The retail industry is at a bit of a crossroads. Big retail segments, like record stores, bookstores, and video rental shops, have nearly disappeared, while others are struggling to fight off online and discount big-box competitors.
Rather than trying to out-discount the discounters, or compete with the scale on which Amazon and other online retailers operate, I think retailers should be reevaluating their value propositions, both to their customers and to their consumer manufacturing partners. How do retailers in general, and your retail chain in particular, bring value to business partners and consumers?
I think the key to this is taking advantage of the two things retailers have in spades, and that all manner of disintermediation and price undercuts can’t take away: knowledge and space. Read More »






So perhaps the title here is a bit harsh, but something needed to catch your eye. We’ve long known retailers to be a unique beast, managing more products than any CPG marketer could imagine, focusing on category-specific merchandising strategies (often to the detriment of cross-sell), and most recently, managing the tradeoffs between brick-and-mortar stores and online sales.
By Tasneen Padiath
