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A Flash Back on 2016 Retail

Industry …

by Peter Yick posted on LinkedIn 2016-12-30

CoSolutions Consulting Inc.

As we are closing off 2016, the retail industry globally has taken on quite a challenge with the brick

and mortar retailers struggling to retain their market shares and brand loyalty. As many brands are

redefining their strategies, closing shops and taking position with online retailing, new and revitalized

consumer programs are becoming key to survive in the competitive retail market.

No doubt online e-commerce market places have grown in double digit year-over-year in the past five

to six years; on the other hand, mobile commerce has also taking on a bigger share of retail sales,

particularly with the millennial generation who value convenience and the use of smart phones and

social media to compare products while sharing their shopping experience with friends.

Looking at a couple of e-Commerce retail results in 2016, the trend for online and mobile retailing is

taking on the brick and mortar retailers …

USA – in total, online Thanksgiving weekend and Cyber Monday shopping accounted for US$12.8

billion this year with an increase of 15.2% from 2015;

China – Alibaba’s Tmall GMV on Single’s Day (or Double 11 day) reached US$17.8 billion (RMB

120 billion) with an increase of 32% YoY covering 235 countries; mobile purchase surprisingly

accounted for almost 82% or US$14.6 billion (RMB 99 billion) generated on mobile devices with

49% increase over 2015;

Amazon – the global retail revenue from its e-Commerce market place has increased between

20-30% YOY since 2013.

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Despite a rather weak global economy in 2016, consumer spending in the cyber space has not taken a

dive like in the traditional brick and mortar shops.

For 2017, given an uncertain economy world-wide and the political challenge between the two world

players – China and USA, retailers will need to be more savvy and focus in attracting new and retaining

existing customers as shopping behavior changes with time.

Some worthwhile considerations in strategies, tactics and investments to revitalize consumer loyalty

would make or break the retailers’ survival in the new year …

Deliver customer experience through life-style retailing;

Multi-channel presence with efficient logistic support for shopping convenience;

Target millennials with social media channel integration;

Integrate supply chain and distribution channels to optimize inventory and time to market;

Build and strengthen the brand position that translates to value and loyalty;

Advance in non-cash and seamless mobile payment;

Adopt augmented and/or virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies to deliver new product and

shopping experience;

Use of big data to gain retail analytics (in real time) and customer insight; and

Continue enhancing and delivering quality customer services.

Retail is a people’s business, besides the changes in shopping behavior and the growth in cyber retail,

retailers need to re-visit the fundaments of “any place, any time” with end-to-end customer services …

that means customer experience enjoy and value by consumers through a contagious journey in a

seamless multi-channel / omni-channel shopping environment …

Wishing you All the Best … healthy, happy and prosperous 2017.

(PJY-2016-12-30 on LinkedIn)