Student Club Events
Retail 2020: Reinventing Retail Once Again
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On February 28, NYU Stern’s Luxury & Retail student club co-hosted a special guest lecture with IBM, “Retail 2020: Reinventing Retail Once Again,” featuring Professor Herb Kleinberger and Chris Hendren of IBM Global Solutions. The lecture corresponded with the global launch of the paper, "Retail 2020: Reinventing Retail Once Again" (a joint project between NYU Stern and IBM), and the speakers reflected on challenges and opportunities facing today’s retailers. They described retail’s rapidly changing competitive landscape, and discussed pressures e-commerce giants such as Amazon are bringing to the brick and mortar business model. They also predicted several trends for the upcoming decade, including a rise in the consumer power of Millenials (those born between 1982-2000), shrinking middle markets, growth opportunities in emerging markets, in-store experiences utilizing mobile devices, a move to smaller retail spaces and an emphasis on personalization.
Professor Herb Kleinberger: “The future is still unclear as to how traditional retailers are going to step up and compete with e-commerce players.”
Chris Hendren’s advice to retailers: “Find ways to appeal to Millenials as they take control of shopping decisions.”
Professor Herb Kleinberger: “The future is still unclear as to how traditional retailers are going to step up and compete with e-commerce players.”
Chris Hendren’s advice to retailers: “Find ways to appeal to Millenials as they take control of shopping decisions.”