Market Pulse & Looking Ahead with 4 Industry Leaders

The Third Growth Option with Benno Duenkelsbuehler and Guests

Four consumer executives shared their thoughts on how volatile consumer spending (from lockdowns to supply chain chaos, increased demand and now 9% inflation) that affected 2020/21 is shaping up to affect the second half of 2022 and going into 2023.

Real insights from real-world leaders: Allison Barrows (VP at Ganz, a designer/distributor of gift, décor, and apparel), John Toler (CEO at Evergreen Enterprises, a distributor/manufacturer of outdoor living and home products), Joe Harris (Chief Revenue Officer at Whereoware, a digital agency) and Doug Cofiell (CEO at Ivystone, a national sales agency)

2:45 – the smartest retailers were “the ones who figured out exactly how to manage their inventory.”

4:47 – most common retailer product request at Summer 2022 markets (at Ganz): “lower price point items… ‘pick me up, feel good’ items”

6:24 – on digital infrastructure spending: “digital continues to be an important part of the go-to-market strategy, and those who are investing, are seeing the returns.”

8:08 – Online consumers will “continue to grow.”

9:31 – “The shifting in merchandise mix has gone from making my home look pretty, to making me feel better… from the home to me.”

10:00 – “Higher end (design side of the business) doesn’t have much slow down.”

14:13 – I asked each guest to describe consumer spending on a scale of 1 to 10, across three time periods. The average of all four replies (with significant differences between product categories):

• 2019/pre-Covid – consumer spending was an “8” (of 10)
• 2020/2021 – consumer spending was a “10 (or 12) out of 10” (off the charts)
• Going into 2023 – 8.5 or 9+, better than pre-Covid

18:52 – “We sold Garden 2023 for the last 45 days… and purchasing is down vs. 2021… but above 2019.”

20:36 – “We chased demand and built capacity (the last two years)… so the cost side and inventory needs to be looked at… for retailers, vendors, and sales agencies.”

22:00 – “There’s been so much volatility… as we start to settle back down, to understand… the appropriate costs.”

23:26 – Next year will be all about “Data. It’s all about making the data actionable.”

25:02 – “The second big thing is the customer (digital) experience, it’s not just about ‘look’ but it’s all about being seamless, easy to use (multi-channel integration).”

27:56 – The best retailers “recognize the consumer is changing… and are combining the digital and the physical really well.”

31:20 – what’s on our minds as we think about growth in 2023? “Aggressive” – “Customer Experience” – “Daring and Risk-taking.”