FT Live Future of Retail 2025: Trump and tariff impacts dominate opening of show in London

“Half of our production is in India, so we thought we were OK …until Trump tariffed them,” said Nick Stowe, CEO at Adena Brands, which owns Monsoon and Accessorize, at the FT Live: Future of Retail 2025 event held in the City of London on 7th October.  

President Trump is redrawing the map of global trade, impacting retailers and their supply chains. “Tariffs  are a cost, so we are having to push it into pricing,” admitted Stowe, as he detailed his firm’s response, principally around:  

·       Creating margin: “Luckily we’ve got fat margins, but we’ve got to think about it more now.”

·       Being cautious about fixed infrastructure costs: “We were planning to get feet on the ground in the US, but we’re not anymore as we don’t want to put fixed costs in now. Instead, we’re focusing solely on e-commerce and partnering with locals in the US rather than setting up ourselves.”   

·       Exploring partnerships: “Our royalties-based partner is a better way to go in the US now.” Tapping US manufacturing and outlets is the way to go now as part of Adena Brands’ new post-Trump strategy.    

According to fellow FTLive 2025 panellist, Helen Dickinson from the British Retail Consortium (BRC): “Disruption has always been a feature of retail during my time in it from the rise of e-commerce, to sourcing changes post globalisation [now unwinding somewhat with Trump’s tariffs]. And we’ve had Brexit and Covid as well recently.”

But the fundamentals of retail always remain the same, she argued, reiterating the mantra of: “Right product. Right price works… But the disruption is admittedly multifaceted now.”

All the disruptions have definitely adversely impacted retailers’ profits as well, which Dickinson stated: “Have halved over the last ten years.”

This is an issue that another panellist Dr. Frances Ruane, Chair of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, addressed, especially how technology might help alleviate the cost demands facing retailers. However, the importance of taking the lessons learnt during Covid and Brexit in how to navigate disruptions to the supply chain shouldn’t be ignored either.

“Brexit and Covid were good practice,” she joked referring to the huge supply chain disruptions that retailers faced back in 2021, although she did admit that the present uncertainty is “a dampener” and “not good for investment”.  

Inflation is another likely end result of tariffs, as retailers pass on the increased price of tariffs in the supply chain or even change their chains, which also has a cost.

“Globally, we’ve got a fixed point of demand in the US, which we cannot ignore,” said Stove, illustrating the difficulties he is facing. “But also a fixed point of supply in China and India in our case. However, China is globalising now and navigating away to Vietnam.”

The country was moving up the value chain anyway as China develops, so Trump’s trade war could be said to be just an accelerator in this regard. The impact of his policy will continue to impact the sector for years to come, however, as retailers will just have to deal with the disruption.

They’ve had plenty of experience over the past decade. But the focus on margin is definitely important in getting over this latest challenge. 

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Supply chain technology will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which are now closed for entries with our finalists and shortlists being announced last week, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.