INDUSTRY
Consumer & Retail
Retailers and consumer brands defending margin as shoppers trade down and channels keep shifting.
Engagements since 2021
Stores assessed in network reviews
Average gross margin gain from pricing work
OVERVIEW
We work with grocers, specialty retailers and consumer goods companies on store networks, pricing, assortment and cost, using store-level and shopper data to make the calls.
Consumer businesses live on thin margins and fast feedback. A pricing mistake shows up in the weekly sales report; a poor store opening shows up for twenty years. Our consumer work is built on detailed, local data: store-level profit, basket composition, shopper switching and competitor prices.
We work with grocers, specialty and general merchandise retailers, and consumer goods manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia. Typical questions include where to open, refit or close stores, how to price and promote without eroding margin, and how to bring down the cost of running stores and supply chains while protecting the experience customers pay for.
WHAT IS SHIFTING
01
Shoppers have reset their price expectations
After years of inflation, customers notice price more sharply and switch more readily. Price perception now matters as much as price itself.
01
Private label has moved upmarket
Retailer brands now compete on quality as well as price, squeezing branded suppliers and changing negotiations on both sides.
01
Store networks were built for a different decade
Formats and locations chosen before online grocery and delivery are not all earning their place, but closures cost more than they appear to.
01
Labor cost is rising faster than sales
Minimum wage increases and tight labor markets push retailers to rethink store operations, scheduling and the role of automation.
“For years we ranked stores by sales and argued about the bottom twenty. Looking at profit and at where our shoppers actually went changed which stores we were worried about.”
Chief Executive Officer, A regional grocery chain in the US Midwest
SERVICES
All services
Webinar: scenario planning for the 2027 board calendar
scenario-planning-2027-webinar
Event
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
A one-hour online briefing for directors and executives on building scenarios, triggers and prepared moves into the board's regular cycle.
Scenario planning that boards will actually use
scenario-planning-for-boards
Article
Elena Marsh and Thomas Reid
Most board scenario exercises produce a thick report and no decisions. A lighter approach, tied to triggers and pre-agreed moves, makes them useful.
Making cost savings last: a breakfast roundtable for CFOs
making-cost-savings-last-roundtable
Event
David Okafor and Hannah Cole
A closed-door breakfast in London for finance leaders planning their next cost program, built on the findings of The CFO Cost Agenda 2026.
Operations AI Benchmark 2026: from pilots to the P&L
operations-ai-benchmark-2026
Report
Marcus Lindqvist and Priya Raman
How 286 operations leaders are using AI in maintenance, planning and quality, how much of it reaches production, and what the companies seeing returns do differently.
Zero-based organization design, done properly
zero-based-organization-design
Article
Hannah Cole
Designing an organization from a blank page sounds radical. Done well, it is the most practical way to remove layers and duplication without starting a political war.
The first 100 days after a merger
first-100-days-after-a-merger
Article
Lukas Brenner and Amara Nwosu
The first hundred days after closing set the pace for everything that follows. What to settle before day one, what to do quickly, and what to leave alone.
The CFO Cost Agenda 2026: why savings fade and what keeps them
cfo-cost-agenda-2026
Report
Thomas Reid and David Okafor
A survey of 412 chief financial officers on cost programs, how much of the savings survive, and the practices that separate durable results from temporary ones.
Making AI pay back in operations, not in pilots
making-ai-pay-back-in-operations
Article
Marcus Lindqvist and Kenji Watanabe
Most operations AI never leaves the pilot stage. The few use cases that pay back share a set of traits that have little to do with the model itself.
Pricing power after the inflation years
pricing-power-after-inflation
Article
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
Companies raised prices faster than costs between 2021 and 2024. Customers remember. How to set prices now that the cover of general inflation is gone.
Why cost programs fail in year two
why-cost-programs-fail-in-year-two
Article
David Okafor and Thomas Reid
Most cost programs hit their first-year targets. The savings disappear in the second year, for reasons that are predictable and largely avoidable.