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~ We Are Pentagon ~

While the credit crunch of 2008-2009 brought alarming stock market falls, a deep recession
and near bankruptcy of entire economies, it also irreversibly changed our financial habits.
Unregulated spending on credit, powered by unsecured loans and ‘bad debt’ were blamed,
lessons were learned, and the fiscal prudence of the government, banks and consumers all
firmly pivoted to face a new reality.

he frightening economic impact caused by the experiences to sustain the eye-watering retail success they
coronavirus pandemic, which is yet to be fully have got used to. These brands and retailers understand the
Trealised, will inevitably change us too. However, this potency of digital platforms, the world’s most well-known
menace to humanity will change us in far more significant examples being Amazon, Tmall and eBay. In Europe, we
ways than just our finances; it will have a dramatic effect on might also say Zalando or Bol.com, but really, you could
a whole host of behaviours. As a brand or retailer, these new suggest any good marketplace, and the argument resonates
challenges are still being understood, but daunting as they very well.
are, it is critical that time is not wasted and businesses adapt
to this new reality too. For example, how are you addressing The big brands all get this. Stuart Hogue, Nike’s VP
the challenge that consumers are going to now be more of Marketplace Development, commented; ‘Driven by
sensitive to safe, uncrowded shopping spaces? Or they’ll incredible consumer value, platforms are disrupting
want to look but not touch, or while feeling wary about virtually every industry and nowhere are we feeling it
their future security, reduce their amount of discretionary more acutely than here in retail. We are looking at driving
spending, and have a clearer perception of what they need, digital transformation from end to end, from how we make
as opposed to what they want? products to how we move products through our supply
chain and ultimately to how we serve consumers in the
Changing Consumer Habits marketplace.’
Similar to the recession of 2008-2009, consumers will be
looking for bargains for quite some time and will think Phillip Green, Chairman of Arcadia Group, put it more
twice before getting a new pair of trainers or shoes. It’s simply; ‘People are always going to go shopping, a lot of our
essential that the products you’re selling remain relevant, effort is just how we make the shopping experience a great
especially if you’re one of those retailers that sell products one.’
people want, as opposed to those people need. Those
retailers and brands that can adapt and read the subtle Where the consumer shops
movements of consumer habits, while also meeting the So how can retailers provide great shopping experiences
myriad of challenges we’re currently enduring, will succeed. with much of the population confined to their homes?
As Nicholas Cooper, VP at IKEA says ‘If we don’t change Accentuated more than ever by the pandemic, the
the way we think, we will lose a whole generation of importance of embracing marketplaces to offer great
consumers altogether.’ shopping experiences is now undeniable. The combined
qualities of convenience, value, speed and choice are
With so many major retailers defining their success from unassailable for the single retailer and near impossible
well-trodden past practises, conditioning an institutionalised to compete with. Whatever you need from wherever in
retailer to forget their dogged adherence to the previous the world is provided with a couple of clicks from your
50 years best practise, and embrace a new-fangled digital phone, and brought to your door, often within a day or two,
media channel instead can be a bit like turning a tugboat in sometimes in as little as a couple of hours. Not sure you like
a hurricane. The intransigence of big-name stores and their your purchase? Return it for free in the first 100 days. It
failure to adapt is well documented on the high-street, and becomes effortless to rely entirely on marketplaces for all of
this pandemic will only accelerate the demise of those too your shopping needs.
slow to adjust.
However, as a retailer, connecting to a marketplace can
Facing the new reality be unnecessarily complicated, and learning how to trade
That being said, there are countless pioneering examples in it effectively is another matter altogether. Even if you
of retailers who were genuinely focused on the modern succeed over these first two hurdles, there are multiple other
consumer, were agile and embraced the future and have difficulties to navigate if you want to be truly successful on
reached meteoric levels of success. Like champion athletes, a crowded and highly competitive marketplace platform.
the fittest organisations are shrugging off the economic And for a global brand or at least a brand that aspires to be
ramifications of the pandemic others are suffering, relying global, connecting to one marketplace can be unnecessarily
on fast, convenient and great value home shopping challenging, while connecting to another, especially in

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