“The big ideas in business are often very obvious, but it’s very hard to maintain a firm grasp of the obvious at all times.”
This was the response from Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, when discussing how to build a successful business. In an interview on AWS Live, he argued that the key question for any business is not ‘what will change in the next 10 years?’ but ‘what will not change in the next 10 years?’
Bezos accurately argues that for Amazon, price and speed will always be vital, and that understanding what will always be important is the only way to build a business stragey. As he puts it: “It’s impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up to me and says, ‘Jeff I love Amazon, I just wish the prices were a little higher.’”
For me, this idea rings very true for the travel retail market. As an industry, we are always talking about the future, evolution and change – we all want to tap into the next big thing. That makes sense, but it is no use if those changes come at the expense of what always matters.
As an industry, we are always talking about the future, evolution and change – but it is no use if those changes come at the expense of what always matters.
Much like Amazon, there can be no doubt that value must be a core part of this conversation. There is no future where travelling shoppers walk into an airport store, or a cruise store, or any other travel retail outlet, and way “I like the offer, but I wish it was more expensive.” A value offer has been a central part of our industry since the beginning, but today many of us would like to pretend it does not matter, and is not relevant when compared to experience or exclusivity. This is undoubtedly an example of missing the obvious.
Experience, range, exclusivity, sustainability are all big parts of our future, but if we implement them at the expense of our market’s obvious – and historical – appeal, then we are throwing away more than we stand to gain.
Travel retail has a history of trying to be too clever when it comes to shaping its future. Many of us will remember that during the pandemic a number of high-profile industry leaders spoke out about how this would be the end of personal interaction in the market, and that digital engagement was the only way forward. Thankfully, enough people ignored these naysayers and today human interaction is one of our most valuable tools for customer engagement. It is something we see in all the data which emerges about modern shoppers – and it is something we at 2.0 & Partners see first-hand every week through our Strategic Mystery Shopping and Academy training sessions.
Travel retail has a history of trying to be too clever when it comes to shaping its future.
Some people wanted to do the new, exciting, innovative thing at the expense of the obvious. Doing so would have been catastrophic.
In fact, the whole retail sector was guilty of ignoring the obvious when it comes to physical retail spaces in recent years. There was so much talk of a shift to digital, that some brands pulled out of physical spaces. Today, those same brands are scrambling to get stores back, while digital native brands are looking to build their own footprint. Digital is a vital lifeline for the future of our business, but the physical retail is part of the obvious – it should not be ignored for the sake of potential progress.
Too often, travel retail is guilty of looking for the next big thing, while ignoring the vital importance of maintaining the sector’s obvious appeal – such as price. Doing the next big thing is great, but you have to do the current big thing too. Otherwise you are sacrificing your present for a future which may not exist.