To overcome the challenges they face, retailers are realigning their business models around the customer. This might seem to be stating the obvious, but, in fact, traditional retail business models tend to be focused on optimizing the supply chain and constantly improving the retail space. Meanwhile, the demand side of the equation remains largely untapped by retailers.
Accenture research shows that high performance in retail entails putting the customer at the center of the business, articulating strategic intent based on analysis of customer needs and then building the key operational capabilities in alignment with the strategy. However, in a saturated market, consumers have become more demanding. Consumers also no longer fall into neat segments: today's hybrid consumers display different types of behavior depending on the type of goods being sourced.
For example, Consumer A might be a purchaser of premium clothing labels but a discount food shopper, and so on. For retailers, the challenges are obvious: more segments, more analysis and more narrowly customized offerings.
Accenture has the capabilities to help retailers become customer-centric in a phased approach. Our experience in working with some of the world's leading retailers helps to minimize the costs—and risks—of doing so.
Related Research and Insight
To learn more about how Accenture helps retailers transform their businesses to attain high performance, visit Reaching for High Performance in Retailing.