Retail's Seismic Shift

Book excerpt: In their previous book, The New Rules of Retail, Dart and Lewis predicted nearly every defining characteristic of today’s marketplace. Here, they do the same for the next era, in which retailers will have to be ready for anything. For one hundred years, retail was designed for the car—buildings and malls to travel to. Now it is designed for the mobile smart device—for consumers to travel with. In a world with an overabundance of material goods, consumer values and the drivers of retail success are being radically redefined. The smartphone has created a world of limitless expectation and logistical possibility: What will the retail experience look like in ten, twenty, or even fifty years—and how should all companies be preparing? Industry experts Michael Dart and Robin Lewis identify the major trends in our economy that will shape the future of retail and determine who wins. Imagine aworld where entertainment, experience, or values matter more than the product. We are approaching the time in which distribution begins and ends with the consumer, mass markets give way to fragmented markets, and the necessity of entirely new business models is paramount. Amazon, Uber, and AirBnB are just the beginning; new technologies will continue to grow and uproot existing business models. And now, with the emergence of the technology-empowered young consumer culture, retailers will be forced to transform their offerings.