{"id":103715,"date":"2013-03-13T01:16:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T06:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/dx3-canada-spotlight-part-2-everything-about-retail-is-going-to-change-or-will-it\/"},"modified":"2024-12-31T06:35:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T11:35:48","slug":"dx3-canada-spotlight-part-2-everything-about-retail-is-going-to-change-or-will-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/strategy\/dx3-canada-spotlight-part-2-everything-about-retail-is-going-to-change-or-will-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Dx3 Canada Spotlight Part 2: Everything About Retail is Going to Change\u2026 or Will It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This is part two of a two-part blog series of DAC<\/a> covering Dx3 Canada 2013<\/a>, which took place on March 6th<\/sup> and 7th<\/sup> in Toronto. You can read part one here.<\/u><\/i><\/p>\n

Turbulent times for retail.<\/b><\/p>\n

Between 3D printing, augmented reality, e-fitting rooms and headsets that can measure consumer brainwaves, technology is changing the face of retail. That was the overarching theme of Dx3 Canada, a conference in which the Canadian Retail Industry was very much in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

30% of all spending by 2022 is projected to be online. Traditional retailers are losing money and closing stores left, right and centre. The so-called category-killers of the 80s and 90s are getting killed. Canadian retailers face increased pressure from cross-border and international competition. The supply chain is controlled not by distributors or retailers but by consumers. These are turbulent times for the Canadian retail industry. How, then, can retailers adapt?<\/p>\n

\u201cCulture of divine dissatisfaction\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

David Labistour, CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op, urged retailers to embrace a \u201cculture of divine dissatisfaction\u201d and to constantly strive to reinvent themselves in the face of an accelerating pace of technological change. \u201cKeeping the culture plastic\u201d is what he identified as his best piece of advice \u2013 and biggest daily challenge.<\/p>\n

Doug Stephens of Retail Prophet used the term \u201cphy-gital\u201d to describe how retail is increasingly occupying the space that merges the physical and digital worlds and claimed that average is simply not good enough anymore given the high expectation of today\u2019s informed consumer.<\/p>\n

Alan Huggins<\/a>, President of Lowe\u2019s Canada, argued that retail has been evolving since the calculator replaced the abacus and the elevator created the first skyscraper; it\u2019s the rate of change, not the change itself, that\u2019s new. Local markets gave way to department stores, to speciality stores, to category killers and big box stores, and finally to e-commerce experiences, but it\u2019s a logical and ever-evolving journey. We\u2019ve been here before, was the message, and those of us who embrace change instead of fighting it will come out ahead.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re still people.<\/b><\/p>\n

For retailers who fear that the rate of change will spell the end of their business, never fear: All agreed that there is a bright future for retailers who embrace the future.<\/p>\n

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