Opinion: Retail’s star quality shines through

The best retailers, including those honoured by this year’s Retail Week Awards sponsored by Salesforce, have not been waiting, hoping or praying for a reprieve. They have been listening, acting, innovating and evolving in ways that are making them fitter and more agile businesses, better equipped to meet the needs of an increasingly demanding consumer, whatever is thrown at them.

Tesco, under the stewardship of the winner of this year’s AlixPartners Outstanding Contribution to Retail Award, Dave Lewis, epitomises exactly that.

Lewis has put the customers back where they belong – at the heart of the Tesco business – and the supermarket giant is reaping the rewards.

The grocer has listened to some cold, hard truths and refocused on what its core shoppers wanted – better value for money, better product quality and a better shopping experience in stores and online.

In returning to those retail basics and leading a turbulent period of change across the group, including radically reshaping its global portfolio to shore up its battered balance sheet, Lewis has put Tesco on the front foot again.

The grocer is doing what would be expected of a market leader – innovating in technology and product development and launching a concerted fight back against the relentless rise of discount rivals. Just last week, Tesco launched the Aldi Price Match campaign in an aggressive bid to win back market share from its cut-price competitors.

“Our victors’ stories illustrate how retailers can move with societal and consumer shifts, discover fresh relevance and ensure they will succeed”

Winning market share is something another one of the big winners this year, the Clarity Retail Leader of the Year, Ocado founder Tim Steiner, knows about.

Ocado’s online grocery retail business has continued to accelerate at pace, growing sales quicker than even the rapidly expanding Aldi and Lidl, and penning a landmark joint venture deal with Marks & Spencer. But it is the company’s technology expertise that has thrust Ocado into the consciousness of global retail titans over the past 12 months.

Steiner’s unwavering belief in his vision, despite a long journey with obstacles and doubters aplenty, has propelled Ocado into the FTSE 100 and established a list of partners that reads like a who’s who of global grocery retailing – Kroger, Sobeys, Aeon, Coles and Casino.

Lewis and Steiner are two very different leaders of two very different businesses, with contrasting personalities and styles, but their successes carry lessons for retailers everywhere.

The same can be said for all of the companies and leaders on our roll of honour this year. Whether it be Reiss’ product-led turnaround, Pets at Home’s emphasis on services, the Co-op’s tireless work to stamp out crime, or Greggs’ focus on product innovation and value, our victors’ stories illustrate how retailers can move with societal and consumer shifts, discover fresh relevance and ensure they will succeed not just in the present, but in the future.

Doing so is no mean feat. As one chief executive said to me last week: “Someone up there must have it in for retail. Just when you think you’ve weathered the storm, another tornado seems to rip right through us.”

That tornado he referred to is the coronavirus pandemic, which is impacting the UK at a time when the market is already having to withstand Brexit, economic uncertainty, low consumer confidence, stagnant wage growth and cost pressures from the introduction of the National Living Wage and the burden of business rates.

But against that outlook, retailers should be lauded for displaying the resilience and foresight not just to weather that storm, but to adapt nimbly to the digital economy and the needs of the modern shopper.

While some have not been able to meet those challenges, we must congratulate this year’s winners and shortlisted nominees. They are evidence that despite the storm clouds, there is an opportunity for the stars of this industry to shine.