If Carlsberg did wellbeing lounges with dentists and yoga in the Apple Store of the future, inside Wallmart
For maximum impact, please watch video first, but be warned, it will probably make you smile:
''The past is our definition. We may strive with good reason to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it. But we will escape it only by adding something better to it.'' - Wendell Berry Many of you know I've been contemplating a move back to my little neighbourhood of De Pijp, maybe even Hemony Straat, where I lived far too briefly, working on loyalty and customer acquisitions as European Strategy Consultant to Ahold Delhaize in Zaandam, some years ago. I would wake up every morning with the smells of a Lidl bakery and the sounds of bicycle and tram bells, children laughing, energy and movement. Bright colours, Tulips in summer, and a city in flow.
New research emerged from Amsterdam this week, sparking the synapses and so I decided to write a longer piece rather than share a post. The research conducted in Europe revealed high levels of consumer trust for leading retailers such as Albert Heijn, who participated in the research and data analysis in partnership with Deloitte.
Deloitte co-authored this research alongside Ahold Delhaize who in my humble opinion have been ahead of the curve for a long time. Much like Wallmart, they provide world class guardrails/ benchmarks for how to build sustainable trust and equity, against a backdrop of intense competition, with consumers over time.
Loyalty and pricing played a big role post 2008-10 in the European markets; the likes of Jumbo, Aldi and Lidl intensifying the battlegrounds in The Netherlands and Europe and for a while, price was a big lever although non-price differentiation in the form of trust building and consumer/ brand building initiatives helped them to create some enviable, defendable positions. The adoption of digital and the willingness of consumers (target buyers) to share data is an interesting inflection right now as the UK opts out of European data laws. I’m curious to understand how this tracks beyond lockdown and the new normal, and whether trust and willingness to share data in light of economic turbulence goes up or down.
Most noticeable about this research are the familiar themes of trust between consumers and brands.
Grocery retailers are seen as highly trustworthy, and there is above-average willingness to share data with them—more favourable than for non-grocery retailers, financial institutions, digital platforms, and social media platforms. The only other organisations consumers trust more with their data are medical services and government institutions.
Consumers have high expectations when it comes to transparency, choice, and control, over what data is being collected and how it is used.
There are significant differences across Europe around the willingness of consumers to share data and there is no single European consumer.
More below:
https://www2.deloitte.com/nl/nl/pages/consumer/articles/the-consumer-data-give-and-take.html) US consumers trust brands more than the government: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/353612/us-consumers-trust-brands-more-than-the-governme.html US retailer Wallmart is showing the way towards building healthier communities for tomorrow, beginning with their associates/ partners, families and wider communities. The retail giant has appointed a SVP role for Wellbeing to enable its mission to grab a share of the $3.6 trillion in health spending by leveraging its 150 million weekly shoppers. In the UK and Europe where there is a good case for accessible, needs-based multidisciplinary healthcare interventions particularly in areas of dentistry and mental health and other under-served markets. The UK's NHS system works in some areas and is flawed in others. Dentistry options are severely lacking if you're on universal benefits or don't have private healthcare options. Something that will become a reality for many overnight. Affordable dentistry in the 'If Carlsberg made wellness lounges in Lidl' storyboard.
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/walmart-a-sleeping-giant-in-health-care-morgan-stanley-warns
I can think of many retailers globally who's values align with these and where consumer trust is particularly high relative to non-Grocery categories. This new research uncovers opportunities for a new category vision for wellbeing, vitality and flow, benefitting from scale and technological advances in data analytics, scaling prioritised propositions, and reaching economies where these solutions are made accessible to those in need with symbiotic benefits for all players; shoppers/ consumers (affordable healthcare and longer lives), the provider/ manufacturer (increased lifetime value and topline growth) and retailer (growth, footfall, customer value and greater loyalty/ trust, quality assortment and engagement, increased spend per trip, cross-sells) by serving existing 'untapped' emotional and functional needs.
You walk into a pod or experience and connect with a world of offerings tailored to your needs, maybe a local root canal or painless replacement of a broken tooth, perhaps even grown from your own body, or PTSD treatment therapies, a breathing, mindful eating or yoga class, holistic multidisciplinary labelling and signage around head, heart, gut and mental health. Local communities and nodes for self care, compassion, love and kindness. If I were to make one bet on how we can gain advantage through this adversity as a society, it would be to build the product and portfolio architecture and experiences of tomorrow, which will inevitably replace the killer products that lead to addiction and sub-optimal performance at population level.
Some would argue that there are already some players operating in this healthier space. Planet Organic and Whole Foods Market are a good model in some places but this is not a societal solution. In Richmond, London, and Wandsworth, they're possibly more communal than their Santa Monica offerings, and these might be a useful input to store layouts of the future but they're still exclusive. Pricing however can be a great asset for resilience and brand differentiation, but when it comes to delivering quality healthy food to the masses, there's a responsibility that goes beyond profit. This is where business needs to transform for good.
Higher prices means certain segments who became increasingly more sensitive due to their reduced spending power are now unable to access healthy, wholesome, safe food. Grocery brands transform lives. Buckminster Fuller, ( July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist.. Bucky once said: You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
To the Wallmart's, SPAR's, Woolworth's, Lidl, Albert Delhaize, Shopright, Kroger, Wholefood's, Waitrose, John Lewis Partnerships and all the high street heroes out there. We challenge you to a new collective vision for tomorrow. In the words of Shannon Briggs;
''Let's Go Champs!''...
Published by Andrew Soteriou Founder & CEO | LinkedIn Top Voice | Retail, Consumer Products & Startups | Global Venture Partner & Advisor | Keynote Speaker & Host: FlowLab Podcast 🎧 Powering sustainable, inclusive growth, profit and impact. Published • 3y ''The past is our definition. We may strive with good reason to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it. But we will escape it only by adding something better to it.'' - Wendell Berry
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