'Understanding your customer' is a key cornerstone mantra for the Retail sector.  Always has been - and in a post-Covid19 world, it's going to be more critical than ever before.  What can Retailers and Hospitality vendors do to ensure they succeed in providing what their customers want?

Society is being gently reintroduced to what many have called 'normal behaviours', with human nature inherently likely to revert to activities and patterns which have been established over decades and indeed centuries.  Technology, and in particular data, has a crucial role to play in rebooting an exceedingly anxious industry, one uncertain about so many aspects of daily operations - and that hoary old chestnut, Digital Transformation, is back once again.  Far from being quietly sidelined whilst 'other' more important aspects of Retail operations recommence during and post-pandemic, Digital Transformation should be front and centre of focus as it has the potential to reboot and reignite strategic thinking for progressive organisations; not just those wishing to grow and thrive but those looking merely to survive...

As an example I cite this article published by Bain & Co. in which research shows that there will be a propensity for different generational demographics to 'revert to type' at varying speeds.  And as an industry, it therefore behoves Retail to better understand the latent nuances of such customers so that it becomes possible to first address and thereafter fulfill their changing needs on an accurate, individual basis.

But that's easier said than done.  Retail, as good as it has been over the decades, can still do better - and that's where Digital Transformation comes in.  Specifically, inherent generational trends and patterns are buried in myriad data stores collated from an ever-expanding array of sources, all of which need to be forensically analysed and the insight contained within presented back as meaningful business outcomes.  As the sector slowly awakens from its enforced slumber it will be crucial to exploit every tool available to segment emerging 'new world' customer behaviours in an attempt to remain apposite and relevant to their changing needs.  

Data, as ever, holds the key.