How Kohl’s can continue their retail success

In 2017, Americans spent $130.6 trillion and names like Target, Lululemon, and (no surprise) Amazon saw increases in sales from the last year. The winners are no doubt impressive, the big question is how will retail adapt? What are the next steps? Is it too late? Absolutely not.

Recently, we heard about Kohl’s plans to partner with grocery stores. How should they, and similar retailers choose who to partner with?

First, retailers need to see who is in their geo-fence to see who their customers are. What retailers make sense to include?

Next, these partner retailers should place products appropriate to the location.

Finally, after you geo-fence your customers, get to know when personally. What are their temperaments? Personalities? What kind of products match the personalities of the best customers?

Don’t average and aim to make everyone happy. When you do that, you make less people happy. Delighting your best customers means positive word of mouth, whether online or social. People trust their peers.

It’s an interesting time for retail – we see some clear winners and we see a lot of closures (think about Sam’s Clubs). We are confident we have the key to winning.