The Future of Retail
Unpredictable — or Untenable for the Incumbents?
Last week revealed something big.
On Tuesday afternoon — off-peak, in a semi-industrial and inconvenient location — I visited Taking Care of Business. Over 60 people were actively shopping RE-commerce goods: quality general merchandise (returns, shopsoiled, excess stock) sold at deep discounts to township resellers who knew how to move it.
On Saturday at 11AM — peak trading time, in a prime mall location — I visited a national retailer’s large-format store. In the equivalent section? Six people. All staff. No customers.
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Here’s what I took away:
#1: The retailer didn’t do anything “wrong.”
They followed the classic 4Ps — Product, Price, Place, Promotion. It was neat. Predictable. But not remarkable.
#2: TCB followed the 7As — and won.
It wasn’t just about access. It was about relevance.
– Availability, Affordability, Awareness, Acceptability
+ Alignment, Acculturation, Ambidexterity (my extensions)
#3: Those closest to the customer are farthest from Head Office. Challengers start with demand — with local insight and build up. Incumbents start with supply — with a model and hope customers show up.
So I made this visual to help others rethink what strategy actually looks like on the ground.
Because what looks good in the boardroom isn’t always what moves in the street. My personal #1 rule in emerging markets: proximity beats predictability.
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