Are CEOs missing the boat on omni-channel and its impact on their business results? Read about this report from PwC and Forbes on what global retail CEOs are saying are their priorities going forward and why their focus on traditional levers of success may put them out of business. This paper provides a step-by-step blueprint for how CEOs can transform their business and their supply chain operations to profit from the new omni-channel imperatives.
 

Retail is in the midst of its most transformative change in decades.
The rapid rise of the consumer economy and omni-channel retail are drastically changing how retailers must go to market. This is requiring a complete reappraisal of the roles of the store and fulfillment in retail profitability and growth.

Not all retail CEOs are yet attuned to the implications of this transformation, however. In a recent global survey of CEOs conducted by PwC and Forbes, only 34 percent perceived the rise of the multi-channel environment to be a threat, and only 22 percent felt it would have a big effect on their companies. Furthermore, a mere 19 percent thought failing to meet customer expectations across all channels would be a likely challenge for them.

Considering the apparent breakdown in a majority of retail CEOs’ grasp of the significance of the omni-channel transformation happening around the world today, it is not surprising that rather than invest in the means to adapt to this new environment, CEOs are pushing the same old levers of growth. The top three investment priorities for the CEOs in the survey all centered on traditional expansion—expansion into new markets and regions, expanding their number of stores, and expansion through mergers and acquisitions.

The retail winners going forward will not be determined primarily by the number of stores or markets served, however, but by how well they transform their business operations to provide inspiring and holistic omni-channel shopping experiences for their customers. This will require a redefinition of the role of the store in the omni-channel path-to-purchase and a significant investment in retooling the supply chain to profitably support the complex new array of cross-channel fulfillment options.