Andrew Smith

"Adapting to Change: Five Essential Strategies for Agile Retail As the retail landscape continues to transform at a rapid pace, the capacity to adjust quickly is not merely a boon—it's an absolute requirement. At Barque & Star, we've identified five key strategies that retailers need to adopt in order to remain agile and flourish amidst change: 1. Exploiting Data-Driven Insights 📊 Utilize the potential of sophisticated analytics and AI to uncover hidden opportunities and make real-time, informed decisions. By employing data, retailers can promptly react to changes in consumer behavior and fine-tune their strategies. 2. Nurturing an Innovative Culture 💡 Promote a culture of constant improvement and experimentation throughout your organization. Enable your teams to think out of the box, take measured risks, and learn from both triumphs and missteps. This agile approach will keep you ahead of the competition. 3. Developing Resilient Supply Chains 🌐 Diversify your supplier base, prepare contingency plans, and invest in technology that augments visibility and flexibility. By establishing agile supply chains, retailers can minimize risks and ensure they can meet customer demands during disruptions. 4. Emphasizing Customer-Centricity 🤝 Stay in tune with evolving customer expectations and adjust your offerings accordingly. Adopt omnichannel strategies, personalize experiences, and focus on smooth, effortless interactions across all touchpoints. 5. Forging Strategic Partnerships 🤝 Team up with industry experts, technology providers, and other stakeholders to gain new perspectives, access novel capabilities, and expedite innovation. At Barque & Star, we take pride in being a trusted partner, collaborating closely with our clients to drive swift, sustainable growth. Embracing agility is not a one-off undertaking—it's a continuous commitment. By adopting these strategies and nurturing a culture of adaptability, retailers can secure their success in even the most unpredictable environments. Ready to start on your journey of agility? Let's connect and discover how Barque & Star can guide you through the ever-evolving retail landscape with assurance. #AgileRetail #DataDrivenDecisions #CustomerCentricity #SupplyChainResilience #StrategicPartnerships #BarqueAndStar"

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BRILLIANT RESEARCH: Five 2024 Holiday Shopping Predictions https://lnkd.in/emwXStw7  Holiday shopping will look different for retailers this year.  After remaining largely resilient throughout four years of economic uncertainty, consumers are finally feeling the pinch.  Nearly a third of global shoppers (32%) reported using alternative credit services like buy now, pay later (BNPL) more frequently this year #retail Digital Commerce 360

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“First up... Are organisations seeing the ROI of their AI efforts? Is the time, cash and people investment delivering the expected results? Is it too soon to tell? Is Gen AI about status or strategy? Who is getting it right? Who is getting it wrong?” My take: I will be very interested in the outcome. Need to be pragmatic while simultaneously embracing a transformative technology. Business First, Technology Second is my mantra. If we are not getting business value for the company, I am not interested. #generativeAi #ai

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It is an excellent report from a local Washington grocer. Shopping local and using circular economy practices reduce stress on our larger ecosystem. Food Co-ops provide a necessary community resource. I took away six wins for the Circular Economy in the PCC report as the company walks the talk. Reduction of Waste to Landfill Sustainable Packaging Energy and Water Use Mitigation Green Building Practices Sustainable Sourcing Practices Recycling Initiatives Of particular interest are PCC’s efforts in Sustainable Packaging. According to The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about 28% (82.2 million tons) of waste generation packaging to wrap or protect goods is created annually. With PCC Community Markets partnership with Seadrunar for select stores, they are reducing landfills for plastic film and the recycling of cardboard. Data wins the day, as the report notes. Reducing the packaging footprint is of interest to all grocers because it will impact the bottom line, community, and the larger environment. I was recently introduced to the CEO of Truen, a clothing manufacturer that uses very sturdy seaweed-based bags. The bags are touted to be 100% biodegradable and may provide an alternative to food-grade materials. Look for an interview in an upcoming Retail Radar. What is at the top of your mind for sustainability in grocers? #Innovation #RetailStrategy #Sustainability #CircularEconomy

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Reflections from last week’s Retail Technology Show: Energy, innovation, foresight, hindsight, resilience and humility came across in spades as both keynotes and firesides alike talked through their retail journey’s candidly, referencing both their challenges and successes, as they continue to navigate the omnichannel world and deliver for the modern day consumer, alongside embracing the ever growing potential of AI and it’s increasing ability to drive huge efficiencies. United in their thinking, many of the keynotes were keen to explain their thoughts regarding AI being first and foremost an assist, not a threat to, the longstanding principles of great retail. Hints and tips on where to start when integrating AI into a retail business and the continued importance of testing came across loud and clear, coupled with the narrative that it’s introduction will not necessarily remove jobs, but rather the scope of jobs within businesses will change. Dex Hunter-Torricke referenced that for every one job that was displaced by the internet, 2 were actually created, and that in all probability It’s likely to be a similar case with AI, the world simply doesn’t yet know exactly what all the new jobs will look like, wiith many of them still to be created. Numerous amazing live use case examples were put forward for AI from multiple brands and retailers. It was incredible to hear from Melissa Snover about AI’s usage in quality control during the production of Nourished's personalised vitamin stack, alongside her vision for AI’s future capabilities in assisting the NHS with public health. Craig Ash was keen to remind us that UK consumers have become expert at navigating omnichannel. When interacting with product, they simply 'just see the brand', giving far less thought to the channel itself. It was inspiring to hear how expertly Swarovski service their customers at every touch point. And how online merges with in-store to create the ultimate shopping experience. It was standing room only in TikTok Shop’s seminar on social commerce as Maddie Forman eloquently explained the current and future impact the channel offers, alongside plenty of insight into its incredible ability to engage, inspire and convert today’s mobile loving consumer. With plenty of useful tips around content and maximising conversion, there was probably more note taking amongst the audience in this session than any other I sat in! I’ve come away with so many insights from the show (far too many to write about here - the above is just a splattering) but remain more confident than ever that the future remains bright for the retail industry, despite many of the obvious challenges. An industry putting this much energy and effort into sustaining, enhancing, collaborating and ultimately growing its greatness can only achieve brilliant things. Here's to the future of retail! #retail #retailgrowth #omnichannelretail #futureofretail

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The key to a high conversion rate is minimizing store traffic to 5 or less visitors. I can get north of 80% with this one simple trick.

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It's not all Hype 🤖 Retail Week has named THG as one of the top 3 UK retailers leveraging adaptive AI! At THG, we've been using AI since 2016 to enhance customer experiences and streamline our processes way before all the hype. From smarter search functionalities to influencer revenue forecasting, we're seeing significant benefits across the board. Proud to be part of a team that's leading the way in AI innovation. Check out the report for exclusive insights from industry leaders and experts. #RetailInnovation #AdaptiveAI #THG #AIAdopters @RetailWeek

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The opportunity of the fitting room, the intimate moment when customers are deeply in their moment of interest and intent, is still a fairly untapped opportunity by brands and retailers in the way it could be. With more mainstream adoption of RFID, coupled with the implementation of connected technology, newwe opportunities for brands and retailers to streamline fitting room operations and improve customer experiences is rising and the more brands can demystify product information, suggest outfitting and elevate customer service at those moments of intention the more value is provided. How Under Armour Turned Fitting Rooms into CX and Data-Gathering Differentiators in partnership with Crave Retail (and how they are testing, learning, iterating and optimizing): https://lnkd.in/e-QdCKNy cc Retail TouchPoints, #retailtech #smartfittingrooms

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Umm … no, Electronic Shelf Labels are not “a loss for #consumers.” But the amount of fearmongering over #ESLs, and more broadly, #DynamicPricing, is a clear signal to #retailers that they have a lot of work to do on regaining #trust, especially when it comes to pricing. Four years of #inflation (US #grocery prices are 25% higher than pre-Covid levels) combined with a too-aggressive rollout of self-checkout which shifted a lot of work from retailers to shoppers have made #consumers less trusting of retailers and brands (only half of US consumers trust the companies they do business with, down from 59% in 2017). There’s no #SilverBullet to regain trust, but more #transparency and clear #communication (to consumers as well as frontline associates) will be part of any strategy to get there. https://lnkd.in/edimhccv

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Great article by Siro! If you are in retail and have interest in private brands, this is a fabulous summary of recommendations for how to innovate and drive engagement with shoppers. #dunnhumby

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The latest census data revealed a surprising trend: consumers are still selectively spending money on discretionary items despite inflationary pressures. Notably, purchases of toys – such as building sets, plush toys, and outdoor games – fall into this discretionary spending category, with 43% of adults reporting a toy purchase for themselves in the past year. #consumerinsights #retailsales #toys

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Many people have been asking me lately: "Do you use AI, specifically generative AI, in your business? What have you done and how?" The answer often surprises them. While AI can deliver impressive results, it isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. In many cases, other strategies may be more effective than generative AI. However, there are indeed situations where AI has made a significant impact in retail business.🤝 I have been following ShiSh S. to stay updated on the latest success stories of retail companies leveraging AI. I had the pleasure of meeting ShiSh during a Footprints AI event in Bucharest. It was one of those encounters that leaves a lasting impression—bringing clarity to various topics while also providing plenty of food for thought.🌟 AI is transforming the retail landscape, and it's exciting to see how it's being applied in innovative ways. But we have to remember that each situation must be carefully evaluated to determine the best approach for your business.🚀🛍️ #AI #Retail #Innovation #Leadership #Technology #ContinousLearning #Omnichannel #Retail #CustomerExperience

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Next reflects on a successful half year. The British retailer has revised its profit expectations upwards. While pure players Asos and Boohoo, also from the United Kingdom, struggle to maintain their online sales, Next continues to grow digitally, especially abroad. This is evident from Next’s recent quarterly and half-year reports. The revenue growth of 8.4 percent at the group level is partly due to the acquisition of the lifestyle brand FatFace and the increased stake in Reiss. However, the company is also achieving incremental growth.

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Groceryshop & Shoptalk Exclusive: Tesco is one of the global pioneers of grocery ecommerce, its UK ecommerce business alone now generating turnover of nearly £6bn a year. And Today, Tesco has announced the creation of Transcend Retail Solutions, a new business unit to sell fulfilment solutions and consulting to other retailers. The first customer is Foodstuffs North Island Limited New Zealand, now operating stores with the Transcend manual pick solution. To understand this further, the Groceryshop team spent the day in Cambridge, England, at Tesco’s Bar Hill Extra store. Huge thanks again to Keith Chapman and Tom Williams for showing us around. This store has recently been “right sized”, with 20k sq.ft. sales area of the 105k sq.ft. repurposed to house one of Tesco’s nine UK micro-fulfilment centres (MFC). Most Tesco ecommerce orders are manually store picked from open stores. It operates centralised ecommerce warehouses (“dark stores”) around London, however store pick has been identified as the most profitable route, until sales densities reach a suitable level for an MFC. The Bar Hill MFC was installed once it reached sufficient demand to utilize the automation; manual store pick continues across the rest of the store to manage continued growth in demand. Our three key learnings from our day in-store with Tesco were: * People, processes and technology integration is key. Good automation is really important, yet only really delivers when all comes together. At Tesco a single store manager owns the full store, public-facing and MFC. They obsess over the end-to-end process & integrated its into the store, from having one single goods-in door for all deliveries, to grocery knowledge. Ecommerce systems are fully integrated into the store systems and tech stack. * MFC’s aren’t the one silver bullet, and only justify the CapEx once order density is sufficient. Primary focus must be on optimizing manual store pick models and systems. Tesco’s ecommerce operation & picking algorithm has been continuously developed for 25+ years, and since adopting this technology, Foodstuffs are recording pick rate increases of 70%. Network mapping is key to understand the tipping point where MFC’s deliver the required ROI. * Working with store teams and supporting a mindset change, from thinking as retailers to thinking as efficient fulfillers is critical, and often underestimated. Engaging and supporting this process, with appropriate tools and incentives, is critical to success. Against a backdrop of mixed news from the micro-fulfilment sector of late, seeing Tesco’s clarity that, when done right, MFC’s are working, was exciting. We’re looking forward to exploring all this in more detail at Groceryshop next month in Las Vegas (7th to 9th October). Dr. Oliver Vogt, who has led the development of Transcend at Tesco, be joining us on stage, as will Lindsay Rowles, General Manager Retail at Foodstuffs NZ. See you then.

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𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫 could be a cover story every month in convenience. This month it 𝘪𝘴 the cover for CStore Decisions. 🌐 "Since the arrival of the pandemic" – 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲! – "technology evolution has been on fast-forward for convenience stores." C-store retailers are navigating all sorts of tech, all in a race against the rest of their local market. 🔮 Artificial intelligence 📲 Mobile apps 💳 Self-checkout systems 💫 Loyalty programs ⛽ Fuel dispensers 🔌 EV chargers This quote from Todd Hauptmann, VP of IT for Road Ranger sums it up well: "If you love change, this is a great time to be involved in technology." #convenience #digital

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Nice article on what's in store for Amazon after amazing run for 30 years. Amazon's succesful expansion into areas such as cloud computing (Amazon Web Services), streaming services (Amazon Prime Video), smart home devices (Amazon Echo), and grocery delivery (Amazon Fresh) have diversified its revenue streams and solidified its position as a tech giant. As Amazon continues to grow, the company must navigate how to sustain its rapid expansion while also addressing concerns about its impact on society and the environment. In order to maintain its growth trajectory, Amazon may need to focus on integrating its various businesses to create a seamless customer experience, as well as exploring new markets and industries for potential growth opportunities. With increasing regulatory scrutiny and concerns about its environmental impact, Amazon will need to adapt its practices to meet changing expectations from consumers and regulators. The company's size presents challenges in terms of delivering products efficiently in Western countries, leading to investments in technologies like drones and autonomous vehicles to improve delivery times. Emerging markets like India, Mexico, and Brazil offer significant growth potential for Amazon, but the company must navigate unique challenges in these regions such as regulatory hurdles and competition from local players. Chinese rivals like Temu and Shein pose a threat to Amazon's dominance in the global e-commerce market, with their competitive pricing strategies and focus on fast fashion appealing to a younger demographic. Amazon's reliance on fast delivery may be challenged by Chinese retailers offering lower prices at the expense of speed, forcing the company to rethink its delivery strategy to remain competitive. As technology continues to evolve, Amazon may face competition from new innovations like artificial intelligence that could disrupt the e-commerce industry and change the way consumers shop online. #amazon #retail

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This interview with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is a #retail #masterclass. A bit of context and perspective, combined with a lot of detail about every aspect of their business — #merchandising, #SupplyChain, #stores, #digital / #omnichannel, #international, #technology, #marketplaces, #RMNs, and more. And this will make an excellent base prompt for a retail #AI assistant — one of my #WeekendProjects

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