This is a second keynote Alain Thys gave at the Retail Innovation Forum on May 29, 2008 in Bucharest

1. RETAIL INNOVATION: A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE
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2. FUTURELAB
GO TO WORK

3. 1. GET ON A PLANE TO LEARN AND NETWORK
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4. 2. IMPORT – SKILLS, IDEAS, FORMATS
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5. 3. SECURE AND TRAIN THE BEST PEOPLE

6. FUTURELAB
COPY MODIFY CREATE DEGREE OF
INNOVATION
Introduce global Modify existing Develop new
formats that already concepts to better concepts, targeting
exist match local needs specific local
segments and needs
4. INNOVATE LIKE ONLY ROMANIANS CAN

7. RETAIL INNOVATION, ACCORDING TO MANY
POP Systems Online
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8. THEN, GO TO WORK
BRANDS RETAILERS/INVESTORS
Be the first to become friendly with your Be first to bring a (modified) format into the
new customers market
Help your existing distribution to Come with something « unique » which
« make the jump » internationals can’t offer
Pro-actively say goodbye to those who Get out of the way and sell as expensive as
can‟t or won‟t innovate. possible.
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9. BUT WE WILL START WITH INNOVATION FROM A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE
And to be more precise:
« customer centric retail innovation »
Source: IBM Business Consulting Services – The Retail Divide, 2004
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10. Think Beyond the Store
Broaden Your Innovation Horizon
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11. Why Customer Centric?
• Traditional Innovation is Broken
• Competition is Changing
• There‟s not much to be done at retail anyway

12. Why Customer Centric?
Quiz: Which % of innovations fail?
97%
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13. Why Customer Centric?
WHO COMPETES WITH MARS?
CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE
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14. WHY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC?
FORMAT INNOVATION IS LIMITED
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15. WHY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC?
FORMAT INNOVATION IS LIMITED
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16. WHY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC?
FORMAT INNOVATION IS LIMITED
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17. WHY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC?
FORMAT INNOVATION IS LIMITED
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18. WHY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC?
FORMAT INNOVATION IS LIMITED
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19. WHY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC?
FORMAT INNOVATION IS LIMITED
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20. Why Customer Centric?
• Traditional Innovation is Broken
• Competition is Changing
• There‟s not much to be done at retail anyway
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21. FUTURELAB
CUSTOMER CENTRIC RETAIL INNOVATION
Customer Centric Retail Innovation
WHAT ABOUT THE CUSTOMER?

22. REMARKABLE
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23. FUTURELAB
Apple Retail 2001
Sorry Steve, Apple Stores Won‟t Work
(Business Week)
Apple Retail 2004: Watch video on
Fastest retailer ever to reach the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
$1 billion mark a year m-Y7vZMEPrU
Apple Retail 2006
Fastest retailer ever to reach
$1 billion/quarter mark
Apple Retail 2007
Sales per sq.meter = $ 30,176
(as comparison: BestBuy = $10,643)
HOW DID THEY DO IT?

24. DRIVERS FOR RECOMMENDATION IN ICT
Source: Net Promoter ™ Economics: the Impact of WOM, Satmetrix, 2008 FUTURELAB

25. • Careful segmentation and focus on students, educators and
creative professionals (even now consumer appeal broadens)
• A retail experience differentiated by service before, during and
after sales (Genius bar)
• Scenario or lifestyle Marketing & Sales vs. Product « What do
you want to do ? »
• Style & design
THE RESPONSE
Source: Net Promoter ™ Economics: the Impact of WOM, Satmetrix, 2008 FUTURELAB

26. BREAKING ALL THE RULES
• No commissions
• Team bonuses
• Focus on experience
• Fashion & design people to run computer retail
• Hire for personality, attitude and customer fit
… train the rest
Ron Johnson • High identification: Tshirts, iPod, discounts, …
Target
• 3 week immersion at start of job ONLY on
customer relationship skills and understanding
customer needs/lifestyle
• All product training is online (except
geniuses)
• Training on store computers or borrowed
MickeyDrexler laptop
The Gap
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27. RESULTS
Apple: 2007 Net Promoter Performance and 5 Year Trend vs. Overall
B2C High Tech Computer Hardware Manufacturers
FUTURELAB Source: Net Promoter ™ Economics: the Impact of WOM, Satmetrix, 2008

28. RESULTS
Total Customer Value of an Apple advocate is almost twice that
of the industry average
FUTURELAB Source: Net Promoter ™ Economics: the Impact of WOM, Satmetrix, 2008

29. Revenue Growth % 2007 vs 2008
Source: Fortune Magazine, May 5,2008
24,3
13,8
8,4
6,5 6,2 5,5
0,8
HP Dell Apple Xerox Sun NCR Pitney
Bowes
RESULTS
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30. HOW ABOUT YOU?
5
To Customer
Centric Retail
Innovation
steps
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31. Image by : Zombiefactory, CC-license 2.0
#1 TAKE THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
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32. HOTSPOT HOTSPOT
Building Use &
Awareness Purchase Repurchase Loyalty Advocacy
Preference Service
THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY – BRAND/RETAIL PERSPECTIVE
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33. Flipchart Time
Which are the steps in the
customer journey when
booking a holiday?
How could you innovate
on them?
THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY
CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
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34. THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY
CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
1. I dream of going on holiday
2. I research my holiday
3. I plan my holiday
4. I select my holiday
5. I purchase my holiday
6. I receive travel documents & tickets
7. I anticipate departure
8. I prepare my trip
9. I travel to my destination
10. I discover my destination
11. I experience my destination
12. I record my memories
13. I share my experience How Can You Innovate Now?
14. I travel back home
15. I share my memories
LVMH - AOL Time Warner
UBS - Richemont
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35. THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY
CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
How About You?
TRAVEL CARS BANKING FOOD
Photo Nils Bremer, cc. 2.0
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36. FUTURELAB
Photo: Joeannenah, cc: 2.0
#2 GET THE CUSTOMER HEARTBEAT

37. 1. I dream of going on holiday
2. I research my holiday
WHAT DO YOUR CUSTOMERS 3. I plan my holiday
REALLY CARE ABOUT? 4. I select my holiday
5. I purchase my holiday
6. I receive travel documents & tickets
7. I anticipate departure
8. I prepare my trip
WHICH EMOTIONS ? 9. I travel to my destination
10. I discover my destination
ARE ALL EMOTIONS
EQUALLY STRONG? 11. I experience my destination
12. I record my memories
13. I share my experience
14. I travel back home
15. I share my memories
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38. FUTURELAB
BUT DON’T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS … THINK SCENARIOS

39. #3 FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
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40. WHERE SHOULD YOU FOCUS?
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41. FUTURELAB
WHICH IS THE EASIEST PATH TO WALK?
Photo: StuSeeger, cc 2.0

42. AIRLINES BANKS
COMPUTERS
INNOVATORS SEEM TO DISAGREE
PHARMA
UTILITIES PROCESSED FOOD
Source: The Doblin Group
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43. THIS ALSO APPLIES TO CUSTOMER CENTRIC INNOVATION
1. I dream of going on holiday
2. I research my holiday
3. I plan my holiday
4. I select my holiday
5. I purchase my holiday
6. I receive travel documents & tickets
7. I prepare my trip
8. I travel to my destination
Observation 9. I discover my destination
Most of the travel 10. I experience my destination
industry focuses on 11. I record my memories
those areas which have 12. I share my experience
least or most negative 13. I travel back home
emotional involvement 14. I share my memories
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44. DEBATE: ARE YOU A PENGUIN?
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45. CROSS YOUR INNOVATION LANDSCAPE WITH THE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
High
Opportunities for Areas to keep up
meaningful or stay ahead
Customer Engagement
differentiation
Copy when
Look at the niches proven only
Low
Low Innovation Intensity High
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46. #4 MAKE SURE YOUR PEOPLE ARE WITH YOU
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47. perception
80% of CEO‟s believe of
believe their brand provides a
superior customer experience
8 % of their customers agree
(Bain & Company)
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48. Watch video on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa
aAYVUWP0I
We show that we value our
customers by serving them
well, putting their needs and interests
at the center of everything we do.
(from the AOL mission statement)
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49. BAD EMPLOYEE?
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50. FUTURELAB
ONLY 5% OF THE WORKFORCE UNDERSTANDS THE
STRATEGY (when innovating this gets even worse).
Source: Norton, D. Aligning your Strategy to the Customer Value Proposition, 13/9/2005

51. WHILE THEY NEED TO DELIVER THE
RETAIL (INNOVATION) PROMISE.
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52. 76% of consumers don‟t believe that
companies tell the truth in advertisements
Yankelowich,2006
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53. FUTURELAB
BUT PEOPLE TYPICALLY DON‟T HAVE “EMOTION
MANAGEMENT” IN THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION

54. WHEN YOU INNOVATE, TRANSLATE INTO 6 DIRECTIONS
Remarkable Practice: Gemalto

55. FUTURELAB
Remarkable Practice: Gemalto

56. #5 START SWIMMING
YOU
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57. 5
To Customer
1. Take the Customer Perspective
Centric Retail
2. Get the Customer Heartbeat
Innovation
3. Focus Your Efforts
4. Make Sure your People Are With You
steps 5. Start Swimming
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58. AND DON’T FORGET TO STEAL WITH PRIDE

59. AND THEN WE WERE GOING TO HAVE A WORD ABOUT
POP Systems Online
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60. THOUGHTS ON DIGITALLY AUGMENTED RETAIL
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61. Internet Mobile In-store
Digitally Augmented Retail
THREE PRACTICAL OPPORTUNITIES
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62. “Out of 35 European
premium brand dealers 2007 Retail Study for Customer Focused Excellence
(N = 300 large online retailers)
only 1 responded to an
email enquiry from their • 61% do not offer any information on the product page regarding
own website … after 2 in-stock availability
weeks”
• 38% of sites have difficult to read fonts
• Only 58% correctly answer an e-mail question within 24 hours
• Only 33% offer customer reviews.
• 24% do not allow customers to enlarge the product image
Source: FutureNow, 2007
INTERNET
IF YOU PLAY, GET THE BASICS RIGHT
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63. Hi Joel,
Sorry if we weirded you or your friend out by US Online Review Users Identifying Review as
following you on twitter. @JetBlue isn‟t a bot, it‟s
merely me and my team keeping our ears to the
Having Significant Influence on their Purchase
ground and listening to our customers talk in open
forums so we can improve our service to them. It‟s Category %
not marketing, it‟s trying to engage on a level other
than mass broadcast, something I personally Restaurant 79%
believe more companies should try to do.
Hotels 87%
Because corporate involvement in social media is a
Travel 84%
new and evolving discipline, I also take a specific
interest on conversations revolving around our role Automotive 78%
here. I‟d have DMd you and Lisa directly if you
allowed DMs, so please also forgive me for following Home 73%
the link on your twitter page here to send you this
note. Medical 76%
You and Lisa are no longer being „followed‟ as you
seem to indicate. Legal 79%
Again, my apologies Source: Comscore Inc., the Kelsey Group, Oct. 2007
Morgan Johnston
Corporate Communications
JetBlue Airways
INTERNET
LISTEN AND REACT
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64. FUTURELAB
KEEP IT SIMPLE ON THE
MOBILE FRONT
On-Demand
SMS push
Location Based Push
!
RELEVANCE
PERMISSION INFORMATIONAL
(PART OF EXPERIENCE) PROMOTIONAL

65. IN-STORE INSPIRATION
Watch video on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQBFaVfBi9w&feature=related#
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66. WATCH THE CONTENT
Queen‟s Arcade (Cardiff) McDonalds Amsterdam Veritas Antwerp
INSTORE
LESSONS IN NARROWCASTING
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67. ROMANIA IS ON THE VERGE OF SOMETHING BIG
Turnover of Retail Trade in Romania 2001-2007, 2010
(€ billions)
COPY MODIFY CREATE DEGREE OF
INNOVATION
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68. THOSE WHO INNOVATE WIN
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69. FUTURELAB
GO !!

70. FUTURELAB
For more information
contact Alain Thys via
info@futurelab.net
Or read up on the
Futurelab blog at:
http://blog.futurelab.net