Preparing for the future of retail

The ICSC is in evolution, and the best way to evolve, says ICSC European Chair Josip Kardun, is to focus. ‘The Leadership Committee wants to increase the relevance of the ICSC and we need to be very clear in our ideas to do that,’ he says. ‘In the future, we will continue coordinating events, we want to be a networking and mediatory platform, and pursue the public affairs aspect we have in Brussels.

‘The EU wants to talk to a body which can represent the industry, and if you look left and right, there’s no other organisation doing that.’

Leadership Committee member Rik Eertink agrees. ‘If you want to be more relevant, you have to simplify,’ he says. ‘It’s not just an ICSC thing, it’s a comment on the industry. You need specialism, combined with an international understanding. We see all the big players in the market doing that, so it’s important that ICSC is running on the same track.’

‘We are going thorough huge structural change in the retail market globally and change is happening faster than ever before,’ adds Sheila King. ‘Thus the challenge for ICSC is to stay relevant. The current changes creating focus will aid this process.’

Fewer, bigger, better events

‘On a European level, we’ve had a very broad conference programme in the past, but in the future we’re planning to focus more on our annual conference, combined with our activity at RECon and the marketing conference,’ says Josip. ‘We think that members will benefit more from having two or three strong events a year.

‘That will also enable us to put our relationships to national associations on another level. We are essentially an umbrella organisation, but we think it makes sense for local individuals to be represented by the associations – we will add another level where necessary.’

‘A lot of members of the ICSC are locally or country oriented,’ notes Rik. ‘But the industry is more and more global. What that means is you still need a body which can represent you internationally, taking those arguments to the committees that matter.’

Leadership perspectives

Josip adds: ‘We had a fantastic CEO forum last year in Salzburg, which will take place in Brussels this year. Our aim is simply to assemble the most prominent industry leaders in one place every year – that has a powerful effect. We’re bringing together the individuals whose perspectives will change the course of our industry.’

Monitoring the issues

‘Of course, there are disruptive factors in retail, but what is interesting is that the results are totally different in Europe compared to the US,’ says Josip.

‘And people are starting to realise that. European shopping centres are not for convenience purchases – they’re meeting places. Our shopping centres are not out on the ring road or simply near a city, but are in densely populated areas with a huge amount of public transport. Per capita you also have four times the retail space in the US compared to Europe.

‘It is interesting to see what is happening as we enter the clicks and bricks era. In the future, shopping centres will stay relevant, but will basically represent the last-mile to the customer, in terms of pick up and collection. Brand building will be central to their success, but every retailer will use stores in a different fashion as they develop their multi-channel approach.

‘They will have much more granular needs, much more granular business models, and there will simply be a reshuffling. It’s happening already. Whatever the outcome, people will not stay at home, shop at home, eat at home… that’s simply impossible.’

What membership means

‘I joined the European Board of ICSC in 2012 and the networks and contacts it has opened up for me have been immense. In this complex retail world relationships are key and ICSC continues to excel in this area,’ says Sheila.

‘One of the things I’ve most valued about membership is not just being around seasoned professionals from around the globe, but also being with the next generation of industry leaders, smart people who are always ready to listen to fresh ideas.

That’s important, especially when you first join,’ adds Rik. ‘It was an incredible facilitator for me when I was starting out,’ says Josip. ‘I can only recommend it for every young person making their way in the industry. I made hundreds, if not thousands of connections. The great side of that now is that being Chairman – for me, it’s about finally giving something back, for example through ICSC Mentoring.’