According to one study, high maintenance costs were the main reason for closing establishments this 2019 (39%). Forecasts for this year
29.02.2020 • 23:39hs • Companies
Companies
Attention large, medium and small companies: a single word is the "key" to survive so much competition
The Location Management platform Geolink published its annual report "The Future of Retail Intelligence 2020", in which the responses of more than 600 professionals from Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States are analyzed in order to show the evolution of the retail sector in The last twelve months.
At the same time, 600 consumers have been surveyed in order to discover if retailers and consumers are aligned and thus demonstrate the trends that will mark 2020. Some of the main findings state that:
In those countries, high maintenance costs were the main reason for closing establishments this 2019 (39%). In turn, the percentage of retailers that said they were planning to open new stores this 2020 fell to 63%, that is, 8 percentage points less than the previous year.
These variables suggest an end of expansion as the only engine, giving way to optimization. This year, diversified growth will gain adherents, allowing retailers to adapt their offer according to one context or another and manage their points of sale individually without multiplying costs.
A good store experience is the most valued by consumers when choosing a brand, and 48% of retailers are not doing anything about it. On the other hand, 48% of consumers would be willing to stop buying a brand if it is not sustainable, and 56% of brands are not implementing such actions.
In short, there is a disagreement between retailers and consumers that results in loss of opportunities by the former and in the search for alternatives by the latter.
The omnichannel seems to be dying of success. Most professionals claim to be implementing omnichannel strategies successfully, with especially striking data in the fashion (72%), electronics and consumption (67%) and food and supermarkets (66%) sectors.
However, the question opens up if professionals are confusing omnichannel with the mere coexistence of several channels whose integration into a unified experience for the consumer remains unsolved.
The positioning of the brands gives clear winners in the perception of consumers: in Spain, Repsol is the most sustainable service station network, Mercadona has the most innovative store format, El Corte Inglés takes gold in experience against the other large areas, and Nike has a great advantage over its competitors in product customization in all markets.
On the launch of The Future of Retail Intelligence 2020, Jaime Laulhé, Founder and CEO of Geoblink, states that: "The results of this report demonstrate the need for retailers to move towards a new retail model to manage and optimize the locations of integral way, having a 360º vision that allows them to understand the factors that influence each point of sale and thus take the appropriate actions ".