부산대학교 도서관

Retail concepts have an ever-diminishing shelf life. Whereas concepts born in the 1970s ran on average for 16 years before earnings growth slowed markedly, these days decay is likely to set in within half that time. Factors speeding up the cycle include increasingly sophisticated consumers who shop around for value and information systems that warn retailers when it is time for a rethink. To rejuvenate a concept before it begins to falter, renewers need to follow some basic principles. They must redefine their concept to create value, test it in realistic conditions and repeatedly adapt it before rolling it out, and make it affordable by taking a creative approach to profit and capital management. Above all, this article says, companies have to be prepared to renew not just once in a while, but continuously. The rewards can more than justify the commitment: one recent sample showed that renewing companies achieved an average return on capital invested of 25 percent. INSET: TOP SIX RENEWAL BUILDING BLOCKS: HOW RETAILERS USE THEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]