The value of any major conference is in being able to test the mood of an industry. Over the last two days here in London, Retail Week has been holding its annual conference which brought together close to 600 people and delivered some great insights into retailing’s collective psyche. As mentioned in previous blogs, UK retailers have adopted a self-imposed ban on words such as “recession” or “downturn” because they think it only serves to unsettle the already fragile consumer confidence. This is not to say that retailers weren’t realistic about the current state of the economy and their own businesses.
What was interesting was the remarkable consistency of the messages that emerged. The CEO of food retailer Sainsbury’s, Justin King, gave an optimistic presentation on how his business has been coping with today’s market, whilst Gordon Campbell, the managing director of Spar International talked about how they were adapting to the pressures in their 33 countries of operation. And the chairmen of department store group, Debenhams and young fashion business, New Look added further thoughts in a panel discussion.
What united them all was the clear view that successful retail businesses were those that had gone back to basics and understood what their brand values were and then reinforced them even more for their customers. As Justin King stated in his presentation, every business has core strengths and values and now is the time to be true to them.
No real surprise also that the other consistent message was that customers were looking for value - but that doesn’t mean the lowest price. The UK retailers and Gordon Campbell representing international retailing all concurred with that. Consumers are looking for those brands that they can trust for quality and for value. In uncertain times, trust has gained a premium.
And then there was “innovation”. All were agreed that in this market, you had to increase, not decrease the emphasis on new product ranges, new store design, new merchandising and innovative use of technology.
What glues all of this together though, in the opinion of these retail speakers, was an invaluable quality that could only come from the very top of a retail organisation - leadership. The chairman of Debenhams, the veteran retailer John Lovering stated that it was imperative in times such as this that leaders provide exactly that for the organisation. He stated that in times of uncertainty and change, executives have to spend more time telling people what is happening, what they want to happen and what benefits will follow. People have to feel involved in the process of change and they have to feel that their ideas for serving customers better will be listened to as well.
Two days of discussion hasn’t given us the date of the retail recovery. What it has reinforced though is that the very best retailers have begun to work out what the new - or renewed - core competencies are for the businesses that will emerge out of today’s challenged retail market.
on Mar 25th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
It was an excellent conference, certainly thought provoking - Gordon Campbell in particular hit home the fact that the UK is not operating in a vacuum. Whatever happens in the UK manufacturing and retailing environment - whether we mention the dirty ‘R’ word or not - in a sense we’re at the mercy of the wider global economy. There’s a bit of a united we stand, divided we fall thing going on in that respect.
Dr Campbell also urged delegates to be environmentally aware, insisting that businesses have little choice but adopt ‘greener’ policies if we’re to avert a genuine ecological catastrophe…maybe a bit boring to hear for some people, but it’s something we just can’t get around anymore.
What the Debenhams boss and Justin King were saying about leadership is undoubtedly true. The most successful businesses I know have extraordinary individuals at their helm, who not only inspire great loyalty but manage to motivate their staff and customers alike. Honesty and transparency are part of this for sure - good staff often have a level of insight into a business that might quite surprise their bosses! Certainly a great leader will empower individuals within their business as much as they can - when people are allowed to get involved they are so much more engaged and effective.
It sounds as if the World Retail Congress has some great sessions lined up on the subject of leadership, I’d be interested to see what comes out of that.
Here’s a link to Spring Fair’s Retail Week Conference blog:
http://tinyurl.com/cwzbhw
on May 14th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
If you want to broaden the discussion, look at Charlie Green four components of trust: reliability, credibility, proximity and lack of self orientation.
http://trustedadvisor.com/cgreen.articles/38/Trust-in-Business–The-Core-Concepts