Resurrecting Retail: The Future of Business in a Post-Pandemic World

Resurrecting Retail is not just a riveting story of the unprecedented crash of industry, but a roadmap for its rebirth.Some key points I took away:- Retail imitates life, life doesn't imitate retail.- COVID-19 has altered the future of retail, it hasn't just accelerated it.- Every brand needs to revisit its fundamental purpose.- 10 retail archetypes: archetypal business models that are not only going to be resilient against competitors, like Amazon and Alibaba, but will actually allow brands to begin to thrive by focusing very clearly on what question consumers are asking, and on being the answer to that question.

Doug is the Tony Robbins of the Retail Industry. He has the ear of the major brands for important strategic decisions made inside boardrooms. The knowledge he has of the retail industry, its forward-looking trends and which brands are remaining highly relevant offers enormous advantages for executives in the industry as well as investors who want to invest in these great brands. There are too many insights in this book to list them all but suffice to say it's a great summary of the trials and tribulations of the retail industry, how it's being affected by the pandemic and more importantly, what it will look like post-pandemic. Doug discusses in detail how the leading brands have benefitted from Covid and what lies ahead for brands that rapidly accelerated their digital capabilities and are paying keen attention to the new customer experiences that will be required to keep consumers engaged in physical stores. I loved the discussion of what the shopping center of the future will look like. As a fund manager that dedicates to identifying the most relevant brands serving global consumers, Dougs expertise has paid serious dividends in helping me identify the brands that also should be great stocks. Doug states in the book that "brands are the new church and state". I could not agree more. The brand, its willingness to innovate and even self-disrupt to grow will matter even more into the future. The section talking about "Apex Predators" was really interesting and gave me many new things to think about as a stock picker. The retail industry has a lot of work to do in a post-pandemic world and Dougs insights through this book and his podcasts will be super important for CMO & C-suite conversations. The most relevant brands just "get it" and they will continue to survive and thrive at the expense of the others who simply do not. I wish I could have been a fly in the room during Dougs meeting with Walmart management. That brand and others lost their way for years and could have changed the narrative if they were willing to listen to Dougs recommendations and implement them through the enterprise. I'm not surprised at all that Walmart has been a serial underperforming stock while Target has been on fire. Bottom line: this book is entertaining, provocative, insightful, honest, and delivers on its mission to readers. It's the best book I have read in a very long time. This book is more than an examination of the retail industry, it shows the future of how we will all shop and what will drive our behavior and allows us to connect the dots back to some serious investment insights that can translate into future potential gains. It's got something for everyone. Well done Doug!

A great read! Outstanding, highly recommend!

Doug Stephens latest book Resurrecting Retail is undoubtedly the best book on the future of retail I have read.After first laying out the possibility of monolithic all-powerful ecosystems such as Amazon dominating our lives, he lays out his vision of forging a new future. Exciting archetypes with their own exciting stories to tell, extraordinary businesses that will put culture, entertainment and remarkable products in the centre of all their customer's lives.We have the choice of whether we embrace this opportunity and rethink and resurrect our beloved retail industry to create something infinitely better and brighter. If we retreat to the status quo and hide in the past, squandering the opportunity we have, as many have, we already see the direction we are destined for.If however, we are courageous and we embrace a sense of purpose and excitement, the pandemic will represent the beginning of a new generation of brilliant and creative retailers.It is our choice to embrace that exciting future.I know which direction I’m going in,Who is with Doug?I certainly am. An amazing read. Eloquent ,brilliantly researched and I have no doubt as ever,prophetic.