SCDigest
Editorial Staff
The
News: Our friends at the RetailWire
reported this week on a speech by Sir Terry
Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, the U.K.
retailer soon to have a U.S. presence, in
which he identified seven trends he believes
will have a swift and dramatic impact on
retailing either presently and/or in the
near future.
The
Impact: The trends are primarily
from a consumer point of view, but those
companies that can best align their supply
chains with these trends and opportunities
will gain market advantage.
The
Story: Speaking at the World Retail
Congress in Barcelona, Leahy identified
these seven key trends:
- Consumer desire for simplicity:
Companies that manufacture or sell products
and/or services that make the lives of
consumers easier will be richly rewarded.
- Consumer desire to save time:
“People are working later so they
want to be able to pick up something on
the way home. That's why we came up with
our Express convenience stores - they
are now our most popular format, and provided
the inspiration for our expansion into
the United States."
- The “Immortality”
factor: Consumers looking for
healthy foods, and beauty and other products
to reduce aging. Leahy cited the fantastic
growth of organic foods.
- Globalization: Impacts
product sourcing, market expansion opportunities,
and sourcing of services. Leahy said almost
all of Tesco’s IT resources are
now in India.
- Consumer access to information:
Not only can consumers compare prices
with a click of a mouse, they “can
look at a retailer's ethical or environmental
policies and find out what is being said
about them anywhere in the world."
- Importance of trust:
Leahy said this is increasingly important
to consumers, takes years to build, but
can be heavy damaged in an instant.
- “Green” consumerism:
"All our research shows that consumers
are more and more aware of their carbon
footprint, and that they want us to help
them tackle climate change,” according
to Leahy.
While these are all pretty well-known trends,
it is a pretty good summary of what is driving
many retailers today. The two questions
that occur to us are: (1) How can retailers
exploit these well-known trends in a way
that provides differentiation? and
(2) How can the supply chain best support
those strategies?
What are your thoughts on Leahy’s
seven trends? What would you add? What role
can supply chain play, if any? Let us know
your thoughts. |