Robin Lewis - The New Rules of Retail: Competing in the Worlds Toughest Marketplace

Praise for the First Edition of The New Rules of Retail

Takes a real approach to describe why some retailers prospered and others failed through each wave of retail history. Lewis and Darts use of case examples brings the book to life, clearly spelling out how customers and the competitive environment have changed and how retailers today must connect with their customers and take control of their value chain to not only be successful, but survive.

Ken Hicks, Chairman and CEO, Foot Locker, Inc.,
and former COO of JCPenney

The New Rules of Retail: Competing in the Worlds Toughest Marketplace is an important and instructive read for industry veterans and newcomers alike. Lewis and Dart provide a practical roadmap for success in the rapidly evolving environment, along with an assessment of the retailers who get it. With the authors dire prediction that 50 percent of retailers will be unable to survive the transition to Wave III, this is a must-read for everyone in the business today!

Jane Elfers, President and CEO, The Childrens Place

This book is an essential read for anyone who is interested in a history of what drives 70 percent of the U.S. economy and the many challenges expected to be faced in the future. Like we are now seeing in politics, the voter/consumer is in the drivers seat, and those serving her had better take heed.

Allen Questrom, former CEO, JCPenney, Federated Department Stores, and Barneys

The New Rules of Retail is a must-read for students of contemporary retailing. Full of meaningful insights about the current environment, the authors chart the course for a successful retail future.

Paul Charron, former CEO of Liz Claiborne

Lewis and Dart have written an interesting and thoroughly researched book that traces the evolution of the retail business from the distant past to the looming future. Clearly, they know and understand all the playerswell worth reading.

Marvin Traub, former President and CEO, Bloomingdales

The New Rules of Retail is an incredibly interesting and a provocative read. I thoroughly enjoyed the authors insight on past events. I look forward to debate and dialogue about their predictions for the future.

Tom Wyatt, President, Old Navy

Lewis and Dart give a very accurate view of the past history of retailing. But more importantly, they offer an insightful and strategic view of the consumers and business models needed to support its future.

Claudio Del Vecchio, CEO, Brooks Brothers

The New Rules of Retail shows how to win in an unprecedented environment where consumers have instant access to hundreds of choices for everything they need. Lewis and Darts recommendations are dramatic, but they show that the consequences for those who stick with the status quo will be dire. A highly original and insightful book.

Mark Sarvary, CEO, Tempur-Pedic International Inc.

Lewis and Dart have so many thought-provoking ideas that I used up a box of paper clips marking the pages I wanted my various department heads to read. And theyre easy to followI understood the concept of a neurologically connective experience right away. All future decisions in retailing and wholesaling will be influenced by this book.

Bud Konheim, CEO, Nicole Miller

Lewis and Dart have shown once again that they have their fingers on the pulse of both consumer needs and the ever-changing retail industry. The New Rules of Retail is a must-read for anyone who wants to not only survive but to thrive in the decades to come.

Kevin M. Burke, President and CEO, American Apparel & Footwear Association

The New Rules of Retail is a powerful analysis of the tectonic shifts that have transformed this industry, and it reveals the secrets of succeeding in todays new economic and digital environment. Authors Robin Lewis and Michael Dart know retailing inside and out and their thought-provoking book, with its incisive perspective, proves it.

Tracy Mullin, former President and CEO, National Retail Federation

The New Rules of Retail

Competing in the Worlds Toughest Marketplace

Second Edition

Robin Lewis and Michael Dart

THE NEW RULES OF RETAIL, SECOND EDITION

Copyright Robin Lewis and Michael Dart, 2014

All rights reserved.

Second edition first published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United Statesa division of St. Martins Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.

Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 978-1-137-27926-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lewis, Robin, 1940

The new rules of retail : competing in the worlds toughest marketplace / Robin Lewis and Michael Dart.Second edition.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-137-27926-2 (hardback)

1. Retail trade. 2. Retail tradeManagement. 3. Retail tradeTechnological innovations. 4. Wholesale trade. 5. Consumer satisfaction. I. Dart, Michael.
II. Title.

HF5429.L4854 2014

658.872dc23

2014003487

A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.

Design by Letra Libre, Inc.

First edition: August 2014

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America.

To Martha and Cloe

To Janine, Alison, and David

And a special dedication to Judith Russell,
who kept us organized and on time,
edited our sometimes incorrect grammar,
and offered her brilliance in many parts of the book

Contents

PART 1

DEFINING THE FOUR WAVES OF RETAILING

Producer Power

Demand Creation in a Marketing-Driven Economy

Approaching Total Consumer Power

Technology Explodes: The Jobsian and Bezosian Era

The Transformation

PART 2

THE NEW RULES OF RETAIL

Neurological Connectivity

CHAPTER 7: REDEFINING THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Preemptive Distribution

The Bottom-Line Winners

Today, Tomorrow, the Future

PART 3

THE MASTERS

Omni-Brand to Consumer

From Success to Struggle

Acknowledgments

As we began to finalize this updated edition, and the expansion of our original thesis to include the full-on, explosive effects of the technology era, we spent many hours and days poring over what seemed like tons of research, digging for supportive nuggets and even whole veins to back our logic and strengthen our vision of how the transformation of the industry is going to play out.

In the middle of this yeomans quest, we realized that between us we had another untapped and enormously rich resource: our past and current professional colleagues; a great number of C-level and senior executives throughout the retail and other consumer-facing industries whom we had become friendly with over the years; many academicians; and various industry association leaders.

We sought many of them out and received not only great insight, much of it profound, but also, more importantly, their positive support and sincere interest in reading our final product.

Others who were not directly involved with our efforts, and many who were simply business colleagues over the years, nevertheless provided knowledge and strategic insights that later became useful in the shaping of our thesis. We want to thank them as well.