Navigating through retail disruptions
Navigating Through Retail Disruptions: Adapting strategically while staying agile is what seasoned industry professional, Steve Dennis teaches companies in order to set them up for success, prioritize their business model, and keep loyal customers in an e-commerce-heavy world.
Steve Dennis, Keynote Speaker and Best-Selling Author of “Remarkable Retail”
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Is traditional retail dead? 30% of retail CEO’s fear being out of business in 36 months
Many analysts are suspecting that 2023 may be a potentially tough year for the retail industry, in part due to growing inflation and a slowdown in consumer spending. This coupled with the fact that many brick-and-mortar businesses are already dead or dying, and many retailers are struggling in general has heightened the fear many CEO’s have about their sustainability.
Join Staying Curious as we interview Steve Dennis, an in-demand thought leader and strategic advisor who has worked in the retail, luxury and technology space for more than 30-years helping companies understand what it takes to win and keep customers in the age of ecommerce and digital disruption.
An unwillingness to adapt business models to meet the future of ecommerce puts many at risk
The traditional retail model employed by 97-99% of companies used to be based on companies being a destination. A place where consumers could visit, touch and see the products they are interested in, learn more about them, make a purchase and take an item home. This relied heavily on companies keeping a large volume and variety of inventory in order to meet the needs of the customer, which was a hard model to sustain.
The explosion of e-commerce and digital disruption is changing the landscape for retail though and lessening the reliance on inventory and stores as a destination. For brands who previously could not compete or be sustainable under a traditional retail model, this has been great news—but for those unwilling to adjust to the changing landscape, their future in many cases is bleak.
Loyalty is an emotion, not a behavior
The best brands have a deep emotional connection, and an intense focus on developing business models for their specific customers. Their strategies are designed to directly target their customers’ needs and wants, and often do so in a way that is substantially different than the next best choice. Creating a brand image and having a story that resonates with the consumer is a driving force behind successful companies. It is this approach that helps enable smaller companies to grow and compete with more long-standing brands and attract a loyal customer base.
When applying this model, consumers organically share their experience with others, which fosters a positive image of the company and helps establish an identity for both the brand and the consumer. No longer is the consumer just a coffee drinker. They are a Starbucks coffee person, or a Dunkin coffee person. These brands have fostered an emotional connection that builds a sense of loyalty with the customer, who then is likely less concerned with whether their coffee is truly the best, but instead based on a trust that they will be treated well, there is a consistent experience, and their values align.
