To say that the last two years have changed the retail industry would be an understatement. But in truth, the pandemic’s largest impact is that it simply sped up trends that have been in play for some time. And, according to a former Coca-Cola exec, if retailers don’t look at what industry leaders in parts of Asia are doing, they’re likely to be left behind. According to Kantar senior retail consultant Barry Thomas, who spent 25 years at Coca-Cola as the global business’ head
head of customer marketing and future of commerce , retailers in China, such as Alibaba and Tencent, are already at the forefront of what he describes as the next era of commerce.
“[They’re] much more real-time, more responsive, there’s more data-capture algorithms managing more decisions out of sight, and AI and automation are really taking off,” Thomas explained.
“We’re talking about big macro marketplaces like Alibaba, Amazon and JD, and the key here is that we’re moving toward more digitised, synchronised, harmonised, unified data platforms. You really want to be leaning in and partnering with these major platforms for so many reasons.”
Working backwards, moving forwards
“According to Thomas, retailers need to take on a “dual transformation” approach to catch up to retail players like Alibaba and Tencent.”
This means keeping the majority of a business focused on the needs to today, while also experimenting with and preparing for the future.
Thomas pointed to Netflix as an example of how the dual transformation approach tends to work. In the 2000’s, the streaming giant was focused on keeping its DVD rental platform operating smoothly while also investing in on-demand video streaming. The result is a multi-billion dollar company today.
“Some would call this working backwards,” Thomas said.
“You need to have a point of view on [the future], and then work backwards from that point to understand what your business needs to do to get there.
“You’ll need to have pilots and experiments, and some will fail, but some will work, and in many cases you may end up creating a new business model [in the process]. This is an algorithm that winning enterprises are moving forward with.”
Getting staff onboard with AI
Another important part of the future of commerce will be how customer data is used in conjunction with AI and automation to deliver a strong experience.
Stores are already becoming customer data capture points for businesses, and feeding that data into an algorithm to determine how to serve that customer in future is key.
If a business doesn’t have the speed and agility to take advantage of the predictions and recommendations given by its data, the effort is all for naught, said Thomas.
Equally important is ensuring frontline staff are taken along on the AI journey and made aware of how it will help them do their jobs.
“If a leadership team can be very overt and transparent around what’s happening with AI in the business, and what changes are required, you can get a real competitive advantage [by having staff onboard],” Thomas said.
