With 300,000 consultant worldwide and a sterling reputation for sophisticated retail and technology mandates, CapGemini delves into consumer behavioural and attitudinal changes across 12 countries including Canada to help us understand the post-COVID consumer. Today on The Voice of Retail, I sit with Vinayak Madappa, Strategic Advisory Partner, Consumer Products, Retail and Distribution at Capgemini Canada.
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
With 300,000 consultant worldwide and a sterling reputation for sophisticated retail and technology mandates, CapGemini delves into consumer behavioural and attitudinal changes across 12 countries including Canada to help us understand the post-COVID consumer.
Today on The Voice of Retail, I sit with Vinayak Madappa, Strategic Advisory Partner, Consumer Products, Retail and Distribution at Capgemini Canada.
Taking lessons from his roots in elite cricket and applying them to the world of consulting and retail, Vin shares with us the results of Capgmini’s latest thought leadership work “Capgemini’s Consumer Trends Report 2022: What matters to today’s consumers” but more importantly Vin is generous with his global insights as we probe some of the more interesting results of the study like consumers shopping direct from brands and the growing niche of paid-two hour delivery.
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into Barbeque, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About
Vinayak is a Strategic Advisory Partner for Capgemini Canada. He is an experienced leader with more than fifteen years of experience in a variety of progressive leadership roles focused on Advisory and Data and Analytics. He enjoys working with clients across different industries on applied intelligence and helping them realize the tangible value of data-powered enterprises impacting the ecosystem of business operations. Prior to joining Capgemini, Vinayak held positions with PwC and KPMG in Canada, South Africa and India.
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers list for 2021.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:04
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. With 300,000 consultants worldwide, and a sterling reputation for sophisticated retail and technology mandates, Capgemini helps us dive into consumer behavior and attitudinal changes across 12 countries, including Canada, to help us understand post-COVID consumer.
Michael LeBlanc 00:25
Today on The Voice of Retail, I sit with Vinayak Madappa, Strategic Advisory Partner, Consumer Products, Retail and Distribution at Capgemini Canada. Taking lessons from his roots in elite cricket and applying them to the world of consulting and retail, Vin shares with us the results of Capgemini's latest thought leadership work, "Capgemini's Consumer Trends Report 2022: What Matters to Today's Consumers".
Michael LeBlanc 00:46
But more importantly, Vin is generous with his global insights, as we probe some of the more interesting results of the study, like consumers shopping direct from brands, and the growing niche of paid two-hour delivery.
Vinayak Madappa 00:57
On the, on the survey front, you'll see that Canada generally sticks to the average of the, you know, of what, what's happening across the board. Whereas, you know, certain, certain countries, especially US or UK, tend to be in the, in the leader quadrant.
Michael LeBlanc 01:13
Let's listen in now. Vin, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing this afternoon?
Vinayak Madappa 01:19
I'm doing well, Michael. Thank you for having me.
Michael LeBlanc 01:21
Yeah, welcome, welcome. I haven't, I've yet to have, to speak to someone from Capgemini. So, it's a real treat. I saw the research you put out and I said, hey, what a great opportunity. You look like you've got the retail sector in your, in your background and your purview. So, it's a perfect opportunity.
Vinayak Madappa 01:37
Definitely. We've been doing some exciting stuff in the research space. So, happy to share more insight on the, on the publication.
Michael LeBlanc 01:45
Well, fantastic. Now, big global company, where are you based? You based here in Canada, and whereabouts am I reaching you today?
Vinayak Madappa 01:52
Yes. I'm based out of Toronto in Canada. And, you know, in the Bay Street offices.
Michael LeBlanc 01:57
All right, well listen. Let's jump right in, let's start, get a little bit about you. Tell us about yourself, your personal, professional journey, and your role at Capgemini.
Vinayak Madappa 02:06
Sure. So, on my personal journey, I guess, I was, I'm a consultant today, but I started off wanting to be a professional cricketer. Having, you know, grown up in India.
Michael LeBlanc 02:18
Yeah, fantastic.
Vinayak Madappa 02:19
You know, cricket is quite, quite fanatical religion, religious thing. And I played up to the provincial level of, if you say in the Canadian or, you know, probably the provincial teams or the junior teams. And then post that, I got into consulting. I started my career with KPMG focused on a lot in the telecommunications and retail space.
Vinayak Madappa 02:42
Post that, I moved to South Africa, where I joined PwC. I spent 10 years with PwC, between South Africa and Canada. And that's where I, you know, I focused more around data analytics, AI automation, across industries. And then in Capgemini, you know, having joined here in the last year, my focus is in the advisory, advisory business unit.
Vinayak Madappa 03:06
And our objective is enhancing and growing our footprint in the Canadian market. So, my role is trying to identify, you know, where, where the market is going, what capabilities and solutions that Capgemini offers, we can take to our clients and help our clients on the journey in transforming their organization, meeting their strategic objectives.
Michael LeBlanc 03:29
So, as an elite athlete is, is the consulting world, was it attractive to you to become a consultant because of your, your discipline? And your, and your focus that amateur sports brought to you? Talk about that a little bit. I mean, did you, or did you grow up and, you know, maybe this cricket thing is going to work out, but I really want to be a consultant that, you know, how did you approach that?
Vinayak Madappa 03:51
Funnily enough, actually, it, it was the chance to continue to play cricket for a bit more in a semi-professional capacity, which I thought, you know, consultancy would give me that freedom. And little did I know, I was completely wrong.
Michael LeBlanc 04:06
Friday, maybe, when you're back at home office.
Vinayak Madappa 04:09
Exactly. So, but, no I miscalculated that one, you know, about 15-odd years ago. But that being said, I think consultancy was something I was drawn to more for the excitement, you know, around learning about different industries, learning about different capabilities.
Vinayak Madappa 04:25
And if I look at how my career has panned out in, you know, it's allowed me to move across different domains and broaden my horizons quite significantly. So, that's, kind of, the key drivers to why I still, you know, focus in consultancy.
Michael LeBlanc 04:40
Right, right on. Now let's talk about Capgemini. So, in my background, way back at Hudson's Bay in the late 90's, 2000's, we had an engagement with Capgemini. I don't, haven't heard your name lately in circles. So, tell us, tell the listeners, they would know of Capgemini of course, but tell us all about the kind of the scope and scale, and particularly Cap in Canada.
Vinayak Madappa 05:01
So, Cap, Capgemini at a global level is one of the leading organizations, technology services organizations, where we partner with companies around transforming and managing their business operations with a focus on, you know, leveraging technology data, AI, to enable that. You know, we are, we are about 300,000 strong globally.
Michael LeBlanc 05:24
Wow, wow, yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 05:24
Across 50 countries, right. We've been in this, in, in, we have a 50-year heritage and deep industry expertise. Capgemini globally has also grown, we are acquisitions of some of our key strategic banners and engineering banners, which, which you can find on our website.
Vinayak Madappa 05:36
We are, you know, fueled by, you know, driving innovation, design, strategy, and connecting, you know, connecting ecosystems within organizations to help, you know, establish platforms for successful clients.
Michael LeBlanc 05:59
Now, when I, when I think of Cap, you know, again, based on my experience, which is 20 years old, I think of you as a, as a sophisticated technology integrator and, and, as you say, platform. So, I was intrigued to see you doing some consumer research.
Michael LeBlanc 06:12
So, let's, let's talk about the consumer research. So, you've got the, what's the study, "What matters to Today's Consumers?". So, why don't we start at the beginning, take us through a bit of the methodology, who you talked to, how and when, and then we'll, we'll dive into the, into the study and, and what you'd like the listeners to learn from it.
Vinayak Madappa 06:30
Perfect. Yep. So, for the survey, "What Matters to Today's Consumers?", what we did was we surveyed across 10,000, over 10,000 consumers, across the, over the age of 18, across 10 countries covering North America, Europe, and the Pacific region.
Vinayak Madappa 06:48
And the focus of this, the focus of this survey was at the, across various age categories, from the Gen X's to the baby boomers, as well as other variables and factors such as self-identified gender, self-identified location, household demographics, socio-economic factors, such as education and income.
Vinayak Madappa 07:10
And we focused the survey over a, during October and November 2021. We also conducted a follow-up survey in, taking about roughly 10% of our base, in December 2021, to explore additional questions, especially pertaining to the online in-store, in-store shopping and spending patterns, that they, that you would see the customers go through.
Michael LeBlanc 07:34
It's fresh baked data, right. I mean, that's, that's very recent data, right.
Vinayak Madappa 07:38
Yes.
Michael LeBlanc 07:38
Very recent. Now, to be clear, you talked about North American, so there is Canadian data in it. Is there Canadian cuts of the data? Or how should we think about that?
Vinayak Madappa 07:46
Yes, it is. Yes, we have broken it down. So, the North American data is broken out between USA and Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 07:53
Ah, great.
Vinayak Madappa 07:53
And similarly, we have a breakdown for the European markets as well. So, happy to talk a bit more about, about that as we go along.
Michael LeBlanc 08:01
So, we're trying to figure out, I love your title, "What Matters Most", we're trying to figure out, you know, all of us is trying to figure out all kinds of different things, and your study is, kind of, a mix of behavioral and attitudes. Let's talk behaviour. So, Canadians, what jumped out at, one of the things that jumped out at me is that, what was it, 45% of Canadians are shopping more directly from brands.
Michael LeBlanc 08:21
And I wanted to know your thoughts on that. Is this, you know, is this a COVID-era phenomenon? Is this fundamentally consumers think there's somehow a better experience or more value, or maybe the vendors are in stock, or it's e-commerce, or, what do you think's going on there?
Vinayak Madappa 08:37
That's a great question. And Michael, and I think, you know, there, there's various factors which play into this, into this conversation, especially for the direct, direct from vendors. One of them is around, of course, the pandemic playing a key role, the impact on supply chain, but I think also what we're starting to see is consumers are starting to look at, you know, buying directly from, from brands. Largely based on a couple of key factors.
Vinayak Madappa 09:07
One of them is looking at, at the loyalty and experience that they get. They want a consistent experience, they want to be able to get, you know, the, they want to see the benefits of their loyalty to a certain brand. And they believe by, by engaging continuously with these banners, they would, they would, you know, the, the brands, they would actually start to see that benefit in terms of pricing, promotions, and benefits.
Vinayak Madappa 09:35
The other, the other aspect, which was quite interesting to see, was the fact that they were starting to look at aspects pertaining to their values and how the brand values associated with them. And about 50, 50, 55% of the respondents believed that, you know, they would shop with a certain banner because they believed, you know, the brand values associated with them.
Vinayak Madappa 09:57
Largely around ESG, sustain-, with a focus, especially around sustainability, packaging, and whatnot. So, we started seeing that, you know, there are benefits that consumers are looking for, as they shop direct, with certain, direct with, with certain vendors.
Michael LeBlanc 10:13
Well, it's, I want to hang on this for a little bit, because it's so interesting to me, and of course, interesting to the audience. And, you know, that latter part, I guess, you could say, well, you could get that at any retailer. I mean, if you're looking for the brand, you're looking for the brand on shelf, whether it's a, you know, you could get it direct, or get it from a retailer, that first part is pretty intriguing, building loyalty.
Michael LeBlanc 10:33
Because, you know, in my experience, brands are, you know, some brands are very, very good at direct selling, others are just, kind of, getting into it. And the experience is very, I found, very generally hit-or-miss. Some is great, some is, you know, not so great, because they're just, kind of, getting into this space. And I find it's, and you mentioned loyalty, and I love talking about loyalty.
Michael LeBlanc 10:33
Because, you know, generally, we would think, well, if I consolidate all my shopping of all my different commodities, let's talk fast moving consumer goods into one place, I build more loyalty, rewards, if we think about it that way, then individually. What do you, you think that's changing?
Michael LeBlanc 11:09
You think people are saying, I, I, I find, inherently, a reward from shopping direct from that brand, but it, it means a lot more shopping, right. You know, you fill your basket of 20 items, does that mean you're going to go to 20 websites to buy, fill your basket? How are you thinking about this when you reflect on those results?
Vinayak Madappa 11:25
So, so there's, that's very great, great comment, right. And I think where, where loyalty plays a role, it goes hand-in-hand with the convenience aspect. And a lot of the direct-to-vendor shopping is shifting into a bit of a subscription-based service. And the study points that out, is that, you know, they believe that subscription-based services eliminates the planned shopping, and it's place the order once and you, kind of, forget about it, you know, it's going to come, you know, every month at your doorstep, right. Or as—
Michael LeBlanc 11:55
Yeah, yeah. It is, it is great for low engagement products. I mean, you know, your laundry, you know, you don't get a lot of experience or joy from buying your—
Vinayak Madappa 12:02
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 12:03
Not to bust on the laundry detergent, guys, but you know, you don't. Is, is do you think it's limited to that or even expanding?
Vinayak Madappa 12:09
I think, I think it's in that domain right now. I think from a grocery, from apparel, fashion perspective, you will see that people want to engage a lot more with the product. And hence, you see also that, that's starting to drive the back in and in-store, back to the store, you know, trends that we see post-pandemic, you know, in the new normal as people are calling it.
Vinayak Madappa 12:32
But yes, they are looking at certain products, which are, you know, more on the, let's say, day-to-day usage that you would require. It's not your convenience, convenience-based shopping products, it's more the planned products that you would like to, you, you buy on a monthly or a periodic basis, that start to feature in the direct to, in the direct-to-vendor domain.
Michael LeBlanc 12:54
All right, you mentioned stores. I love talking about stores. You know, we're seeing, if not a revival, a renaissance, if not a renaissance, a big focus. I mean, you know, as you say, stores are here to stay with 72% of consumers in your study are committed to continue to shop in-store.
Michael LeBlanc 13:09
You know, there's the balance, it's got a difference. What does online mean to people? Is that home delivery, it's curbside click-and-collect, you know, this, this distinction between physical and, and online seems to feel like it's starting to become a distinction without a difference. What, what did the data tell you, and what do you think?
Vinayak Madappa 13:25
So, one of the key aspects that we picked up, and I think it's important to also look at, you know, pre-pandemic, when it comes to online. And especially in the Canadian context, right. I think in the pre-, pre-pandemic world, there was a slight growth in the, in the market cap, in terms of, you know, consumers engaging with online, with the various fulfillment channels, whether it be home delivery, click-and-collect. And I think even certain, certain retailers were offering pickup at, you know, train stations—
Michael LeBlanc 13:52
Right, right.
Vinayak Madappa 13:52
And at common locations. And I think why, that was largely fueled through our convenience aspects, you know, not wanting to have to go to a store after you've taken, you know, spent nine hours of the workday and two hours in public transit, you know.
Vinayak Madappa 14:08
Speaking from personal experience, that you, grocery shopping and excite me after, after heading, after that, right. So, I think it was fueled from that. However, with the pandemic and what happened with COVID, a lot of that shifted into risk and aversion of risk due to, you know—
Michael LeBlanc 14:23
Yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 14:23
The unknown threat of COVID, at that point of time, in the early part of 2020. And that drove, you know, the growth. Subsequent to that, you started seeing as the, you know, people started understanding, you know, the impact of the pandemic, behavior started normalizing to an effect, especially on certain items, largely focused around grocery.
Vinayak Madappa 14:46
Health and beauty was, you know, something which is, you know, on the fence. You see our data shows that people will still want to buy health and beauty online strong, but a lot of people were quite happy to go back into the stores, also takes for the experience aspect. They miss the social engagement, they missed the social interaction—
Michael LeBlanc 15:01
Right.
Vinayak Madappa 15:01
And, you know, just the aspect of going to a mall and that whole, you know, journey around it, right, as a—
Michael LeBlanc 15:07
Yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 15:08
Family experience, or as a single experience.
Michael LeBlanc 15:10
Yeah. I mean, I often talk about this spectrum between experience and efficiency, right. I mean, you, earlier in our conversation, we talked about, you can have your shopping very, very efficient, just show up at your door—
Vinayak Madappa 15:21
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 15:21
In a subscription service. I mean, that's the ultimate efficiency, or you can get an experience. What are your thoughts on the transformation of, of this convenience in a world where, you know, today, not many of us are working from an office, and I think in the future, many less, not everyone will not work from an office.
Michael LeBlanc 15:40
And then, you know, the, the shopping patterns will change a bit. Maybe it's a bit of less commuting, so maybe you don't need a locker at a GO Station, or a commuter station. How are you, how are you guys starting to think about that? You've got this big institute, right, the, the Capgemini Research Institute. I got to think that's taken up a few cycles, you know, what does work look like? And then how does that reverberate on industries?
Vinayak Madappa 16:01
I think that's an evolving topic. As we’re still going through the, you know, evolution of the new normal, right. Omicron threw a spanner in the works as most organizations, as most people, were trying to get back to work. All of that's been paused.
Michael LeBlanc 16:07
January, right.
Vinayak Madappa 16:16
In January, right.
Michael LeBlanc 16:17
Yeah, yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 16:17
All of that's, kind of, been put on pause for the immediate future. But that being said, I think e-commerce is not going to go away. I think it's just going to become, you know, we saw that 38%, you know, of the consumer base still believe they're going to continue to have significant interactions.
Vinayak Madappa 16:33
They're going to still have, you know, spend more on groceries online with home delivery, and more from pickup, and about 1/3 are still saying they'll still buy online, but pick up in-store, just to maybe get out of the house, right.
Vinayak Madappa 16:47
So, I still see that there's going to be a balance, and customers want to be able to have that consistent experience of being able to buy the products across all the various channels, let it be online, digital or in-store. And the fulfillment, fulfillment options that they're providing, are, kind of, just the, you know, are becoming an expectation that I should have multiple options—
Michael LeBlanc 17:11
Yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 17:11
For fulfillment, and depending on convenience factors, and I think—
Michael LeBlanc 17:16
Yeah. That's, that's a really, that's a great point that I want to unpack for a little bit because, you know, when I talk to retailers about their strategies, and, you know, what's table stakes versus differentiators.
And I think five years ago, if you and I were having this conversation, many of the things that are now, kind of, table stakes were differentiators. So, how did, it's like the, the, the goalposts keep moving, right.
Vinayak Madappa 17:36
They're constantly evolving. And I think, you know, as we move away from, you know, the, as we move into the new normal, fulfillment frameworks for retailers are going to become more and more critical. And you see a couple of trends happening, a lot of retailers have, kind of, focused on different fulfillment methodologies. Some have gone with the Docstore, central-fulfillment, micro-fulfillment setups.
Michael LeBlanc 17:58
Yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 17:58
Some have looked to leverage their store networks where, you know, they have significant presence. And I think, you know, they're still navigating through, how do they actually establish this new organizational, this new network, to support the customers’ demands.
Vinayak Madappa 18:16
And, and a great example of that is the, you know, buy-online-pick-up-in-store. I don't know if you've noticed, but sometimes you see certain, you know, you're competing for certain products in the store, because the orders are being fulfilled at the store.
Michael LeBlanc 18:29
Yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 18:30
Whereas, you know, with the advent of the introduction of micro-fulfillment, or central-fulfillment centers, you can start to shift that operations into that domain, and service the store’s customers exclusively through that fulfillment channel, rather than create a conflict—
Michael LeBlanc 18:46
Yeah, yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 18:47
Between, between the online shoppers, and the in-store shoppers, and you can, you know, manage the experience consistently for everybody.
Michael LeBlanc 18:55
That's an interesting point, you know, what happens on the shop floor, right. You're trying to outrace the, the person with the buggy filling orders.
Vinayak Madappa 19:02
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 19:03
With the, with the thing on their wrist, right. So interesting.
Vinayak Madappa 19:06
And then the second aspect of that, that's more on the experience side, and then you come to the operation side, how do you leverage automation? How do you leverage innovation for, you know, these, the storing, picking, and packing of these products? And I think that's where, you know, companies have leveraged, you know, organizations, retailers are looking at leveraging, you know, large scale automation for case pick—
Michael LeBlanc 19:32
Yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 19:32
Unit picks, to, in their warehouses and their regional fulfillment centers, or micro-fulfillment centers, to start to reduce the cost, as well as, you know, improve the operational efficiency, so that consumers can start receiving their products within the prescribed timelines, you know, as per the, you know, scheduled delivery, or promises that organizations are making.
Michael LeBlanc 19:55
Well, and it's such a complex operation because, it's almost now, that you, you need that technology because you can't find the people. And—
Vinayak Madappa 20:02
Yes.
Michael LeBlanc 20:02
I'm sure, I'm sure your institute is noodling around, you know, is this a longer-term trend, or is it, you know, right now, it's particularly intense. We're talking here in January, but, you know, will that continue? It's not like finding people was easy in the before time, either, right.
Michael LeBlanc 20:03
So, you know. At what, at what, you know, at what expense does capital make sense to replace or augment, you know, your in-store staff in the back of the house, so to speak, right.
Vinayak Madappa 20:27
Definitely. And I think that that's been a concern, you know, and not so secret concern of the retailers. Let it be for, even the warehouses, or in the extended supply chain for the distribution logistics, as well. You have an aging workforce over there. You, you know, so the need to evolve your back operations, back-office operations, becomes all the more critical in enabling, you know, the future of your organization.
Michael LeBlanc 20:56
Are you seeing, now you, you came from, you were in South Africa, you came from India, are you seeing similar trends around the world? Like, when we step back, we've been talking about the Canadian context. But, you know, I have to think many of these are fairly global trends.
Michael LeBlanc 21:08
Do you think Canada stands out in some way in the report that you want to call out, that's maybe a bit different than what you see even in the US or anywhere around the world? Is something different happening here?
Vinayak Madappa 21:19
So, on a personal experience, I can't speak about those countries. However, they weren't, they weren't part of the survey. So, I'll, for now, let me just focus on the survey. And I’ll give you maybe a personal perspective.
Michael LeBlanc 21:28
Yeah, sure.
Vinayak Madappa 21:30
On the, on the survey front, you'll see that Canada generally sticks to the average of the, you know, of what, what's happening across the board. Whereas, you know, certain, certain countries, especially US or UK, tend to be in the leaders, in the leader quadrant in terms of innovation.I guess a lot of that has to do with Canada's, you know, unique geography, the population density, kind of being, you know—
Michael LeBlanc 21:56
Scale, yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 21:57
Scale, right. You know, so Quebec and Ontario dominating the population. Whereas as you spread to other provinces, which have, let's say, wide landmass, but, you know, large landmass but sparse population, in terms of, you know, per capita. You, kind of (inaudible) organization[1] has to be very smart or savvy as to how they fulfill the demands.
Vinayak Madappa 22:18
So, promises like, you know, two hours in a region where you have, in your population, space is not ideal. Whereas maybe next-day delivery or two-day delivery promises, and setting customer expectations becomes a bit more, you know, let's say realistic.
Michael LeBlanc 22:33
Right, yeah, yeah. Because you've got more density, right.
Vinayak Madappa 22:35
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 22:36
More population density.
Vinayak Madappa 22:37
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 22:37
Okay, you mentioned two hours. This jumped out at me in the study. That consumers, your report said, consumers would spend to get two-hour delivery. Is that a shift in attitudes? I mean, is that, well, I don't have a car, I'm not paying insurance, I do the math, I can justify, I mean, who needs something in two hours, like really, like it, sometimes it baffles me.
Michael LeBlanc 22:55
Maybe I'm the wrong generation, but I don't need any, very many things in two hours. But is this elevated beyond, well, if I can get it, I'm going to do it. But the interesting thing is, I'm willing to pay for two hours. Tell me, talk about that a bit.
Vinayak Madappa 23:08
That is interesting. And I think we saw that initial trend, you know, in the UK market, when some of the big box retailers launched it. And then initially, that's, and then that started shifting into other domains. I think the two-hour window, the two-hour promise, was, you know, something that, I guess, people, humans are creatures of convenience.
Vinayak Madappa 23:27
And I think with the convenience and with everything, you know, being more available on hand, especially with technology, some behaviors of convenient shopping has shifted online. And, you know, instead of running down to the store, and getting it in, you know, for a game day, you know, I'm watching the football, you know, next weekend's the, or the, the hockey, I know, I can, you know, order that in the morning, and you know, have it at my doorstep, maybe 15 minutes before the game.
Vinayak Madappa 23:55
And I don't need to waste half an hour as, I guess, you know, from, to run down, down to the store and, you know, prep for the game. But that's just an example from the survey.
Michael LeBlanc 24:03
Yeah, I get the run down to the store part. I mean, I'm all over that. I do, I do a lot of click-and-collect in grocery. But—
Vinayak Madappa 24:09
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 24:09
I don't know if I need it in two hours. I'm just trying to probe, is that some kind of attitude change? I mean, I've been tracking this my whole career, it's like—
Vinayak Madappa 24:16
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 24:16
That's a niche. It'll never be a thing. I could see it free. I mean, free, yeah, if I can get it in two hours, but pay for it. I mean, that's so interesting to me, no.
Vinayak Madappa 24:24
It's a bit about, you know, understand behaviors, right, and understanding the attitudinal and aspirational behaviors of, of consumers, and then leveraging, you know, the nudging to customers to see which customers would take up the—
Michael LeBlanc 24:39
Yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 24:39
Take up the product. And then, you know, if that's sustainable. I think they still push that, they still keep, keep that ball rolling. And it's very much, you know, a North American, or an American attitude. You know—
Michael LeBlanc 24:53
Big city, North American, right.
Vinayak Madappa 24:54
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 24:55
It's, it's, I want it now but I live in, you know, rural Canada, you're not going to get it two-hours, right, kind of thing.
Vinayak Madappa 25:02
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 25:04
All right, well, this has been great. Now let's, the last question for you, advice to the retailers listening. And, and the format here is two starts and one stop. Based on what you read in the report or, and your experience and what the report talks about. Two things that retailers should start doing in 2022 and beyond. One thing, maybe they should stop doing, maybe it's not going to work, maybe it's an old habit. What are your thoughts?
Vinayak Madappa 25:26
Well, I think the first one for the, for the starts, will probably come as no surprise to any retailer or any organization, is the focus on data and digital, right. We, you know, we’ve, we've conducted other surveys for the focus on data mastery, and digital masters. And what we found is that, especially in the CPR** organizations, that only a minority of these organizations have a strong foundation, data decision making, data driven decision making.
Vinayak Madappa 25:56
And I think that's where, you know, and if I take the Canadian context, you look at some of the, some of our big retailers, they are, you know, they’re family businesses, or started off as family businesses, they've grown through acquisitions. You know, they've, they’re trying to cater to the various audiences in the market.
Vinayak Madappa 26:14
And, but, you know, they probably need to start to integrate their ecosystems technology wise, in a more effective manner, so that you can start to understand consumer behaviors. You know, get a 360 view of the customer to actually inform those decision making. As well as, as personalization starts to become, you know, personalization at scale, starts to become more important, you saw that consumers are starting to spend a bit more if they are getting personalization offered to them. So, I think—
Michael LeBlanc 26:46
I guess you got to, you got to pick a spot, right. You're either going to be very, very, very efficient, and therefore convenient, or you've got to figure out what experience looks in the context of, of who and how you go to market, yeah.
Vinayak Madappa 26:59
Exactly. And I think data is at the core of that. And I think that people think data is largely focused around the consumer, the front of office, but in terms of operations, in terms of operational efficiency, data is critical and pivotal in managing, you know, how we enable and fulfill everything to the consumers, as well as understanding, you know, how, how innovations can actually improve employee engagement.
Vinayak Madappa 27:25
And I think that kind of segues into my second, maybe, start is around the people. It's not a start, per se, but it's a, it's an evolution. I think, what's starting to happen is we're seeing that people are, you know, employers are, employees are starting to look at, you know, evolving their skill sets.
Vinayak Madappa 27:46
And I think organizations want to start to provide that to them, move away from, let's say, more manual activities to more, you know, automated activities, engage people in terms of, you know, upskilling them, encourage low code, citizen-led development for day-to-day operations.
Vinayak Madappa 28:02
And I think that would also start to drive innovation in the organization across different levels, and then feed into the broader, you know, digitization of the organization.
Michael LeBlanc 28:13
All right. Two great starts. What's your, what's your stop? What's your choice?
Vinayak Madappa 28:16
Huh, the stop. That's an interesting one. I guess, from, from the survey, if you looked at it, you know, one of the stops, which came out to me personally was, today, people are still willing to pay a premium for, for products which align to the brand, to their personal values, especially around sustainability, environment, information.
Vinayak Madappa 28:42
I think you see, if you see some, a lot of the respondents believe that, while today, they're okay to pay a premium, they believe that it needs to become more affordable, more in line with the, let's say, non-source, less sustainable products, which are out there in the market.
Vinayak Madappa 29:00
Because that starts to become table stakes going forward, right. And I think understanding of how people are viewing their health and wellness as, as, as priority. You want to start to, you know, customers need to, organization's need to start to listen to the customers, and probably, you know, normalize the prices of certain products.
Michael LeBlanc 29:22
All right, good one. All right. Well, listen, this has been a great discussion. Now, where can the listeners go to learn more? So, this study, first of all, I can put a link into the show notes. But you've got this, the Capgemini Research Institute, which is a much lauded, well awarded institute. Is that a great place to start? Tell us where we can go learn more, and how to get in touch with you, if they want to talk to you a bit more.
Vinayak Madappa 29:42
Perfect. From, you know, the Capgemini Research Institute, that's the best place for all our surveys, you can subscribe to it and you'll receive the publications as we, as we issue them over the coming year. Our website, our website is another big area where you can understand more about our organization globally and from a Canadian context.
Vinayak Madappa 30:08
And in touch with connecting with me, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn, Vinayak Madappa. Alternatively, you know, you will have some leadership details available on Capgemini website. So, you should be able to reach out to us through any of these channels.
Michael LeBlanc 30:26
Well, fantastic. Well, Vin, thanks so much for joining me on The Voice of Retail. I'll put links into all that stuff in the show notes. So, if anyone's listening and, and wants to just click through and find all that information, I'll have those in the show notes.
Michael LeBlanc 30:39
But for now, thanks again. Welcome to, welcome to Canada. Welcome addition, welcome to Capgemini, and not welcome, but thank you for being on the podcast, and look forward to more engagement here and for your future engagements, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Vinayak Madappa 30:56
Thank you, Michael. I appreciate being here. And, you know, looking forward to, you know, engaging with the retailers as we go forward.
Michael LeBlanc 31:05
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and click and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, so new episodes will land automatically twice a week. And check out my other retail industry media properties, the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast and The Food Professor podcast, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.
Michael LeBlanc 31:25
Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all-new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbecue, with new episodes each and every week.
I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E LeBlanc & Company and Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co.
Have a safe week everyone.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
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