Grocery retailers and suppliers need to beware of falling into three major traps as they battle to come to terms with the effects of the economic crisis, according to IGD chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch.
Speaking at yesterday’s IGD convention in London, Denney-Finch said the three traps were:
1. To oversimplify in the dash for value. “Shoppers are not compromising, nor should we,” she said, referring to IGD’s latest consumer attitudes survey.
2. To cut the wrong budgets, such as marketing. “Shoppers are more promiscuous. We need to make it clear what we stand for.”
3. To just see the current economic crisis as a blip. “The world is changing and will never be the same again. The rules have been re-written and will stay re-written. When shoppers change, they do it big time and do it quickly.”
But Denney-Finch added: “If we have great people, particularly in the front line, we have nothing to fear. Our fast-moving industry is better positioned for the journey ahead than any other.
“It will always be needed, we will always be wanted, and I believe we will always be in the vanguard.”
