After examining what the deal market rewards, what distinguishes stronger retail businesses, and how those capabilities are built, the obvious question remains: What should leaders do next?

The answer is to build an enterprise that performs well, earns genuine customer loyalty and can adapt as conditions change. Transaction options may follow, but they are an outcome of capability rather than a substitute for it.

That is the central message of the fourth and final e-book based on Grant Thornton Australia’s Retail Dealtracker 2026. As retailers look towards 2027 and beyond, the strategic challenge is choosing where to compete, where to invest, and what kind of organisation they need to execute those choices – while continuing to test whether the advantage they have built will remain relevant.

The business model matters more than the sector

Retail leaders are making those decisions as customers remain selective, costs squeeze margins, and technological change creates both opportunity and risk. The businesses best placed to navigate that environment will not necessarily be those chasing the fastest-growing category.

According to Tam Goldin, Partner – Financial Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia, sector exposure is only part of the equation.

“The businesses best positioned will be those that combine a clear customer proposition with the ability to deliver consistently and scale without adding too much complexity,” Goldin says.

“That could be a specialist business with strong customer loyalty, a scaled operator that has built strong procurement or distribution practices, or a retailer in a category with stable demand. The sector matters, but the underlying business model matters more.”

The Retail Dealtracker illustrates the point: Automotive businesses in consumer discretionary traded at 11.2x earnings, compared with 6.4x for apparel. Yet performance and valuation also differ within the same segments.

The priority, then, is not to determine which category will win, but where an individual retailer has an advantage that customers value, and competitors will find difficult to reproduce.

Decide what deserves investment

Retailers must decide which capabilities will protect or extend their advantage, recognising that capital, technology and management attention are finite.

The priority could be sharpening the customer proposition, simplifying operations, lifting productivity or improving data quality. Investment must support the position the retailer is trying to build rather than add complexity without a clear return.

Technology brings that choice into sharp focus: The challenge is no longer whether retailers should experiment with AI, but where technology can improve customer value, decision-making or operating economics.

“The biggest decisions will not be about which piece of technology or AI tool to implement,” says Kirsten Ridgway, Head of Retail and Consumer Products and Partner – Management Consulting at Grant Thornton Australia. “They’ll be about where technology could genuinely change the way the business operates or creates value, and what that means for the organisation.”

That means that retailers must start with a business problem, test applications against measurable outcomes and decide what to scale, change or stop. It may also mean strengthening data and processes before investing in another platform.

Keep testing the advantage

A strong position today is not guaranteed to remain strong. Customer expectations shift, new entrants emerge, and innovations in other markets can quickly reset ideas of convenience, value and experience.

Ridgway says retailers should therefore look beyond the competitors they know.

“That means watching new entrants, adjacent businesses, and developments in other markets, not just the businesses you compete with today,” she says, citing second-hand clothing and accessories marketplace Vinted as an example of a proposition that has quickly challenged established resale platforms in Australia.

She says the lesson should be not to respond to every challenger or replicate overseas trends. Leaders need a reliable way to distinguish a meaningful shift from noise and recognise when a previously successful assumption needs revisiting.

The businesses that remain competitive won’t necessarily be those that move fastest on every new development. They’ll be those that understand what could affect their customers or competitive position and make deliberate choices about when to respond. 

Build an organisation that can respond

The final decision concerns the organisation itself. A strategy has limited value if decision-making is slow, accountability is unclear, or leaders lack reliable information about what is and is not working.

Retailers cannot predict exactly how customers, technology or competition will evolve. They can build the capacity to respond through leadership depth, clear accountability, timely information and operating rhythms that turn insight into action.

“Leaders need to be clear about what they want the business to be known for and whether the operating model, people and technology support that ambition,” Ridgway says.

“The next three to five years will also require flexibility. It’s difficult to predict exactly how customers, technology or competition will evolve, so retailers need the ability to make good decisions and adapt quickly. 

“Building that agility is just as important as getting individual strategic decisions right,” she concludes.

For retail leaders, that brings the series back to its central principle. Enduring value is not created by chasing an exit, a trend or a favourable cycle. It comes from building a business with a relevant proposition, disciplined economics and the organisational capability to keep adapting. The stronger those foundations become, the more strategic options the business is likely to have.

• Explore the three decisions that will define the next phase of Australian retail and the questions leaders should be asking now. Download the fourth e-book here.