Age of the Customer

I was thinking recently about the transformation of the retail market. It may be obvious to others, but isn't always apparent. Over time, the demands on the retail market have changed dramatically. In the 1950s, variety was the spice of things for retailers. Consumer products were being introduced to meet a wide variety of needs and retailers were growing by making more items available in more locations - offering variety.

In the 1970s, the age of the department store emerged, with single stores that would offer a very large variety of goods, taking advantage of the small mom and pop, narrowly focused competition.

Then in the 1980s and the 1990s, the age of supply chain. Wal-Mart emerged as the behemoth that drove prices down through scale and supply chain efficiency. Many in the press wrote about 'The Wal-Mart Effect' and that Wal-Mart would rule the world. However, now, there is something else emerging, and that is the age of the consumer.

You can see that the competitive landscape is shifting to focus more on the consumer and differentiation in their mind. Take Target for example. They were once thought of as an also-ran to Wal-Mart, yet today, they have a very vibrant business that is clearly differentiated from Wal-Mart on the point of Customer Experience.

I project that Customer Experience will continue to be the new battle field of retailers, small and large alike. And, further, I project that the lines between retailers and consumer products companies will continue to blur, making Customer Experience a topic that companies up and down the value chain will need to deal with.

If you are interested in more information, I'd recommend downloading Clearbrick's Customer Experience Quick Reference Guide. This is the initial component of Clearbrick's Customer Experience solution.