Results Count ... everything else is conversation.: “Sound bites” - The headlines from the changing face of retail

Sound bites on the dynamics of retail and what it takes to survive

Image Credit: 2Nix

For those of you who regularly follow this blog, you might have noticed that posts have been missing for a couple of weeks. I have literally been on a "speaking tour" and traveling nonstop for most of April. While my writing productivity has suffered, it has been a tremendous opportunity for me to meet with retailers, vendors … and consumers. My take away is that there are significant retail trends emerging, regardless of country, economics or nature of retailer. I felt that this was a great opportunity to compile a series of mini-blogs on the most popular themes and topics from my recent travels. In addition to sharing first hand "sound bites" from retailers and thought leaders, I now have the opportunity to share some of my own sound bites via video clips from my retail keynotes.

Why this is important: No one has time to sift through volumes of material. Sound bites are a means of distilling trends into headlines that both summarize key trends, and mobilize action to respond to changing dynamics.

Sound bite = A brief remark extracted from a larger work or context

I have been using the term "sound bite" for a couple of decades in IMS Retail University workshops. They are simply short statements, which summarize key points or themes. Sound bites have been around forever as "headlines" in newspapers. They came into vogue during the broadcast era when they served as "teasers" and segues leading into segments after commercial breaks. The key to a great sound bite is that it captures the "essence" in a clear, concise and memorable way.

I find it useful to distill retail trends into sound bites because …

They are short, so they are memorable
IF well written, they focus attention on important topics and trends
They are perfectly condensed messages for Twitter and other social media

Based upon my recent speaking tour, there are a series of sound bites that audiences are responding to worldwide, across the spectrum of retail.

Listening … broadcasting … curating Sound Bites

Image Credit: khunaspix

The IMS team does a fantastic job of using Twitter as a "listening post" for all things retail. One of the misnomers is that you have to "tweet" or broadcast on Twitter. In reality, you can just sit back and "listen" to the trends via #hashtags. You don't even have to have a Twitter account. You can use services like Hootsuite to be your listening post. If you haven't tried it, just start following some hashtags like #retail, #omnichannel or #bigdata.

One of the advantages of posting (broadcasting) tweets is you get to see what gets picked up and retweeted from your stream. Our tweets that get multiple retweets each week are in the areas of "change" – tweets on how consumers are changing, tweets on how stores are changing, how technology is impacting retail, what omnichannel means for retailers, and last but not least, retail innovation.

Don't have time for Twitter on top of everything else? One of the greatest trends is "curated" content. There are a whole series of retail "smartbriefs" that compile current topics and curate the headlines as "sound bites" for how retail is changing. Below are some of our favorite "smartbriefs" we use to survey the trends and sound bites for retail:

Retail Customer Experience
The Retail Digest
NRF SmartBrief
NRF Global SmartBrief
CEA SmartBrief (Consumer Electronics)
Shop.org SmartBrief
Internet Retailing

Sound bites straight from the sources and the "trenches"

One of the great opportunities of speaking on retail, is the opportunity to exchange views first hand with people in the field. The speech itself provides an opportunity to "sling sound bites" out there, and see what people think about them. Most people working in retail have opinions, and they are not shy about sharing them. So, it is great to get first hand feedback from audiences on what they are seeing and what they deem as important.

But, the greatest feedback comes after the formal speech, from conversations over coffee breaks. There is nothing like hearing retailers and vendors reacting to ideas, and putting their own spin on what they will mean in the future of retail. It is this first hand feedback and experience that I would like to share with you, our audience. In my conversations I typically like to ask retailers and suppliers:

What is keeping you up at night?
What are the greatest challenges you face today?
What do they see as the opportunities?
What will it take to survive, and thrive in this era of massive change?

Before reading the next 3 part series of mini-blogs on the top Sound Bites for the state of retail, what are your top headlines for the changing face of retail?

To receive more information and sound bites from IMS follow IMS Results Count on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.

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