Retail Stores Reimagined

Through a future-back approach, Retail Stores Reimagined helps retailers evolve brick-and-mortar strategies to meet consumer expectations and provide connected, personalized and innovation-led experiences. Retail Stores Reimagined helps maximize store purpose, footprint and layout; revamp operations; address the talent agenda; and execute fulfillment.

Related topics Consumer products and retail Experience-led consumer journey Future consumer index

The team

Isaac Krakovsky

Isaac Krakovsky

EY Americas Retail Leader

Audi Rowe

Audi Rowe

EY Americas Consulting Transformation, Digital Strategy and Experience Leader

Your business challenge | Solution benefits | Solution features & functionality | Why EY | Alliance relationships

Your business challenge

Heightened consumer demands, new ways of engaging and the need for technology-driven modernization are fueling retail’s evolution. Stores remain a cornerstone of this evolution, shifting from shopping and buying destinations to experience-driven, integrated touch points within the entire retail ecosystem. To compete in an increasingly digital world, retailers need a store strategy that goes beyond brick and mortar.

Solution benefits

In addition to helping you better meet customer expectations and increase engagement, reshaping the in-store experience can also boost operational efficiency, reduce costs and bolster sales. Other benefits include:

  • Driving growth amid rapid change and future-proofing the business
  • Building agile, transparent and resilient operating models
  • Prioritizing the company’s purpose to align with consumer values

Solution features and functionality

Our Retail Stores Reimagined capabilities are organized into three areas of opportunity that retailers should capitalize on to transform. The EY team can help you with:

  • Maximizing the role of the store

    Creating a more engaging, personalized omnichannel shopping experience. We help retailers:

    • Leverage customer data and artificial intelligence (AI) to define, implement and innovate store formats, with strategies such as concept stores, immersive experiences and customization at speed
    • Enhance store purpose, layout and footprint based on geographic implications and customer needs
    • Position the store as a brand differentiator in areas such as in-store transparency, interactive digital integrations, last mile and micro-fulfillment options, and dynamic pricing

    Offerings include:

    • Capital planning, value modeling and business case development
    • Real estate portfolio strategy and planning
    • Technology modernization and digitizing the physical space
    • AI and machine learning for hyper-personalization
    • Sustainable return management

  • Developing talent effectiveness and operating models

    Establishing a digital-first, customer-centric organizational culture and designing future state talent processes and operating models that are resilient to rising labor costs. We help retailers:

    • Restructure operating models and upskill employees for faster digital adoptions and incentivized omnichannel sales generation
    • Leverage ecosystems and strategic partnerships to drive speed to market through existing technological capability upgrades, as well as strategic acquisitions and captive units to manage omnichannel operations
    • Introduce AI to optimize day-to-day work responsibilities and track newly targeted KPIs, utilizing solutions that can facilitate dynamic scheduling, automate recruitment processes, set a baseline for training and provide real-time assistance on inventory

    Offerings include:

    • Process design and implementation
    • Operating model and KPI design
    • Skill set identification and talent planning
    • Talent effectiveness, training and development
    • Change, communication and adoption

  • Executing fulfillment

    Addressing the people, process, technology and data needs required to meet omnichannel fulfillment obligations and deliver a seamless, consistent customer experience. We help retailers:

    • Integrate processes — from order placement, to fulfillment
    • Implement real-time inventory updates and AI capabilities into order management systems (OMS) across stores
    • Leverage data for such uses as predictive inventory replenishment and utilize advanced OMS applications to assign store fulfillment
    • Streamline operations through capabilities, such as endless aisle, real-time inventory updates with point-of-sale integration or clienteling (long-term relationships between sales associates and customers based on data)
    • Evaluate store layout and process impacts to pick, pack and ship; carrier integrations; and reverse logistics of product returns

    Offerings include:

    • Service design
    • Solution blueprinting and architecture
    • Buy/build/partner strategy and execution
    • Tax and incentive management
    • Store fulfillment operations
    • Integrated reporting and data management
    • Value creation strategy with a sustainable lens

Why EY

With 6,000 retail professionals serving 12,000 clients, EY teams have deep sector knowledge and experience to take retailers beyond brick and mortar. From data, technology and processes, to the humans responsible, we help reinvent stores and create seamless, integrated experiences.

Alliance relationships

Our Alliances and Ecosystem Relationships with the following companies help us deliver high-impact CX:

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