Initiative Retail Future ‘Zukunft Handel’
An introduction to the services and tools that ‘Zukunft Handel’ (Retail Future), an initiative launched by Google and the German Retail Federation (HDE), offers to support smaller German retailers in digitising their business.
Future in Brand Wholesale Distribution: The Cash Cow is dead. Long live the Cash Cow.
Wholesale distribution managers knew it all along, traditional brand wholesale wouldn’t last forever. And 2020 saw an acceleration of change that began long before the pandemic: the termination of mediocre businesses.
But turmoil in wholesale distribution isn’t over yet; ahead lie at least one to two more years of trouble and possibly major strategy changes at online pure players.
Recovery Scenarios for the Brand & Retail Industry
While the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, our 2021 has started on a constructive note with many contributors sharing their insights on what recovering from this crisis could look like across the brand and retail industry.
Store Insights Can Speak the Voice of Shoppers. Are You Listening?
There was an almost sinister feeling of relief in the boardroom. Until a firm voice cut through the silence with a final question: Well done fleet review team. But which 5 stores are the most productive, which are the 5 least productive and why? (more…)
Zalando Connected Retail: High Street Powerhouses vs. Online Giants
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… (retail) humans and many species of (online) aliens co-exist with robots who assist their routines. Travelling between planets takes place offline as well as online. The same goes for shopping, where retail spacecrafts range from small starfighters called mom & pop shops to battle stations such as the moon-sized Death Star (called Zalando). (more…)
3 Innovative Distribution Models: Lifeline & Disruptor
Three innovative distribution models currently help retailers to survive the Covid-19 lockdowns and new players to disrupt traditional markets. (more…)
Brand Distribution Best Practice Post Covid
Our research and industry dialogue ‘Future in Brand Distribution’ has been off to an enlightening start. Four weeks in, executive talks and our online survey have already returned much valuable inspiration on the future of the lifestyle industry.
The sentiment we encountered in the industry dialogues was generally positive and energising, even though many still find themselves in lockdowns. It seems as though the Covid-19 pandemic not only gave a boost to digital transformation but also liberated some of the brand industry’s best creative thinking.
How India’s Digitization Impacts Retail and Brand Distribution
India has been on an exciting digitization journey since 2009. Many key elements that will form the backbone of ‘Digital India’ also serve to enhance retail and brand distribution.
Some of the building blocks are already well in place, tried, tested, validated, and nationally rolled out, and others will be introduced in the next 2-3 years.
We Need to Rethink the Purpose of the Shopping Street
Shopping physical products in dedicated streets was often convenient and sometimes fun. With the advent of digital shopping, we need to rethink the purpose of these streets and how we use them.
Evolution of Store Design
Retail as we know it is dead. That much is certain. But for brands that place the human at the centre of their world, there is much hope for the store of the future.
As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, innovation, technology and brand experience are leading an exciting rebirth in the delivery of offline retail, resulting in more opportunities with community-led and experience-based retail. Here we explore some of the ways store design helps brands to reshape their portfolio. (more…)
3D Fashion Design: How to Lead Supply Chains to Digital Transformation
Is your product development team ready to present the new collection using 3D tools? To design fashion collections using virtual prototypes is no longer best practice in sourcing, but becoming standard.
Can New Business Models Help Save the US Retail Marketplace?
Retailers and landlords are scrambling to figure out how to survive as consumers have accelerated the shift to e-commerce. Will they be able to reinvent themselves or become one of the many businesses weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic?
The Future in Brand Distribution – in Search of a 1000 Minds
“2025 retail rents will be like 2020 flight routes: back to the 1980s.”
“The future is social commerce, digital market places are an interim hype, for brand industry’s e-com latecomers.”
“In five years, an office workspace and business travel will be recruiting incentives.”
“Grandpa tells me, his company used to pay him for sourcing travel to adventurous rural locations.”
How are these snapshots for a future in brand distribution? If you think that’s outrageous, how did your 2020 forecasts from around this time last year pan out?
2021 will see the biggest consumer recovery of all time – says Prof. Niall Ferguson
Is there a need for a thorough recap of 2020? Let’s keep it short: Economically, it’s been a year for the dumpster; a year we will never forget.
But maybe that is the good thing about the year?
India’s Retail Post Covid: Old Normal As The New Normal
It seems like everything will change because of Covid-19, but it may not in India – in fact, it could be “business as usual” by the end of 2021. Here, find out about India’s retail Post Covid
In a few weeks from now (around 20 January 2021), the world will hit the first anniversary of the emergence of Covid-19 outside China.
CO2 emissions – the final blow for retail stores?
Offline fashion purchases lead to 3x more emissions than those made online, as shown in a recent chart on prime time TV in Germany. Could this retail carbon footprint lead to a paradigm shift for both consumers and the fashion industry?
In this article we compare the drivers for consumers’ CO2 emissions when buying online and offline. We also expand the environmental retail carbon footprint calculation to omnichannel.
Post Covid Retail – Rethinking store processes & merchandise management
A healthy store P & L is still at the heart of happy retailing. As Covid-19 made it somewhat easy to lower rent costs, many took the same approach with store head count. But this will certainly cost future retail productivity and flexibility.
So how do you adjust store operations in Post Covid Retail without losing more sales and compromising customer service?
Sundown in Global Sourcing Fashion – Is De-Globalisation Here?
With trade and travel restricted, and industries’ CO2 footprint under the microscope, what does “deglobalisation” mean for Global Sourcing Fashion?
If you believe in the mainstream news, we are reaching the end of globalisation and entering deglobalisation.
Special Edition: Post Covid-19 Omnichannel Retail
With consumer shopping behavior changing during Corona, the purpose of the retail store is shifting and brands are accelerating the omnichannel transformation
Our brand experts highlight the strategies some of the brands are pursuing: bringing the store experience into consumers’ homes and utilizing stores as fulfillment and delivery hubs improving stock utilization are some examples.