Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 14

2014 rcc/kpmg retail eXecutive roundtable

Article photogr Aphy by ryAn Fr Ancoz

who is today's consumer?

With so much data and information about today's customer
generated through loyalty programs, transactional data and
industry research and surveys, most of the raw material is
already in place. However, leveraging that mass of data and
arriving at insights into the behaviours and purchasing patterns of today's complex consumer can prove to be an interesting mix of art and science. To help lay a foundation for
the discussion and to better understand who the Canadian
consumer is, Kruh asked the panel to first look back at the
last five to seven years and to consider how recent economic
events have shaped the consumer and their behaviours today.
"The entire industry was significantly
impacted as a result of the recession from
2007-2009," recognizes Kruh. "And for a
little while, nobody knew whether or not
the consumer was going to come back.
Every retailer has dealt with the situation
differently, each with varying results. But, as we look back at
that time, specifically at the consumer, we see that a definite shift to value, price and lesser brand loyalty took place. It
could be a permanent paradigm shift-this continues to be
debated among most who I speak to. But what's not argued
is the fact that there's been an obvious evolution in the consumer over the course of the past five to seven years, which
has presented all organizations with the challenge of understanding and connecting with their customer in deeper and
more meaningful ways."
John DeFranco, President of PetSmart, agrees. "The recession fundamentally changed the consumer," he says. "There
was definitely, in my mind, a paradigm shift that occurred,
and it was enabled by technology. The customer has always

strived for quality, but today the difference is
that a customer can price-check any product
they want to buy in less than thirty seconds on
their phone. And, in order to be the retailer the
customer chooses, you have to offer a real value
proposition. The customer is very intelligent and
informed today, more so than ever before. So it's
very important to show that value at every pricepoint to gain the consumer's interest."
Steven Goldsmith, President of The Shopping
Channel (TSC), points out that servicing the
customer today is all about enablement.

Based on a KPMG Global Top of Mind survey,
60 percent of retailers surveyed cited data
analytics as a 'top of mind' strategic priority.

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canadian retailer | holiday 2014

"Today's consumer is going to go wherever
they want. They're going to do research and will
expect to find the product they desire in a multitude of different channels and choices," he says.
"And they are empowered and enabled through
technology to make the choices that they want.
That's been the biggest global change. And to
meet the challenge it represents, we've realized
that we simply have to enable our customer to
shop wherever and whenever they want. It's
what they're demanding, and it's what we need
to provide for them."
At Pier1 Imports, the belief is the same, and
as Jim Waechter, Vice-President of Operations,

Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014

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