As a brand facing commoditization, you can no longer rely solely on brand value or product qualities. Focus on connecting with consumers. Get to know their product, channel, and service preferences and deliver experience to support your products.

Getting online is necessary for growth but can erode margins, increased spending digital advertising contributes to this. To become more profitable, retailers and brands should focus on increasing conversions on digital assets, reducing costs when fulfilling online orders, and making digital ad spending more efficient.

The physical store can still add value. However, the store will need to play different roles. It can function partially as a fulfillment center, or part of an omni-channel shopping journey by showrooming products. New experiential activities can increase shopper engagement and connection to the brand.

The binary choice between traditional e-commerce and brick and mortal retail does not meet many consumers’ needs. Alternative shopping, purchase, and fulfillment models should be explored, such as social shopping, buy online pick-up-in store, delivery lockers, subscription models, rentals, and easy returns.

Retailers can win by providing consumer's access to what they want, when they want it, quickly and conveniently. In physical points of sale, this can mean reconfiguring the store and keeping shelves stocked for speedier shopping and check-out. For digital channels, this can mean better search and filtering tools and more flexible delivery options.

Beyond simply producing healthier products, brands can address consumer demands for health and sustainability by finding solutions to make manufacturing and the value chain more sustainable, and then share this information with their customers 

Demand planning and supply chain decisions can no longer be based on historical data, but rather must be identified in real-time as the market shifts. Manufacturing and supply chain processes must be flexible enough to respond to unpredicted changes quickly.