We are just witnessing the start of the radical changes in retail that will revolutionize shopping in every way. As Amazon and other disruptors continue to offer ever-greater value, customers' expectations will continue to ratchet up, making winning (and keeping) those customers all the more challenging. For some retailers, the changes will push customers permanently out of their reach—and their companies out of business.
In The Shopping Revolution, Barbara E. Kahn, a foremost retail expert and professor at The Wharton School, examines the companies that have been most successful during this wave of change, and offers fresh insights into what we can learn from their ascendance.
● How did Amazon become the retailer of choice for a large portion of the US population, and how can other companies work with them or compete with them?
● How did Walmart beat out other grocers in the late 1990s to become the leader in food retailing, and how must they pivot to hold their leadership position today?
● How did Warby Parker make a dent in the once-untouchable Luxottica's lucrative eyewear business, and what can that tell start-ups about how to unseat a Goliath?
● How did Sephora draw customers away from once-dominant department stores to become the go-to retailers for beauty products, and what can retailers learn from their success?
● How are luxury and fast-fashion retailers competing in the ever-changing, fickle world of fashion?
Building on these insights, Kahn offers a framework that any company can use to create a competitive strategy to survive and thrive in today's—and tomorrow's—retail environment.
