The world of e-commerce has long been the "ogre" that retailers and brands were trying to avoid. But the time has come to tame it - and the stakes are high for those that miss the opportunity.
People are shopping online for an ever-increasing number of products. Even product categories traditionally considered unlikely candidates for online shopping have been swept up by the e-commerce revolution.
This means that retail is now heading toward a single organisation that can respond to demand across multiple channels. Processes need to be integrated from source to sale. Retailers must have a more sophisticated understanding of their relationships with suppliers — all the way through to the shelf or point of sale, that moment where the shopper is engaged and motivated.
This quiet revolution (it’s being happening over the past few years) requires that retailers rethink their business in terms of how consumer demand will now be felt by the value chain not only at the check-out counter, but at any number of Internet-enabled points of sale. This means changes to store layout, merchandise assortment, pricing and bundling terms, and of course people skills. It also means significant change management challenges, leadership questions and systems improvements.
The leaders who will thrive are those who understand both the sales side — including what constitutes a great assortment, presentation, line-up or promotion — and also the supply side, including factors that ensure availability and decent prices. By finding the balance between creating the ideal in-store experience and building an agile supply chain that supports bottom-line savings, retailers will be poised to compete effectively in the e-commerce-enabled future.