Shifting 'Beyond Retail'

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The retail industry is confronted with unprecedented change. Economic turmoil in traditional markets, technological advances and shifting consumer needs are combining to reshape the retail landscape faster than retailers are able to react. There are a number of growth opportunities in new emerging markets, but these markets are often logistically challenging, complex and culturally unique which bring a different set of challenges to the modern retailer.

Today's consumers have vastly different and more sophisticated expectations of experience, product, value and store environment than even three years ago. In the new multichannel reality, the boundaries between virtual and physical space are becoming blurred and retailers are continuously questioning the role and adaptation of physical stores in an environment where their relevance to consumers is continuously challenged.

Stores are only part of customer experience

While the store experience will remain important for many shoppers, it is very different from the role it once enjoyed when a physical store was the only place where a merchant and customer could connect. Stores are now becoming just one part of a larger, more connected customer experience, and retailers are struggling with how to remain relevant as environmental and societal pressures force them to rethink their operating model in the world of 'Retail Beyond'.

Technology has also had a major impact. Today, many consumers hop on smartphones or tablets to browse social networks or shopping applications to find product information, interact with their friends, read customer reviews, compare prices or buy items. Consumers are connected to the internet through smart, portable and highly usable devices. They are in control of the technology they use and expect the latest technology from retailers. As consumers become well informed, they are increasingly taking charge of their own shopping experience, identifying and leveraging different sources of information and channels to optimise the different elements of the shopping journey.

With these sizeable shifts in the retail landscape, traditional retailers are finding it harder to keep pace with evolving consumer attitudes and expectations - and may not have time to catch up. Many are at a crossroads where they need to rethink how they can transform their stores, strategies and operating models into a world of 'Retail Beyond' to attract the loyalty and larger share of customer spend. Retail executives, trapped in a real world of bricks and mortar, are wondering how to adapt their stores to a next-generation format.

Sales associates change to meet new world expectations

The role of the store associate will also change in the world of Retail Beyond. Tech savvy and connected customer experience service associates will become a core differentiator in the retailer's arsenal. Understandably, retailers are unpacking what the roles and responsibilities of their sales associates will look like in this new world.

Although a few retailers are embracing the transformation, many are grappling with how to create a well-integrated strategy for this new paradigm of 'Retail Beyond'. Modern and forward-looking retailers need a strategy that is attuned to the needs and expectations of the evolving consumer, brings the right technology into the physical space and can deliver a highly satisfying customer experience.

Deloitte believes that retailers who combine the sensory experience of a brick-and-mortar store with online integration using technology to create a differentiated and personal customer experience can gain the upper hand in this intensely competitive environment.