Prepping Target for the Future of retail
Overview
One of my friends who worked at Target told me how he noticed a slow moving culture that relied on dated technology. At the same time, one of my through Associate Dean Wooten was to consult Target on one of the current problems their facing. This inspired my team to tackle the issue of prepping Target for the future of commerce and the new wave of technology that is changing the industry landscape. I treasured this experience since I learned about interesting new business models appearing in the world of retail and e-commerce. A special aspect of this experience was that I was trusted to present almost two thirds of the final presentation, this boosted my confidence further in my public speaking skills.
At the same time, by examining a lot of research data, I learned what consumers want thus allowing me to envision solutions of my own. At the conclusion of the project we ended up with a report that could be considered as a survival tool kit of solutions that Target could follow in order to withstand and triumph over the wave of change that’s approaching. Solutions included an in-store map to items in addition to acquisition strategies. This experience will have an impact on Target’s success as we included best-in-industry solutions backed with proper research.
Lessons Learned
My experience presenting the final deliverable to the panel of Target reps and judges was unforgettable. The responsibility of presenting the recommendations which were the most important part of our work was both making me nervous and honored at the same time. By now, I’ve gotten used to the minor nerves you get before you get on stage and I’ve learned how to channel those nerves into energy and enthusiasm while presenting. We are all human, so having some nerves is natural. The trick is learning how to manage those nerves and make use of them productively.
In addition to that, I realized the importance of case studies and comparables. When we presented how Walmart is tackling the issue of being modern with their commerce solutions, I noticed how our audience’s interest in our solutions spiked. Now we had a huge public company already doing what we’re suggesting thus giving credibility to our words. I will take this with me moving forward as I’ll always bring a comparable example to prove anything I suggest.
Skills and Insights
One of the biggest realizations I made outside the scope of our consulting engagement was that big companies do move slowly and take less risk. After intensive research, we deduced that Walmart’s strategy of having a small subsidiary that handles commerce tech innovation is the best approach. Yet Target hasn’t mimicked their strategy and keep their R&D within the typical layers of bureaucracy.
Communication was a big theme of this experience, I was trusted to present most of the final presentation. This allowed me to present to a panel of professionals and representatives from Target. It gave me a boost in my public speaking skills as well as persuasive delivery. I applied techniques I’ve learned through classes and other books I’ve read recently. One of them that seemed to work is to limit fidgeting while presenting which includes turning back to the screen, scratching an itch, looking away from your audience….
Given the industry is retail, there was an abundance of data to choose from. To make our work consistent and to avoid any conflict within the team, we decided to use newer data since that ensured relevancy.
Importance
Target is a huge public company. Companies of that size tend to lose sight of the future sometimes due to focusing on managing the present. When consultants like us come into the fray we help them get a fresh set of eyes on what is happening in the industry. This is the need that Target had, and a lot of similar sized companies face. It exists due to the forces created by the public stock markets; public companies can’t take risks and have to survive from earnings announcement to the other. Thus these companies tend to err towards efficiency rather than innovation. For our consultation to work properly, Target has to accept our recommendations and trust the data we uncovered in order to apply the recommendations.
All the former made me alter my view of entrepreneurship and venture capital. I realized how founders are similar to huge companies in that they don’t see the big picture and they need venture capitalists to act as their consultants and guide them through the macro environment.