Not many, if any at all, have found more success than Walmart has in the retail sector this century. JP Suarez, who once served as a regulator in the second George Bush Administration, was also Walmart's Regional International CEO for several years.
At an ICSC NEW YORK panel moderated by Tom McGee, president and CEO, ICSC, Suarez highlights one thing that retailers get wrong — and it pertains to overlooking in-store shoppers.
DON'T NEGLECT IN-STORE SHOPPERS
Yes, e-commerce continues to grow and has been booming in recent years. However, still about half of consumers shop in-store — representing a significant share and it's important to keep that group happy. Suarez, who now serves as ICSC's chairman, noted that some retailers put so much focus on the online component of retail that the in-store shopper feels neglected.
"The customer that's walking in feels disadvantaged because they're competing with these big carts and these big picking [up] stations," he said.
"Having a store where customers shop, and you have personal shoppers in there, seems to be the model that works."
Suarez added on that point, noting that the brand itself matters to customers and offering them various different ways to shop.
"The customer is going to change the channel in which they shop, depending on their needs, but the customer is going to be loyal if you give them the choice to shop multiple different ways," he explained.
"They don't want to shop just one way."
According to Suarez, Walmart succeeds by putting the customer "in an interaction and an interface with the brand."
Also, when he was with the largest retailer in the world, each store was responsible for its own profit and losses, as well as customer interaction.
GROCERY ALSO MAKES BIG BOX DIFFERENCE
Walmart, while it's been around for over 60 years now — didn't adopt online shopping until 1996. And yet, it's the second-largest e-commerce player in the world currently — only behind Amazon. Another thing that's been a game changer for Walmart was adopting grocery, something that's turned into an essential in the big box retail space.
This has helped Walmart boost its margins, as customers shop for both food and apparel in the same sitting, according to Suarez.
"That makes you a more competitive grocer, because now you're not playing with 1%, 2% margins, you're playing with 5% margins, 6% margins, and you can be much more aggressive on price," he emphasized.
From growth, expansion, to convenience — this all contributes to making Walmart the largest retailer.
Safe to say, giving customers multiple ways to shop and offering the ones who visit the store a premier experience will offer a competitive advantage for retailers today.
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