r totally different class of differentiators that consultants are confronted with on a regular basis and these are arguably the most dangerous. They relate to intellectual property (IP). There is not a retailer in existence who does not believe that part of their success is due to the way they do things, in other words, their processes. Software companies prey on this. They acknowledge that there needs to be an 80 per cent or better ‘fit’ for the retailer, which means that the solution on offer has to provide 80 per cent of the processes and functionality used by the retailer. It is then that the fun begins. The software company either has to customise the solution to cater for the 20 per cent mismatch, or the retailer has to change the way they do things – or a bit of both. This is where the arguments commence and invariably the relationship starts to deteriorate. The software company promises to change certain things ‘at cost’ because it can incorporate these in the solution, but the rest the retailer has to pay for. Consulting firms are often called in at some stage, sometimes too late, because the dye has been cast and the contract has been signed with the vendor, which may be the wrong vendor for that retailer. It can be wrong for a number of reasons, including functionality and cultural misfit. Good consultants get paid to advise retailers on what is best, and not what they want to hear, while software companies are paid to tell retailers what they want to hear. The more customisation that can be provided, the more dollars in the kitty. It is the consultant’s role to advise the retailer which processes are not best practice before the software vendor is signed up. This is easier said than done, because the retailer often sees some of their processes as unique and part of their IP, no matter how bad the process may be, and believe me, some are downright rotten and without any logical base – but that is the way they “have always done business around here”. In our experience there are very few retailers that have a really good process that is unique. One such retailer is the very successful chain, Strandbags,  and we would never divulge this process. There are others such as Zara and Woolworths in South Africa (who are busy buying David Jones) where their nimbleness is common knowledge. Zara makes 850 million garments a year and it can take as little as two weeks to design and deliver new trends into 1700 stores.  Woolworths South Africa can now get to market in five to seven weeks with more than 30 per cent of its goods. This is having a profound effect on competitiveness. In their quest for differentiation, many retailers are now focusing on content management, big data, omni-channel, and a host of other buzz words. While this is all good, taking a look at what they think are their differentiators in terms of processes and how they do business may reveal some skeletons in the cupboard which they themselves cannot remember. Stuart Bennie is a retail consultant at Impact Retailing and can be contacted at stuart@impactretailing.com.au or 0414 631 702.