successful retail
leadership. Australian retail leadership has
certainly not been short of IQ, intelligence
quotient, with a talent pool full of highly
qualified retail practitioners, many of
whom have spent decades building their
careers through the ranks. Whilst that is to
be commended, ‘new retail’ will see a focus
on EQ or ‘emotional quotient.’
As the future hurtles towards us and
customers continue to seek out a deeper
post-rational connection with their brands
of choice, retail leadership will need to
keep pace.
Paul Greenberg is the Executive
Chairman of NORA - The Voice
of New Retail in Australia. He has
been a pioneer in pure play retail,
as the co-founder of DealsDirect
and Auctionbrokers. He now has
a portfolio career of directorships
and advisories. For more information
visit www.nora.org.au or
www.paulgreenberg.com.au
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