Top 5 highlights from the OPI Global Forum 2016
Simon Drakeford, CEO Office Power, attended the OPI Global Forum 2016 recently. There were several discussions and panel sessions that provided valuable insights into the various areas of the office supplies industry. Here are a few of Simon’s key highlights from the conference.
State of the industry
Traditional selling methods increasingly being challenged, the big book slowly gives way to the internet search. Bricks and mortar retail is under threat. What are businesses doing? Consolidating or exiting, as well as diversifying, such as morphing from office products to business supplies, and adding services such as MPS or shredding.
The market is changing fast the old ways don’t work anymore we need to widen our view but focus at the same time! Not everyone will survive, but there is still space for the innovative players who are willing to challenge, change and play to their strengths.
The transformation of retail and distribution
Ecommerce continues to degrade store productivity, as major retailers need to close stores to maintain previous sales per square foot. Retail is becoming very different… significant forces are driving change… with logistics and delivery options including Sameday delivery, In store pick up (Click & Collect), Remote Pickup Lockers, On demand delivery (one hour) as well as Self pickup.
Future merchandising and distribution may be more about convenience, experience and curation, using smaller stores that are, fresher, local, and can be part of the supply chain as pickup points.
Content marketing: The science and the art
A strategic approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience, ultimately, driving profitable customer action. If you can create frequent contact with your audience and show them you care and understand them, you can retain brand loyalty.
Growing margins and customer loyalty in a price transparent world
Online impacted retail sales will account for 55% of total sales by 2020. 71% of shoppers believe they will get a better deal online than in stores. Generation X spends 15% average more than Generation Y, and 62% of Millennials use online research to find what they want.
Know yourself and your customers, define your identity and brand. Choose your target market, and understand your customers and their needs. Bear in mind that a high percentage of customers are influenced by consumer written reviews.
Let’s take a look at… The B2B payments revolution
We have come quite a way with methods of taking payment for transactions, way back from just cash, on to credit cards through to Pay Pal and Apple pay. Now we have automated, online payment systems that can reduce costs by consolidating transactions within a single payment solution. Along with Customer relationship management (CRM) strategies and technologies companies can manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships, assisting in retention and driving sales growth.
