According to Graham Ruddick of The Telegraph today (08/01/13) 300 retailers went into administration during 2012. These figures would beg the question why are so many companies getting it so wrong?
Clearly an easy answer would be its the economy but if that were the case then how are companies like John Lewis not just surviving but thriving.
Obviously there are no easy answers and there will be numerous factors at play in pushing well know brands such as JJB Sports, Comet and United Carpets into the hands of the administrators.
But is there a more fundamental problem facing retailers
Considering that the single organising principle and reason for being that lays at the heart of every retail business is to return shareholder value. But here is the problem I have never met one single consumer who gets out of bed in the morning with the intention of helping any retailer make more money for its owners.
Instead consumers are more focused on enriching their lives, living their dreams and making themselves happy. Clearly a straight forward disconnect. But are these objectives mutually exclusive?
No, all that is required is a realignment and a sharing of objectives, the consumers objective. Retailers simply need to embrace the notion that making profit and returning shareholder value is a byproduct of creating happy consumers.
Perhaps the old retail adage that the product is king is not quite the whole story, more a case of the consumer is King and my products should make him smile otherwise he will bestow his patronage else where.
