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The retail world - with its razor-thin margins and relentless big bets on fashions, trends and timing - has never been a haven for the faint of heart. And the global economic uncertainty has put more variables in flux than ever before: traditional segments are breaking down as consumers redefine value and cross-shop from discount to luxury; channel strategy is more complex, as online sales steadily increase and buyers expect higher levels of service. And, amid worldwide consolidation and the expanding dominance of giant chains, retailers are scoring only one-in-three success rates in acquisitions. In other words, growth is tougher than ever.
Bain Retail Holiday Newsletter
 Holiday 2009 comes at the end of a tough year for retailers, and follows last year's record-breaking holiday sales declines. But retailers are well-prepared: Inventories are leaner, value trends are no surprise, and savvy marketers are basing decisions on the needs, wants and behaviors of local shoppers. The Bain Retail newsletter provides relevant information about holiday sales trends and strategies for success in this critical period. Read the Retail newsletter
What are the major retail trends and how can companies prepare for them?
- The Uncommon Consumer: As a downturn hits various parts of the world, many consumers are recalibrating their spending and they are doing so in ways that further reflect increasing demographic and psychographic diversity. There is a growing rebellion against standard offerings. Leading retailers aren't standing still, though. They are increasing sales and full price sell through via smart localization strategies, which tailor offerings by related clusters of consumer behavior across local markets.
Related article: "Localization: a quiet revolution in consumer markets"
- The World Is a Store: Shopping continues to be redefined by the Internet, growth in home shopping, the emergence of mobile commerce, and new brick and mortar buildout. Even considering recent industry turbulence, consumers have more choices than ever of where and when to shop making it ever more difficult to capture their attention and more critical to deliver a compelling value proposition. By taking a multi-channel approach, some retailers are creating a new breed of highly valued customers who shop more frequently.
- Geographic Expansion: Mass retailers are learning how to compete in a fast-shrinking global marketplace. They are rapidly expanding into China, India, Brazil and other fast-growing emerging markets, and they are developing new approaches to internationalization-like pan-European strategies--to reflect changing markets. Our research shows that success will go to retailers who not only stake out the best turf in metropolitan areas, but who also develop the right regional expansion strategies.
Related articles: "Growing beyond your core in retail" and "Chinese land grab reshapes global retail economy."
Bain's experience in Retail consulting
In the past ten years, Bain has completed more than 1,200 projects globally to help retailers tackle their top strategic, operational, financial and organizational issues. Some of the newest and most successful approaches include Localization, Customer-led Growth, and gathering consumer feedback and insights through Net Promoter® Scores (read about Net Promoter Scores on www.theultimatequestion.com).
We help retailers create winning concepts, build targeted offerings for their most attractive customer segments, define the optimal store footprint, design the best multi-channel strategies, improve store operations, layout and store-labor effectiveness, expand through M&A or international growth, assure fast and flexible supply chain management, and sourcing, optimize price and promotion strategies, and more.
Our clients include grocery chains, general merchandise stores, apparel retailers and other specialty retailers (home improvement, home equipment, etc.), convenience stores, drug chains, luxury retailers, restaurants, hotels, and e-tailers.
Bain has a proven track record in providing retailers with customized advice that works. Our Private Equity Group also has extensive experience in equity investments and in strategies for managing portfolios of businesses in the retail industry.
To find out more about our work in this industry, please contact Bain's Retail practice.
® Net Promoter, NPS, and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld |
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