The Future of Retail

What’s inside?

In little over a decade, the retail landscape has changed out of all recognition. The shift to online retailing, for instance. The rise of omnichannel. The demise of department stores. The shrinking High Street, and the move to edge-of-town retail parks. Growing consumer demand for same-day home deliveries. The impact on retail supply chains has been just as great, with both retailers and their suppliers under pressure to develop innovative new capabilities.

So where is retail heading? How exactly are retail supply chains changing? Which strategies should retailers—and their suppliers, and logistics partners—adopt, in response? And what skills—and technologies—are coming to the fore as retailers, suppliers, and logistics partners embrace this brave new world? Talking to experts, this paper investigates.

“Paradigms that reliably worked for decades—if not centuries—have been broken. Today’s consumers are emphatically not the same as yesterday’s: they want different things, and a different retail experience. In return, retailers must evolve, or perish as collateral damage in the revolution that is underway.” Authored by Professor Omera Khan.