The challenge of change

With the world’s political, financial, business and special interest group leaders gathering in Davos for the World Economic Forum this week, it is interesting to read the many statements coming out of the Swiss mountain resort. Many newspapers have been asking attendees for their views on the key priorities and there is remarkable consistency around the need for growth, stability and job creation. Retailers from all corners of the globe would wish them well with their deliberations because those are exactly what they would wish for too.

Attending the National Retail Federation in New York last week where the Javits Center was packed with more than 24,000 attendees to the Expo and Convention, the mood wassurprisingly mixed. For US retailers coming off the back of a good Holiday season, morale was much restored. The huge contingent from Brazil was also buoyant on the back of the continuing consumer boom. But Europe was the biggest worry for all given that the Eurozone crisis has the potential to spread its effect around the world. China too seems to be worrying economists.

If growth is a global challenge, for retailers, the other challenge taken away from NRF and general discussions with retailers is change. “Change” can be applied on so many fronts across retail - changing technologies, changing consumers, changing demand and more. As so many speakers in New York focussed on, the issue of change is now cutting across all areas of the retail business as an absolute imperative. At a time when, in a matter of weeks, experts are suddenly questioning the longevity of the hypermarket format following poor figures from Carrefour and Tesco, it feels like there are no sacred cows anymore in retail.

So if change is the new constant, it seems best to embrace that and to question everything to be able to re-think and if necessary re-invent. One speaker at NRF put it succinctly when he said that it “is more dangerous to be irrelvant than it is to innovate”. But the last word would have to go to star speaker Bill Clinton. When asked what his greatest lessons in life were he replied that one is to learn “never to quit” no matter how bad things seem but also that you have “got to invest in the future”. From the standing ovation he received, hopefully the retailers in the hall took those messages to heart as they face up to the challenge of change.