Retailers and suppliers are operating in the most complex environment for decades. The level of change the industry is going through is unprecedented.
The post-COVID hangover, record-high inflation, supply chain disruption, extreme weather conditions and war in Ukraine are only a subset of the issues.
IGD's new report, Retailer priorities: winning today and tomorrow, focuses on the nine issues, which retailers must respond to in the short term to deliver sales and profit growth, and over the longer term to ensure they remain relevant.
Nine Priorities
The report identifies nine priorities for retailers globally to ensure their businesses are fit for the future.
Some are near-term focused, while others are programmes spanning several years.
The report highlights the initiatives taken by retailers across both time periods and their implications for their trading partners.
Key Learnings
Learnings from the report include the need to take immediate action. While there are different delivery phases for each of these, all nine areas should have programmes of work underway to ensure they can be delivered over the long term.
Secondly, there is a significant cost in tackling these priorities, especially digital transformation and decarbonisation.
While many initiatives will deliver productivity and cost savings, the net costs are likely to pass on to consumers.
Thirdly, tech leaders will make faster progress as the use of technology can make a significant difference.
Operators using the most advanced technologies, especially those centred on data, will be able to create an advantage that will be hard for others to reclaim.
What Do Suppliers Do Next?
The next step for suppliers would be to align these priorities with their retail customers’ strategic plans and identify who to support and how, reallocate resources to close the gaps in their internal capabilities, and understand the cost implications of this level of change on their businesses.
Hear more about the solutions available to your business at IGD’s upcoming event, Insight and Impact, taking place on 8 November in London.
To learn more and book your ticket, click here.
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