News

Honesty, simplicity and authenticity, the key features of the new post-crisis consumer.

Barcelona, May 19th, 2010.

The II annual day forum of the EADA Retail Management Center was held in Hotel Majestic of Barcelona. Under the slogan “Management strategies in times of change”, the event was attended by over 200 managers from the distribution sector.

The gathering is part of the Commerce Month, promoted by the Innovation, University and Industry Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and was brought to a close by the general secretary of Commerce, Gemma Puig i Panadero.

The day forum, which was attended by experts and representatives from key companies in the retail sector, started off with presentations by Xavier Bordanova, the Director of the Retail Center; Daniel Córdoba Mendiola, the executive manager of The Hunter Intelligence and author of “The Cool Hunting” and Félix Krohn, general manager of Simon Kucher & Partners.
In his presentation, the center director , Xavier Bordanova pointed out that during the time the center has been running – which coincides with the current crisis – sales seem to have picked up slightly in the sector but that there is still a lot of work to be done. As far as the customer is concerned, Bordanova spoke of a new behaviour even once the recession is over. “The consumer is seeking values such as honesty, simplicity and authenticity, not only in the product but in the sales environment as well”. There are great opportunities to be had in the sector given that consumers don"t just want cheap goods but are also looking for a balance between quality and the price they are paying. With regard to the commercial set up, Xavier Bordanova clearly stated that neighbourhood stores were not on their way out. “The post-crisis customer is a multi-channel purchaser, both in shops, shopping malls and on the internet”.
These speakers were followed by various company case studies presented by Joaquim Tossas, Marketing Manager of Bodegas Torres; Daniel Llano, vice-president of Face to Face of ING Channels and Alfredo Niubó, the Mediterranean zone manager of Opencor. Finally, IRI and Alexis Mavrommatis presented the Green Retail project.
 

EADA Retail Management Center

The Center"s mission is to promote innovation and excellence in the management of all kinds of organisations that sell directly to final consumers, with the aim of improving their efficiency and competitive edge. Its activities are focussed on generating knowledge, research, offering training and developing a solid community that provides support to companies and boosts innovation. In order to achieve this it has an academic team specialised in different aspects of retailing, made up of 9 professors. The Center is currently running projects in the field of Green Retailing, Independent trade strategies, Innovation in Retail, and the Impact of the European trade directive, among others.