A study carried out by The Consumer Goods Forum in association with KPMG has found that approximately a third (32%) of consumer goods retail and manufacturing executives plan to evolve into ‘omni-business’ operations by 2018.
The survey, which garnered responses from 400 executives in 27 countries, found that there is an increased hunger in the industry to move beyond the current single-, multi- or omni-channel retail operations into ‘omni businesses’.
This means completely a digitally integrated business —including not just sales channels, but also manufacturing, inventory, marketing, sales, payments and distribution.
In addition, some 42% of respondents also said that their customers already expect a seamless sales experience across all channels, especially millennials.
The study was released to coincide with the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit, which kicks off today in Cape Town.
“This report provides further evidence of the pace of disruption that the industry is experiencing from the pervasive influence of millennial consumers, social media and omni-channel business models,” said Peter Freedman, Managing Director of The Consumer Goods Forum.
“So much so, that sometimes industry executives may struggle to keep up with their consumers. According to this report, over 75% of shoppers now say their top buying criterion is detailed and transparent product information – yet only 42% of industry executives think transparency is important. And over half of consumers rate environmental and ethical considerations as very important to their purchase decision, a proportion again underestimated by industry executives.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
