Australian retailers, like their counterparts globally, want to turn the page of disruption of 2020. Yet Australian retailers are unsure exactly what the future will bring.
Much has changed over the past year. But the reality is that many of the changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic – to buying behaviours, to workforce models, to channel mixes and to business models – were underway long before the pandemic. COVID-19 only accelerated these trends (in some cases by 5-10 years), driving an unprecedented level of urgency to retailers’ actions.
As these trends evolve, the links between physical locations and the ability to sell products and services are fraying quickly. And, as they unravel, the shift from ‘retailing’ to ‘consumer commerce’ is picking up speed. Indeed, the entire definition of what it means to be a retailer is changing.
In this point of view, we explain why the market is changing. We describe what the winning business models of the future will look like. And we explore how you can achieve this transformation, outlining the key capabilities and strategies you will need to move your organisation into the future.
Signals of change
Future success for seven types of consumer commerce businesses
The word ‘retail’ is likely to become redundant and will be replaced by ‘consumer commerce’; seven types of business models will emerge as winners going forward.
Eight capabilities, twice as likely to succeed
The eight capabilities of the KPMG Connected Enterprise deliver tools, methods and frameworks to achieve a new, better business-as-usual with agility and accelerated innovation:
- Integrated partner and alliance ecosystem
- Insight-driven strategies and actions
- Innovative products and services
- Digitally-enabled technology architecture
- Seamless interactions and commerce
- Responsive operations and supply chain
- Aligned and empowered workforce
- Experience-centricity by design
These capabilities help retail businesses define a customer-centric approach to digital transformation that connects the front, middle and back offices, which will be of critical importance to navigate the future Consumer Commerce landscape.
Base: 1,299 professionals involved with customer-centric strategy decisions
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of KPMG, September 2018.
Moving from today to tomorrow: towards a connected future
Now that you know what models will win and what capabilities you need in order to succeed, the big question is how to move from ‘here’ to ‘there’. KPMG firms can help you plan the four main steps you will need to take — define, design, pilot and implement.
The first step is to decide which winning business model (or combination of models) is right for your organisation. The answer may be a combination of the winning business models we identified earlier in this report — or it may be a hybrid.
Once you have defined your future business model, consider how each of the key connected capabilities discussed earlier can influence your success. Think about what aspects you must build yourself, what you can buy and who you can partner with to enhance these capabilities.
Test and pilot your strategy in high-priority functional areas, seeking not only to validate your strategy, but also to uncover opportunities to tap into a larger potential for change across the organisation. A deeper dive into the company’s value chain can help identify the best immediate course of action and potential for future change.
Now it all comes down to activating, scaling and improving your strategies across the enterprise. While this will clearly lead to very different roadmaps and priorities for different retailers, the key is to remember that all of your activities, capabilities and plans are connected — from the front office through the middle office and into the back office.
