‘Time for Radical Change’ was the strapline for this week’s Retail Week Live event (May 24-25), with speakers including retail champion Mary Portas.
“This is a new world we’re entering,” said Mary, who called on retail businesses to work harder to find ‘meaningful philosophies’ that connect with customers. “Covid was a catalyst for many cultural changes that were bubbling under for such a long time, and now the way we live and shop has fundamentally changed,” she acknowledged. “
“We know we’re killing our planet, so people are thinking much more carefully about where they’re buying from. And we’re seeing so many social injustices in the world and people with much less, leveraged by the war in Ukraine and prices going up. The heart of great retail is always understanding those changes that are happening and being able to serve them and give the best response to people.”
Mary continued: “We’ve seen so many retailers fail because they were operationally brilliant but lacked this creative heart. What they were missing is the big piece in the middle which is about how you connect through your behaviours to your customers.
“To succeed, businesses need a philosophy that is the way they truly behave. Not just a purpose or the vision of what they stand for but a real belief system that connects to what people actually now believe in.”
Launching the event, Retail Week editor, Luke Tugby, commented: “Winning customer loyalty, growing sales, attracting a skilled and diverse workforce, and doing good for the planet has always been tough in our brilliantly competitive UK market – but doing so has never been more difficult, nor more important, than it is today.
“Businesses must constantly evolve if they are to achieve those goals and retain relevance. If ever there was time for radical change, it’s now.”
Top: Retail Week editor Luke Tugby launched this week’s Retail Week Live, a two-day conference held at London’s Old Billingsgate.
