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Featured Retail & Consumer Goods, Strategy & Analysis Article, How retailers can make the best of slowdown
How retailers can make the best of a slowdown

September 2008

Moving quickly to improve performance can help retailers to recover faster.

Featured Retail & Consumer Goods, Strategy & Analysis Article, prediction markets crowd intelligence
The promise of prediction markets: A roundtable

April 2008

Although they draw together widely dispersed information, prediction markets face organizational and legal challenges.

The Archive

2007
Confronting proliferation ... in retail: An interview with Wal-Mart’s John Fleming

July 2007

The giant retailer’s chief merchandising officer explains why and how it is trying to reach a wider range of consumers than it has in the past.

Confronting proliferation ... in beer: An interview with Carlsberg's Alex Myers

May 2007

Carlsberg's senior vice president, Western Europe, explains what the company is doing to cope with proliferating channels, media, and customer segments and describes the benefits of its functional-excellence programs.

2006
Reinventing innovation at consumer goods companies

November 2006

A range of orthodoxies is making it harder to develop breakthrough products in the consumer goods industry. It urgently needs a reformation.

Lessons from a global retailer: An interview with the president of Carrefour China

June 2006

Jean-Luc Chéreau discusses the French company's experiences as its hypermarkets spread out from China’s biggest cities to the vast hinterland.

Shaping China's home-improvement market: An interview with B&Q's CEO for Asia

June 2006

Steve Gilman says that because Chinese consumers are changing so quickly, retailers must change quickly to keep up with them.

2005
The vanishing middle market

November 2005

Changing customer needs are prompting a range of strategic responses.

Retailing: What's working online

August 2005

Successful companies should examine all available channels and then tailor an approach according to their capabilities.

2004
Sourcing smarter in China

August 2004

Establishing a direct-purchasing operation there isn’t cheap, but the potential savings for retailers are too large to ignore.

2003
Can Chinese brands make it abroad?

December 2003

The answer is yes, but it won’t be easy.

Value-driven shopping

August 2003

Value retailers use low prices to attract and retain customers; the next challenge is to match the convenience and comfort of traditional grocers.

Refining Shell’s position in Europe

June 2003

Two senior executives of Europe’s largest fuel marketer explain how it experienced a huge reorganization.

Drilling down to store level

May 2003

One key to improving the performance of retail chains is finding a better way to disseminate more appropriate best practices.

Hypergrowth for China's hypermarkets

May 2003

To capture a slice of this huge, lucrative market, foreign retailers must understand that China is different.

2002
Roadside retail in China Premium Content

August 2002

To make money from the expansion of the Chinese market, most oil companies will have to sell much more than gasoline.

Travel tips for retailers Premium Content

August 2002

Three strategies can help retailers expand abroad. The trick is to choose the one that best suits your particular ambitions and your starting point.

Wholesale moves in China Premium Content

August 2002

China’s entrance into the WTO offers opportunities for foreign wholesalers—and dangers for domestic ones.

Do retail brands travel? Premium Content

February 2002

In presenting one face to the world, a company risks presenting the wrong face to entire nations.

Retail: The Wal-Mart effect Premium Content

February 2002

Information technology isn’t the whole story behind productivity.

2000
From products to ecosystems: Retail 2010

November 2000

"Ecosystems" that cater to interrelated customer requirements may be the next big thing in retailing. They could answer both the consumer’s desire for speed and efficiency and the retailer’s need for growth—perhaps at the expense of other industries.

Building retail brands Premium Content

August 2000

Establishing and communicating a brand may be harder for multibrand retailers than for their single-brand counterparts, but brand building is essential for both.

How e-tailing can rise from the ashes Premium Content

August 2000

Pure-play Internet retailers haven’t made a profit and probably never will. The winners on-line will be experienced retailers that can execute a multichannel strategy.

From retailing to e-tailing Premium Content

February 2000

Internet pure plays may have won the first round of Internet retailing, but there is every reason to believe that store-based retailers will give them a run for their money.

1999
Retailers to the world Premium Content

August 1999

A “virtuous cycle” of self-reinforcing benefits will permit certain companies to redefine—and control—the industry. Even so, retailers still have enough time to build cross-border positions and local-market defenses.

1998
Help Wanted Premium Content

February 1998

America’s service sector has created millions of new jobs. That’s the problem. Companies will need to segment labor markets or change the way they produce a service. Turning dead-end jobs into careers.

Why are service turnarounds so tough Premium Content

February 1998

Because you are trying to balance customer satisfaction, employee morale, and shareholder returns. It’s very easy to start a vicious cycle of deteriorating performance. Taking out the right costs.

1997
Overreaching for mass retailers Premium Content

November 1997

Serving these giant accounts may be profitable. But will the gains outweigh losses in other channels? Be prepared to make big changes in manufacturing, logistics, sales, and customer service.

Channel conflict: When is it dangerous? Premium Content

August 1997

Separating complaints from economic reality. When there is a conflict, there are effective options. Don’t overreact, but don’t get paralyzed either.

The art and science of retail renewal Premium Content

May 1997

The average life of a retail concept is becoming shorter. Renewal requires blending analysis with conscious creativity. Continuous renewal is at the heart of successful retailing.

1996
Nobody calls me General anymore! Premium Content

August 1996

An interview with Gus Pagonis, Executive Vice President for Logistics, Sears.

Retail logistics: One size doesn’t fit all Premium Content

May 1996

Low-cost retailers discovered the power of logistics: now even high fashion leaders are paying attention. Different incentives and no cooperation. Do not minimize costs at the distribution center.

Global retailing: Tempting trouble? Premium Content

February 1996

Huge markets await, but profit formulas often get distorted. What won’t work: a standalone approach, inflexible purchasing, and 100% ownership. Three new expansion strategies.

1995
How profitable are own brand products? Premium Content

November 1995

European retailers have been working to develop own brand product lines in recent years, but experience suggests that they seldom have the necessary information systems to monitor product profitability in an accurate and timely manner.

1993
Price wars Premium Content

August 1993

No-nonsense advice on how to avoid the death spiral of permanently lost profit, declining value, and heightened price sensitivity.

The engine of success in retailing Premium Content

August 1993

Simplicity, focus, and integration in the merchandising process dramatically boost retail performance.

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