DC13-073 March 12, 2013
Radical transformation needed if retailers are to succeed in achieving retailtopia'
Future vision of retailing involves fundamental restructure of operating models
High-street retailers must act now to transform their internal and customer facing operations if they are to remain competitive in the face of unparalleled pressure from online competitors and increasing customer expectations that's according to an expert panel of retail and supply chain executives, who laid out a future vision for the sector at the Retail Business Technology Expo in London today.
The Retailtopia' panel of experts believe many businesses could be underestimating the scale and urgency of the transformation needed to thrive in an omnichannel' world, where customers interact with retailers through a variety of channels and expect seamless and consistent service regardless of which is being used. The panel said the underlying supply chain model needed to support omnichannel retailing is structurally different from traditional bricks and mortar retailing and needs to be overhauled if businesses are to succeed.
Jim Spittle FCILT, chairman of the Retailtopia panel, said: Two themes really sum-up the panel's thinking on the future of retail, and the first of those is transformation'.
Retailers must develop a modern, connected supply chain which can cater for the modern consumer somebody who interacts with them in-store, on the web, over the phone and through their mobile. Failure to deliver in one or more of those channels makes it hard for consumers to deal with them and risks a loss of business in an ultra-competitive world.
The second theme the panel identified was urgency', because the move to omnichannel retailing is happening now. In the omnichannel world, barriers to customer switching disappear. Consumers have a choice of product and retailer at their fingertips and competition is fiercer than ever before. Customer loyalty is a thing of the past. The message is clear; the time for action is now.
The panel recommended that retailers re-evaluate their entire operations from customer service to supply chain and even question if they have the right skills and experience in the boardroom to succeed in an omnichannel world.
One of the major challenges highlighted by the panel was a huge growth in returns from customers. The panel estimated that retailers in some sectors can expect as much as 40 per cent of the products sent out to customers to be returned. On this scale, the total volume of returns could dwarf the amount of brand new goods from any individual manufacturer entering a retailer's supply chain.
The panel said that new systems and advanced performance metrics are needed to fix reverse logistics' the process used to handle returns - treating the consumer as an integrated part of the supply chain. It strongly recommended that retailers do not hold returned stock at full value, as it can result in an unrealistic view of their balance sheet. It is unlikely that returned goods will ever be sold at the original full price and this should be recognised by retailers at the point of receipt. It also called for a change of heart by high street retailers, as many see returns as troublesome rather than a valuable opportunity to attract customer footfall to their stores.
The panel recommended that retailers should create new collaborative relationships within the supply chain and with other retailers. The panel encouraged retailers to share distribution channels and costs even with rivals in order to become more efficient and successful. It also called for retailers to harness big data and adopt common standards to ease the flow of goods and information from one part of the supply chain to another to improve security, efficiency and traceability.
Emer Timmons, President of BT Global Services UK, said: We encourage our retail and supply chain customers to consider these recommendations carefully. Fifty-four major retailers failed in 2012, the worst year since 2008, affecting 48,000 employees and almost 4,000 stores so the risks of doing nothing are clear.
But it doesn't have to be this way. By taking on board recommendations from the panel today, retailers can take a big step towards achieving the Retailtopia vision of tomorrow. For some, changes of mindset will be needed encompassing everything from embracing the online world to welcoming customers returning goods to stores and recognising that they are not creating a problem but generating more footfall and more opportunities to sell. For some the transformation will be radical but for all, the time to act is now.
The Retailtopia panel looked at emerging technologies and trends in customer service and supply chain and identified the huge potential of big data to drive improved consumer experience, innovation and greater operational efficiency in supply chains.
To read more about the panel's recommendations and to see video interviews with panel members, visit bt.com/retailtopia.
- ENDS-
For further information
Enquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial + 44 20 7356 5369. All news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.btplc.com/News
Notes to Editors
Retailtopia brings together some of the best minds and practitioners from the retail supply chain to consider the future of the industry. The first Retailtopia in 2012 looked at how retailers could use technology to improve the customer experience and drive growth.
Retailtopia 2013, funded again this year by BT, focuses on how to build the retail supply chai
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
DC13-073 March 12, 2013 
