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As the retail industry goes through a period of dramatic disruption, organizations are reinventing themselves to meet evolving consumer needs and behavior. Marsh McLennan helps retailers achieve transformative change. By combining deep industry knowledge and state-of-the-art analytical techniques with a collaborative, hands-on approach we help organizations reduce risks, improve profitability and unlock new opportunities for growth.
Retail Perspectives
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Read morePerspective Paying the Minimum Adjusting for a change in the United States Federal minimum wage -
Read morePerspective What’s top of mind for small and large retailers in 2021? Key themes for 2021 The events that took place in 2020 were unprecedented for all businesses. When it comes to the severity of the disruption, though, the retail industry was arguably one of the hardest to be hit. The turmoil came on multiple fronts. Essential employees became regarded as heroes as the global health crisis unfolded. At the same time, brick-and-mortar businesses were forced to close amid social justice activism and civic unrest in the streets. Combine all of that with the simultaneous economic fallout and omni-channel acceleration that took place and it’s no wonder HR leaders were kept up at night contemplating a whole new set of questions about the workforce from business leaders. Regardless of your retail segment (grocery, apparel, restaurants, home goods, or specialty), all HR leaders were pushed and pulled in different directions as they scrambled to find temporary solutions while also keeping an eye on long-term topics, like: How can we motivate, attract, and retain hourly workers who don’t have a safety net in times of an emergency? Can we help mitigate exhaustion to maintain the productivity of employees who are caring for family or separated from family geographically? Is the COVID-19 workforce plan sustainable (i.e., can we make it today, tomorrow, or even a year operating in this socially distanced environment)? What should we do about the talent shortage for omni-channel initiatives since we are limited to operating storefronts? As we move forward from the early days of the pandemic, Mercer has identified key retail HR themes to focus on in 2021. Read on as we share insights and experiences from our conversations with companies in the industry. -
Read morePerspective The Fur Baby Boom The COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives in many ways. Over the last year, we learned to cook, learned to teach, became amateur epidemiologists, and – in many cases – welcomed new, furry family members, making the most of the unexpected time at home. A recent Oliver Wyman US pet foods survey conducted in September 2020 found a quarter of pet owners reported getting a furry companion over the past six months (post-COVID), with these new pet owners heavily skewed towards the younger Gen Z and millennial cohort, who tend to spend more on pet care and are more digitally focused. The pandemic has demonstrated that shoppers are highly brand loyal and that pet food is resilient to downturns. Around 70 percent of pet owners say that they do not plan to make any changes to their pets’ diet regardless of the economy or their finances, according to the American Pet Product Association COVID-19 study. However, as was the case with many other industries, the pet food category saw an accelerated shift to digitization. -
Read morePerspective The Next Generation of Office Communication Tech Most knowledge workers in 2020 are familiar with mixed reality tools like Zoom, Teams, and Slack that enable them to meet in virtual locations. By merging real and virtual worlds to produce new environments, employees who relied on in-person office interactions as recently as nine months ago now meet on virtual tropical islands, virtually “stand” in front of presentations beamed around the world, or maintain banter and team spirit with timely GIFs and emojis mixed into their workday messages. -
Read morePerspective Positioning Retail &Restaurant Companies for Success in 2021 A global public health crisis, civil unrest and social justice activism, increasing insurance prices, more astute cyber criminals, and an unprecedented number of named storms —2020 has not been an easy year for businesses. For retailers and restaurants that traditionally depend on in-person interactions for the bulk of their business, this year has been especially challenging. -
Read morePerspective Ready Food Preferences for ready meals are constantly changing in the food market. Indeed, across the world, customers are seeking higher-quality food without having to prepare it themselves from scratch. This has contributed to the popularity of ready-meal takeaways and quick delivery, for which consumers have demonstrated a willingness to pay a premium. These demand shifts are transforming the supply side of the market, driving cafés and restaurants to adjust their business models. At the same time, this shift opens new horizons for grocers and supermarkets. After all, the ready-meals delivery market can strengthen food retailers’ competitiveness, whilst dark kitchen technology (in which meals are prepared for delivery only, not for sale in cafés or at hot meal counters) may help increase companies’ profits and customer bases. -
Read morePerspective COVID-19: Is The Worst Yet to Come For Retail? The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains, changed consumer behaviour, and created havoc in the global economy. However, thanks to the financial support of central governments, much of the pain of the crisis has been ameliorated and pushed out into the future. These unprecedented levels of support for employment and businesses have provided critical aid in managing the effects of the pandemic. In a way, our economies have been given a ""painkiller."" But painkillers wear off - repeated use tends to dull the effect and often end in addiction -
Read morePerspective Recovering and Rebounding From COVID-19 Retailers face an existential challenge: balancing a conservative approach to cost while supporting growth to survive the present COVID-19 crisis and beyond. -
Read morePerspective Retail and the pursuit of a diverse and inclusive workplace It is no secret that the millennial and Z generations are having a significant and varied impact on the retail industry. These generations have pushed retailers into the world of last mile delivery, have demanded brands reduce their carbon footprint, and have driven organizations to offer products that address consumers’ diverse and evolving needs.As we approach the end of 2020, we can acknowledge that the global pandemic and widespread social unrest has led retailers to look inward and evaluate their current practices and culture to understand where they need to invest and make improvements. Where does diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) fit into your reinvention priorities for 2021? -
Read morePerspective Focus on the Future For the Retailer, there was no simple answer to the question — “What steps do I take on coronavirus to ensure the well-being of my people and keep the business operating?“ — Yet, retailers had to formulate a response. -
Read morePerspective Winning the Retail Battle in A World Without Mask Restrictions China retail market has entered a new era with decelerated overall growth, and the COVID-19 has hit it further harder. This turbulent situation is going to trigger / accelerate structural changes in channel dynamics and consumer shopping behaviour, and China market is now entering the “Post-COVID Normal”. -
Read morePerspective Revitalizing Retail Online and Offline After COVID-19 The Retail and Consumer Goods Practice is interviewing members of the team from around the world to see how industry trends and current events are playing out in their respective geographic markets. To get Imke's perspective on e-commerce and digital trends in China, please read the recent discussion she had with Jim Bacos, Retail & Consumer Goods Senior Partner. -
Read morePerspective In A Downturn, Include Your Employees in Cost-Cutting Decisions Almost every business is reorganizing its operations in response to the economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Often, companies take a top-down approach to resizing based on a limited set of data such as earnings forecasts and competitive benchmarking. But following this playbook usually results in “wrong sizing” and demoralized employees. Instead, leaders should redesign their operations based on data provided by their most valuable sources of proprietary insights — their employees. Democratizing the collection of data and recommendations allows leadership teams to gain a much clearer picture of activities and initiatives underway within their organization. It also offers a more detailed lens through which they can evaluate which activities are the most valuable to achieving strategic objectives and which ones can be automated or managed in a shared services environment — or ceased. When leaders take this bottom-up approach, we have found they not only cut costs significantly but also realize their goals more rapidly because managers and employees are motivated to help. Changes are then also more likely to stick -
Read morePerspective The Return of Value Grocery retail has seen a large surge in sales from the COVID-19 pandemic and associated “lockdowns”, but this surge is likely to slowly recede. As the recession takes hold, grocers need to focus on how they can deliver value to their consumers to ensure they are best-positioned to successfully thrive in the coming months. -
Read morePerspective The Generational Shift That Will Change Business Behaviors Companies integrating environmental and social commitments into their core business are positioning themselves for impending generational shifts -
Read morePerspective Beat The Cost Curve Our original intention with this article was to argue that transforming the cost base of retail and consumer goods companies had become an absolute imperative, that traditional approaches to cost transformation were failing, and that new and bold paradigms were required. COVID-19 has not changed our conclusions, but instead given them yet greater urgency. We argued for bold ambitions and a massive commitment to execution. The virus has forced just that. COVID-19 has driven companies to take measures that in “normal” times would have been unimaginably drastic. In many cases, boldness born of a lack of good alternatives, and a “we have to do it yesterday” attitude towards execution, has allowed for better business continuity than many or most of us could have hoped. Despite the pain of the recent weeks and months, there is much to be learnt. Companies should build upon this experience in framing their next cost transformation program.