Consumer & Retail

To succeed, companies must be able to adapt the ever-changing consumer behavior. To do this, the industry needs great leaders.

Challenges and opportunities

New digital solutions offer completely new opportunities to drive targeted marketing and customized customer experience. Many newly established businesses that offer solely e-commerce solutions challenge established companies in the industry. Established companies that are equipped for traditional commerce face the big choice – should they focus on online sales, traditional commerce or both?

The key is to create the best possible customer journey. Some customers want to shop straight from the couch, others like to shop at local shops, while some prefer large malls. It is particularly important to ensure good store management for securing existing customer bases.

Large parts of the industry operate at low margins due to very strong competition. It is therefore crucial to keep the costs as low as possible while offering the best customer experiences, the best products, and the most efficient supply chain. A significant change in the industry in recent years is customer access to information. Customers today have more opportunities to check prices and information about the products before purchasing. This presents both challenges and opportunities for the industry. This necessitates that the employees have the competence to answer questions from more informed customers as a part of the purchasing process.

Warehousing, logistics and transport are important for many companies. Here the “last mile” problem is central. How to distribute the products to the buyer in the cheapest and fastest way? In countries with a dispersed settlement and small population, this is particularly important. Many companies today have more automated solutions in warehousing, logistics and transport services. This is often expensive but can nevertheless be crucial for future profitability.

Requirements for future leaders

Leaders in the consumer and retail industry must have a strong understanding of the relevant markets and understand the needs of the customers. It is becoming increasingly important to develop good customer journeys, and the companies that develop the best customer journeys will also be the future winners in the industry. This requires innovative leaders who can identify the customer’s needs and who have the creativity to create the best possible customer journey for each individual customer. This also includes understanding how technology can be used to assist at every stage of the process, from purchasing, to inventory management, transport, sales process, and add-on sales.

An important part of this insight is also understanding the company’s position, customer segments and competitive situation. Leaders who are quick to adapt based on good analytical and strategic understanding will often succeed. International experience and knowledge can also be important for many businesses, as more and more companies operate globally in terms of customers and suppliers from other countries and markets.

BackerSkeie has long and extensive experience in recruiting leaders in the consumer and retail industry. We work with clients in:

• FMCG – groceries
• Specialist trade
• Dining
• Hotel
• E-commerce – the digital customer journey
• Logistics
• Supply Chain – automation, distribution / transport

BackerSkeie has experienced consultants who have executive experience from several of these areas.

Read more about how BackerSkeie works with Executive Search here.

Why choose BackerSkeie for your board or executive recruitment?

Industry specific and functional competence: Through recruiting numbers of leaders to consumer and retail, our experienced consultants have accumulated considerable expertise in recruiting board members and executives to this industry.

Placement power and network: We have extensive experience in attracting the ideal candidates on relevant terms. Our brand has a strong reputation in the market, and we have a wide network of candidates and informants that we bring into each recruitment process.

Quality and experience: BackerSkeie has over 15 years of experience in the market, and has consequently established a robust and innovative methodology for recruiting leaders and board members to clients with high requirements. To deliver the best matched candidates, we have a thorough process and uses only certified tools. BackerSkeie has expertise in recruiting.