Retail is an industry known for evolution and change. From the basics of the 4P’s (products, price, place, promotion), to automated services and machine learning, retailers have been in a state of constant transformation since the origins of brick and mortar. Global retailers from leading brands gathered at the Soho Hotel in October at Columbus’ annual Circle LIVE! Event to discuss just that. Columbus’ CEO, Jon Beck and Managing Partner, Board Co-Chair and EMEA Business Lead, Charlotte Kula-Prezwanski hosted the day which included presentations and panels on industry trends, the need for relevancy, the growing importance of Data and AI and the current state of digital ID’s and traceability.
Beck kicked-off the day by highlighting the key themes and trends he is seeing in business. Overall, consumers are approaching the holidays and early 2025 with uncertainty triggered by global political unrest, sustained inflation and increased consumer debt levels. Retailers are equally cautious. Focusing more on areas of execution including: data management, product information management (PIM), allocation & replenishment and pricing. Retailers are also still prioritising Unified Commerce and AI enablement for personalisation, enhancing service levels and growing loyalty. While investments are happening, they are being more scrutinised to preserve cash. Businesses are pausing efforts around large systems and other major areas of transformation.
One critical area that retailers can agree on is overall data–sources/intake, management and governance. Panellists on the topic highlighted how retailers need to focus on data migration and prioritise what information is necessary to report on in order to make brand and consumer-related decisions. [Learn more here: https://www.columbusconsulting.com/service-spotlight-data-analytics/]. With so much available data, prioritising needs remains a top of list function. Alignment is also a must have deliverable. Working across the organisation to standardise attributes and provide a single source of truth, especially in an omni-channel brand, adds complexity.
According to Gillian Maskell, Director of Supply Chain and Merchandising of Miller Harris (an emerging perfume brand), MH is “a small player in a big market and it is very difficult to get any decent forecasts out of distributors or even to understand much about the retailer’s response let alone the end customer. We rely on our own web data (we launched in the US 18 months ago) and have used that data to direct products for new retailer business in the US.” Maskell recognises that data is critical, but brands need to be thoughtful and patient about what they need and how to effectively get it. Stating, “it is important that we can fulfil all requirements quickly and accurately. Responsiveness to demand is very important but so is managing expectations.”
Similar to the data panel, the digital IDs & traceability panel also highlighted how important a strong foundation of accurate, consistent and aligned data is to not only leveraging AI, but to prepare for all of the forthcoming legislations and regulation around product IDs. [Learn more here: https://www.columbusconsulting.com/esg-dpp-sustainability-spotlight/]. The desire to have transparency throughout the supply chain has many complexities. Different regions, languages, laws, industries and suppliers all add to the need for global standardisation. Apparel is working alongside other industries such as food, pharmaceuticals and automotive to solve for traceability. Vendors leading the path forward include panellists: Kezzler, Inspectorio and Circular Transparency. All of whom are pioneering ways to leverage data to serialise products at the individual item level. Reports account for up to 125 billion items a year being produced by the apparel industry alone. Building alignment across brands, suppliers, vendors and retailers with this type of volume requires a level of harmonisation in ESG requirements. The good news is that over the past 18 months, experts have acknowledged that there has been a huge step forward in building not just compliance but creating a new vision for the industry. This type of global commitment will yield long-term benefits. However, aside from compliance needs, digital IDs are proving to deliver business benefits as well. Some of which include:
- Manufacturing & logistics visibility and control
- Post-sale commercial experiences like rental and resale
- Easier brand/luxury authentication
Where exactly are retailers starting on their Digital ID journey? In addition to cleaning “the data,” they are leveraging product tagging practices by embracing QR codes, RFID technology NFC and GS1 digital links. All of which have added benefits in managing inventory, optimising allocations and maintaining a customer-centric culture. Vendors agree, whatever your choice, just get started now. Identify the right ID/label and technology to tag your products, then get serialisation on the product. The message? Embrace the change to stay relevant and ahead of the curve.
Change and relevancy were the focus areas of the fireside chat with Global Retail Advisor, Andrew Jennings OBE and World Retail Congress CEO, Ian McGarrigle. The conversation between these two retail industry legends echoed prior messages of change is constant. What is new today is the pace of change and the continued evolutions in technology. The cornerstone of retail is still about product, price, place and promotion, but how you continue to refine and optimise has completely changed over the years. AI is only one factor in the new equation. The changing demands of the consumer and the new unified retail complex has added complexity but has also allowed brands to have unprecedented access to their consumers across channels and platforms. Leaders today need to be responsible to not only their stockholders, but to their employees, their customers and, ultimately, the planet. It has become even more important for retail leadership to create and maintain a clear mission and articulate that vision so that their roadmap stays on course and on brand. And to do so profitably. This type of conversation will continue next year when the WRC global summit will be hosted in London next May 2025 and will be themed: Faster. Bolder. Smarter.
Overall, the annual Columbus Circle LIVE! Event highlighted some of the many pressing issues retailers are facing today. Dealing with economic issues, logistics and supply chain challenges, continued data growth, advanced technologies and sustainability needs are top of mind. And, while retailers vary on where they are on their business journeys, one thing is clear, wherever they are today, they will need to be prepared to embrace change, stay agile and become faster, bolder and smarter to stay competitive.
Find out more about what you may have missed and gain access to our event collateral here: https://www.columbusconsulting.com/columbus-circle-live-london-event-recap-2024/
ABOUT COLUMBUS CONSULTING
Columbus Consulting delivers solutions that drive true value and have been transforming the retail, grocery and CPG industries for over two decades. We are a retail consulting company of industry experts. Our approach is simple, if you do it, we do it. We are more than consultants; we are experienced practitioners who actually sat in our clients’ seats. We understand the challenges, know what questions to ask and deliver the right solutions. Columbus offers a unique, consumer-centric approach with an end-to-end perspective that bridges functional & organisation silos from strategy to execution. Our specialties include: unified commerce, merchandising & category management, planning & inventory management, sourcing & supply chain, data & analytics, accounting, finance & operations, people & organisation and information technology. Let us know how we can help you. To learn more, visit COLUMBUSCONSULTING.COM.