Download Insight (PDF) »

Introduction

Customer centric retailing is coming of age. For years, retailers have operated in a business world where the management of three key elements held sway:

• Market the Brand effectively and maximise its power to influence
• Provide great Product, priced competitively and merchandised expertly
• Deliver compelling Service through whatever strategy suits your model, whether it’s a no frills approach or designed to ‘entice & excite’.

The last 10 years have witnessed a quiet revolution, a revolution where delivering this tried and tested formula is no longer enough. The rise of online retailing and the
development of the digital savvy, multi-channel consumer are forcing a sea change in the industry. In early 2009 the Government supported this shift with the publication of the Digital Britain report which sets out Britain’s place as a global leader in this field and put in place the commitment to ensure that every home in the UK has access to broadband services by 2012.

Instant and widespread online access to information about prices, products and performance is altering the balance of power. Those who lead the pack are arming themselves with increased levels of customer insight and using their customer data to stay ahead. Those who follow are arguably looking to unravel legacy systems and processes conceived in an age where a single channel to market was the norm. Either way there is a widespread recognition that things have changed.

So what is this new philosophy of Customer Centricity? Have not retailers always known who their customers were and understood their needs and wants? To a large extent yes, but in an age where advertising-driven revenues are shifting towards highly segmented demographic groups, where highly personalised and interactive marketing  campaigns are a reality and where the rise of online retailing is delivering unprecedented amounts of data about customers and their preferences, the concept of customer centric retailing is emerging as a strategy for success.

To read the Report, please download the PDF (above).