The young people of today are not like they were ten years ago. Nor are today’s adults. Thirdly, technology is developing at a rapid pace. The last 20 years have given us Facebook, smart phones, YouTube, Instagram, Vipps, Snapchat, Zalando, Temu, TikTok … and artificial intelligence. Fourthly, the competition is changing. A new concept can suddenly emerge and threaten your business.
Retail is change.It’s as simple as that. And the pace of change is accelerating. It’s human nature to want security and stability, but people in the fashion industry MUST also embrace change.
Read the headline again. What it actually says is that if you don’t change your shop before you have to, it may be too late.
Change must be a reflex
In the past, change management was something you went on a course to learn. How to get your organisation on board when the market required a change of direction. How to handle resistance to change. It was a huge topic. Consultants gave lectures, people took copious notes and change was treated as a field in its own right. Those days are gone now. Retail is no longer a stable landscape where you have time to plan at a leisurely pace.
Change must be a reflex, and people who own and run shops should preferably recognise and understand change before it happens, adapt more quickly than their competitors and ensure that their shop is moving in the right direction, whether the times are hard or not.
Train your response to change
I believe that people who want to run successful shops in 2025 and beyond must train their response to change. And to do so, they have to get rid of some of their inhibitions, take more chances and, perhaps most importantly, keep their eye on the ball.
That’s why I’m on TikTok. I’m by no means a super user, and I don’t especially want to use it as a marketing channel, but I’m there anyway to keep an eye on what’s going on. To get to know my customers even better. Our current customers and those who will come to us in a few years’ time.
Learning from experience is better than being pessimistic about the future
I don’t remember who said that, but it’s very apt. ‘I would much rather work with people who learn from experience than those who are pessimistic about the future.’
Three important success factors now, and going forward, are curiosity, optimism and a willingness to take a little more risk.
Remember that the world’s richest man in 2025 plans to colonise Mars, send tourists to the moon and back and, above all, has a great tolerance of risk. Both Tesla and SpaceX were on the brink of bankruptcy in 2008.
Running a clothes shop is not rocket science, but if you’re wondering about whether you should join TikTok or open a customer club, you certainly shouldn’t have the attitude ‘No, it’s not for me’. That makes you a pessimist.
My advice for the future
Be curious. Familiarise yourself with new platforms and solutions. Don’t let your skill level get in the way of development. Think in the short and long term, and make sure you always look to the future.
