Today’s consumers are faced with more choices than ever when considering how they want to reach a brand. They’re more digitally connected, socially networked and better informed than ever before.
Consumers are saying it’s still so hard to navigate and resolve customer service issues. These growing number of touch-points has had the negative effect of widening the gap between brands and consumers.
This week I attended the “Highlights from the ACRS World Retail Congress” where my time was well spent hearing about merging global trends and retail best practice.
This year’s theme centred on the idea of ‘Transforming retail today, tomorrow and beyond’ to survive in an age of disruption. Retail leaders – Dr. Sean Sands and Dr. Violet Lazarevic – thoughtfully took to the stage and shared their global perspective on these interruptions and trends affecting our industry. Their presentation included key findings from the Global Retail Index plus learnings from their attendance at the 2015 Congress in Rome.
In a situation of retail revolution rather than evolution, long-successful brands are battling to maintain relevance. Speaking in Melbourne at the ACRS Retail Insights Seminar –sponsored by CPM Australia – Dr. Sean Sands, Research Director at the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS), said retail disruption was a key concern for global brands today given the rapid and accelerating pace of change in the sales environment.
