Customer-centric retailing – Now you know what ... - Roland Berger

Intervieweyes on sudden shifts in competitive price structure. Anothertrend we might see will be the higher sales of stores'own brands in several categories and subcategories at theexpense of branded goods as consumers look for morevalue for money.But many people have to manage their lives with smallbudgets.Yes, but very few customers are completely price-driven.Tesco, for example, realized that their customers asked forvalue for money and for quality and reasonable service.So they offered a certain range of products which are nowavailable at a very low price and are very comparable todiscounters. The message to the customer is: we are not adiscounter, but you don't need to go to the discounter anymore. Here you get both worlds in one. This is working outvery well for them.Customer centricity must be aligned to the whole companyand embedded in the core processes of sourcing, logistics,category management, merchandising, sales and marketing.And this mindset must be incorporated into the managementsystem and corporate culture. Customer-centric retailing is acorporate philosophy and should thus be part of the long-termcorporate strategy.At the same time, retailers must constantly work on the efficiencyof their retail system without neglecting differentiation.To do this, all potential, from sourcing to logistics to storeoperations, must be identified and realized. And retailers needthe courage to take new paths and change things. So theyshould always look for examples of best practice in order tolearn from them and become better, faster and more efficient.Coming to a conclusion – do you have any advice forthe industry?I can see four key points. Retailers should concentrateon providing and selling more value. To do so, they need toget closer to their customers and understand their needstoday and tomorrow. Thinking in customer segments isincreasingly critical to success.Especially in saturated markets, retailers need to leverageproven marketing and format channels. By identifying andaddressing specific customer needs, they can create additionalareas of growth. One example of this is Auchan'sdrive-through supermarket that exclusively targets a mobilecustomer group. Around 6,000 products are on offer thatcan be bought at a terminal. The products are then directlyloaded into the back of the customer's car.15