Successful retailers are able to keep pace with the changing expectations of consumers and the necessary operational changes required to serve them. However, that task has never been more complex. Rapid advances in technology that are changing the way retailers and shoppers connect are happening just as millennials are becoming the largest segment of consumers.
As a result, the act of shopping is experiencing revolutionary change. As retailers look to 2016, they are focused on how to attract and serve a rapidly changing consumer and how to adapt systems to ensure they do so efficiently and effectively.
Gone are the days when consumers viewed in-store, online and mobile as separate and retailers managed them as such. Consumers now expect a seamless experience across all channels, and to thrive, retailers must provide it. Doing so, however, is complicated and requires the rethinking of supply chains. Where once regular bulk shipments traveled from distribution centers to stores on a fixed schedule, now thousands of unique customer orders must quickly travel a complex web — from distribution centers to stores, homes, or pickup sites, from store to store, directly from the vendor to the customer, or many combinations of the above.
The shopping experience today is neither linear nor standardized. Instead it is increasingly tailored to the preferences of each individual customer. For retailers, this poses new and considerable challenges related to inventory management, replenishment, reverse logistics, IT systems and recruiting the talent necessary to manage all of it. But the changes don’t end in the supply chain. The changes are rippling through retail business and having an impact on many other operational tasks, including marketing and payments.
As retailers look to 2016 and beyond, their long-term success may hinge upon their ability to provide consumers with the seamless omnichannel experience they expect.
Sandy Kennedy, President, Retail Industry Leaders Association