"What does the future of retail look like" was the question posed at this year's HSG Alumni Forum with exciting contributions from Migros, VIU and Google, among others. Here are some inputs on how these companies see their own future.
Migros: The largest Swiss trading company also wants to remain the #1 shopping destination for Swiss people online and cross-channel as well as in the increasing competition with foreign companies. Success factors for this are factors such as a digital cultural change towards small, self-sufficient projects with fast learning cycles and a higher tolerance for errors, in order to bring innovations such as PickMup and Amigos to the market and to consistently develop existing companies such as Digitec Galaxus and Globus.
VIU: In addition to an attractive price-performance ratio, a holistic customer experience without friction between sales channels on- and offline is crucial for VIU. New technologies are carefully examined for feasibility. While AR (Augmented Reality) is still "in its infancy" here, individually printed 3D glasses already account for 10% of VIU's sales.
Association of Swiss Mail Order Traders (VSV): Today innovative offers such as Same Day Delivery and a networking of on- and offline offers will be the new norm in the near future. In addition, major brands such as adidas and Mammut are increasingly verticalizing and are aiming for 20%+ sales through direct sales.
Google: Consumers today are more curious, demanding and impatient than 5 years ago. A mobile presence as well as the offer of additional benefits and the provision of suitable information in the right environment via e.g. Google Lens as a basis for shopping offers are becoming increasingly important. However, the change required for this is often associated with a still limited willingness to change, which requires, among other things, the abandonment of traditional logistics and distribution structures.
Adello: The use of cookies and the implementation of data mining projects are increasingly being replaced or at least supplemented by machine learning models calculated in real time. In order to consistently optimize marketing expenditures, key performance indicators such as click rate sometimes have to be prioritized differently. For example, the costs per lead for a bank customer could be reduced from USD 200 to less than USD 10 by achieving a lower click rate with a significantly higher conversion.
