Tomorrow’s Retail World – speech by Matt Atkinson, Chief Marketing Officer, Tesco

I’ve worked in retail for many years. But never before has there been such rapid and profound change as we see today.

A fundamental change not just in how people shop, but how they live their lives, and what their expectations are of the companies they spend their money with. These are seismic shifts, and require all retailers to look again at all aspects of how they serve their customers.

Change in the way people shop is being driven by the digital revolution. It is highly disruptive but that disruption creates extraordinary opportunities, and I’m going to talk today about those opportunities – not just in terms of what retailers sell and how we sell it, but how we communicate and behave as organisations, and how we can use those opportunities to make a difference to the world around us.

The most important principle of retailing remains the same. And it is this: the best retailers have always been built around their customers. Logic which is as true today as ever.

There is a big change though: the number of ways we can interact with consumers has grown exponentially. In tomorrow’s retail world the customer is in charge, and will choose how and when they interact with us from a wide range of options.