RTIH Top 50 Retail Technology Influencers interview: Martin Newman
RTIH TOP 50 RETAIL TECHNOLOGY INFLUENCERS LIST SPONSOR
As part of a series of interviews with those who made it on to the RTIH Top 50 Retail Technology Influencers List, we discuss the retail space during the Covid-19 outbreak and beyond with Martin Newman, Founder, The Customer First Group.
RTIH: Congrats on being included on the first ever RTIH Top 50 Retail Technology Influencers List. What’s does recognition as a retail tech influencer mean to you and your business?
MN: I’m grateful for the inclusion on the RTIH Top 50 Retail Technology Influencers List.
I’m always hugely appreciative anytime my efforts are recognised by my peers and by different industry bodies and entities.
It’s one thing to push your own content and thought leadership out there but when someone else in the industry recognises you for being a thought-leader in some shape or form, it’s very rewarding on a personal level.
From a business perspective, it’s always good to have visibility. I think it often resonates more when someone else calls you out for doing good work, sharing good insight, providing solutions that help.
It’s a strong affirmation of what you’re trying to achieve. I’d gladly take an endorsement from someone in the industry any day of the week.
RTIH: How has the past year been for you?
MN: As it has for everyone, it’s been one crazy year! I’m sure like everyone else, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster.
Generally speaking, I am a very positive person. I’m glass half full almost all of the time and I’m very much a people person. But there have been many days over the past year where my glass felt half empty.
As someone who’s used to doing so much travel, I’ve found the restrictions tough. I used to go to Australia four times a year, two or three times a year to the US and a few trips to Hong Kong, China and also to Europe.
Even when in the UK I’d be meeting many different people every day and had a lot of business-related events to speak at, chair or attend as a guest. I’ve definitely missed all of that.
Taking the frustration of this away, I’ve actually had a good year. I finished my second book, the ‘Power of Customer Experience’, out on 3rd May.
I’ve taken my new customer service action platform to market, I’ve added a couple of roles to my portfolio as the non-Exec Chairman of the Scout Store, and Chairman of the advisory board for the Mayborn Group.
I’ve had quite a few talking head appearances on BBC and Sky. I’ve been busy doing webinars and moderating virtual roundtables.
So, all in all, nothing to complain about. Just the frustration of the lack of face-to-face human interaction and non-existent travel!
RTIH: Who have been the big retail winners and losers during the coronavirus outbreak?
MN: Unsurprisingly, the winners have included the pureplays such as Asos, Gymshark, boohoo (social responsibility issues aside) and Missguided whose models were geared to scaling during the pandemic and who were able to do extremely well selling loungewear.
Anyone selling formalwear and with a store portfolio they couldn’t open most of the time had a very tough few months going into the pandemic and beyond. This included Charles Tyrwhitt and Thomas Pink.
Other winners include anyone in the homeware and garden space. The DIY players such as B&Q, Wickes and Homebase have mainly fared well. We’ve been ‘nesting’ during the pandemic and making our homes and gardens as comfortable as we can.
The grocers have also been the beneficiaries of us staying at home and the uptick in sales of their goods. This said, they’ve also had to deal with large investments in people, processes, technology and infrastructure in order to meet the big uplift in demand for home delivery.
We’ve also been buying pets in our droves as we walk more than we’ve ever done previously. This has driven a spike in sales for Pets at Home and the other retailers and brands in the pet care sector.
RTIH: What are your retail predictions for 2021 and beyond?
MN: There is much conjecture about whether or not we’re going to indulge in consumerism and make up for lost time, or whether our need for less during the pandemic will accelerate our path to conscious consumption and to forgoing the purchase of things that we don’t really need.
In all likelihood it’ll be a bit of both. Depending upon your mindset, you’re either going to embrace revenge consumption and make up for lost time, which I believe most consumers will, or you’ll build on the changes you’ve already made in raining back your consumption.
The local high street will have a resurgence as we see the opening of more independent retailers and a better mix of hospitality, entertainment and retail, luring consumers to shop locally.
This will also be driven by the increase in work from home with many consumers spending half their week or more staying and working locally.
Retailers will also provide better in store experiences, which will also play a part in driving our propensity to shop in the real world.
RTIH: What will be the must watch retail technologies over the next year?
MN: Any solutions that can deliver more personalised customer experiences will be at the forefront. As will those that enable retailers to leverage all of their channels to the best effect.
Examples might include solutions such as Hero that enable store staff to utilise their downtime in store and leverage their product knowledge and engage with consumers shopping remotely to help them make better informed product decisions.
Younger consumers have a much lower propensity to accrue debt and use credit cards, which is why buy now pay later providers such as Clearpay have become so prominent.
This trend will continue. And given the importance of Generation Z and Millennials, this is an area retailers must embrace.
We’re likely to see a rise in Click and Collect orders. Retailers need the single view of stock and the systems and processes to deal with this. A single view of stock will be top of mind for many so that they can optimise the value and efficiency of their inventory.
As consumers increasingly look to buy more consciously and with a focus on sustainability, retailers will need to offer more than just brand new products.
Products to rent, upcycled and vintage/second-hand items will become an on-going part of the range selection. Therefore, appropriate technology will be required to enable these new models.
In particular the rental model as it requires a different process and almost needs to be managed as a separate business.
Customer service has never been more important. Therefore, retailers need to up their game in area that has historically under-delivered for consumers.
Fingers crossed you’ll see my platform Customer Service Action appearing on retailers’ websites as we work to help them deliver more transparent and effective levels of service.
Smaller independent retailers will be looking to up their digital game. Platforms such as DownYourHighStreet.com can give them the ability to reach customers beyond their geography.
RTIH: What will the retail landscape look like this time next year?
MN: Retail will be buoyant. Fashion, sports and outdoor categories will do well.
As all sectors open up completely, and we travel more, go to weddings, corporate events, gigs, the theatre and festivals, we will look to update our wardrobes and accessories accordingly.
The flipside of this is that a minority of consumers will be more cautious, and this will be a fillip for homewares, garden and DIY categories as these consumers continue to focus on making their home environment more comfortable.
The numerous gaps on the high street will begin to be filled by independent retailers, national chains who had scope for more physical outlets and entertainment and hospitality venues.
All of this and the fact we’ve been deprived of going into these environments will see a sustained uplift in footfall for some time.
More challenging will be areas such as the West End of London that will also need to see the return of tourism to make up for the shortfall of those working from home half the week.