Hi Reader,

I've been knocked out with illness this week but the world of retail transformation marches on, so here is your update on the evolution of the market. Sorry for the lateness! We've got an abundance of stories for you this week which really demonstrate some of the key themes that are driving incredible changes in the industry. Also, some exciting book news and the chance to meet up, more details below... Let's get into it.

The John Lewis Partnership has announced its next Chair, indicating a significant shift back to focusing on the core retail offering is on the cards. Jason Tarry will succeed Dame Sharon White and is expected to take over in September. Tarry is an experienced retailer, with 33 years at Tesco under his belt, so this represents a notable shift when considering the criticism White seemed to face for her lack of retail experience. Tarry brings a first-class retail pedigree to the Partnership.

But as a retail leader, what's more crucial: being a great retailer or a great leader? Obviously, "both" is the ideal answer, but this announcement presents a timely opportunity to reflect on the essence of effective retail leadership.

Retail as an industry is demanding and tough, with challenges from volatile market dynamics, fierce competition, and rapidly changing consumer behaviours. Current issues like the surge in retail crime, cost-of-living crisis and supply chain disruptions further add to the pressure. However, retail leaders also need to navigate the high volume / low margin balance which presents little room for error.

Effective retail leaders in retail don't need to have all of the answers, but they must excel at asking the right questions. They must lead a large, geographically distributed and diverse workforce. They must demonstrate empathy for consumers and colleagues alike, whilst also understanding differences between different business niches and categories. It's crucial to continually balance growth opportunities and risk to meet shareholder expectations. Additionally, there is the need to consider people, technology, customers, operating models and commercial strategy whilst creating alignment across the organization too. The ever-evolving world of retail also calls for leaders who combine this retail acumen with visionary thinking, adaptability and classic leadership principles.

So, as Jason Tarry steps up to guide the John Lewis Partnership, his vast experience of leading retail and transformation will be a crucial guiding light in navigating the complexities of the current market. As we look to the future, the question becomes whether we need to develop future leaders who excel in navigating the current retail complexities, embrace disruption and uncertainty, and can reimagine the retail landscape entirely.

This is obviously a huge and very complex topic to cover in a few words. How do you foresee retail leadership changing in the future?

Retail transformation news headlines

💡 The W23 Global venture fund is a collaboration between 5 global supermarket groups to promote retail transformation and innovation. Ahold Delhaize, Tesco, Woolworths, Empire and Shoprite operate a combined 78 brands across the world. The group is looking to invest in start-ups that boost customer experience, drive efficiencies and enhance sustainability.

🥫 Morrisons will install cameras across its store estate to monitor on-shelf availability and boost staff efficiency. The initiative has been trialled and resulted in improved availability on key lines. The vision system provides real-time data about stock levels and automatically provides notifications of what products need to be replenished.

🚓 In England and Wales, assaulting a shop worker will be recognised as a new offence. There has been a significant surge in retail crime and aggression towards frontline colleagues in store. Whilst it's still a small percentage of consumers taking these agregious actions, it still feels like a world away from the respect consumers showed to colleagues during the pandemic. The UK government is also looking to invest £55m into facial recognition technology to combat retail crime. The move has been welcomed by retailers although there are also critics that say similar moves to other professions haven't made a difference. Unfortunately, this issue is unlikely to fix itself and this new offence won't be a silver bullet to act as a simple solution. Everyone is still required to play their part and collaborate effectively.

🤳 JD.com is investing 1 billion yuan (£110m / $138m) in cash incentives to attract more video influencers to its platforms. In particular, it's looking to short-form video and livestreaming as opportunities to drive growth in online shopping and seems to be feeling the competitive pressure from Douyin, TikTok's sister brand. It's looking for high-quality, unique content and plans to amplify reach through algorithms.

📺 Shopsense AI released a retail media platform for broadcast and streaming services that enables shoppable content for TV and movies. Paramount Global debuted the new shopping experience during CBS's CMT Music Awards. It seems traditional media companies are also keen to wrestle control back from TikTok. It's also being deployed with sports shows, allowing viewers to buy team and player merch, and with a new talk show, making it easy to purchase outfits seen, and I would imagine other promotional items as it develops. This move is another demonstration of the merging of content and commerce in a convenient manner.

🤚 Amazon is allowing customers to sign up for their 'pay-by-palm' Amazon One service in their own time. Previously, customers would have to register at a relevant physical location. Now, customers can register from anywhere by using their own smartphone and can then quickly use this payment method when they're at a store. Given their move away from Just Walk Out technology, this technology feels less relevant to me for now, although it can still work with their smart Dash Carts which also enable checkout-free shopping. There are other opportunities for moving this technology to other aspects, such as integrating payment and loyalty card scanning, so it will be interesting to see how this evolves.

🎥 In Poland, Amazon are leaning on their Prime Video proposition, including local language content, to grow market share. Amazon expanded to Poland in 2021 and currently holds less market than Temu and the native marketplace, Allegro. The competition in this market has intensified significantly in recent years, and this move by Amazon is a good example of bringing tried-and-tested propositions and operating models, although localising them to be more relevant and enticing for customers.

♻️ eBay has removed selling fees for private individuals selling second-hand items on its platform. This is a move to encourage the circular economy. It's also significant that eBay's seller profile has completely shifted from consumers selling to other consumers to a B2C marketplace. Depop also made a similar move recently, although they've also added a buyer fee to replace the lost revenue.

📦 And finally, in New York, the city is launching a new locker initiative to combat parcel theft from customer's doorsteps. The lockers will be free for customers and allow 25 parcels to be dropped for a customer, from multiple couriers. It's expected that this will reduce crime and boost delivery efficiencies and road congestion.

New podcast episode: Igniting a start-up spark in big business - #289

When a company is first founded, it’s full of life. There is a start-up spark that drives improvement and change, and challenges the norm. But when that same company grows into a big business and becomes recognised as a “corporate” rather than a “start-up”, this spark is diluted or even extinguished completely which can be a dangerous position. So as we’re looking to transform, how can we ignite (or maybe reignite) the start-up spark in big business? Join me and discover how you can take on the traits and mindsets of an entrepreneur to build a culture that’s ready for change and disruption.

Listen to episode 289 of the Retail Transformation Show and discover:

• Why it’s important to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, and how this spark enables transformation.
• Six essential traits to blend elements of a start-up culture which can rejuvenate your organization.
• The simple, actionable steps you can start today for each entrepreneurial trait.

Also, check out these recent episodes:

​#288: How our own brain blocks meaningful work​

​#287: Why the change is not realising the benefits​

​#286: The department store’s predicament ​

If you're heading to London's Retail Technology Show on the 24th and 25th April, it would be great to meet you. I'm going to be signing copies of my book, "Driving Retail Transformation: How to Navigate Disruption and Change" at the show. I'm proud to be teaming up with two great companies who drive innovations and improvements to bring this to life. So join me at:

• 24th (Day 1) with Red Ant - stand 6A88 at 11:30am - 12:30pm
• 24th (Day 1) with VoCoVo - stand 6C40 at 3:30pm - 4:30pm

If you've purchased your copy already, please bring it along, or buy a copy on the day. I'll be announcing other options to meet and more exciting news for the 25th too... watch this space!

In the meantime, keep transforming better,

Oliver