Our most recent report on merchandising is filled with all kinds of revealing information. But like all RSR reports, not every interesting tidbit could make it into print. As a result, take a look at this never-before-seen data – the way retailers view the opportunities new merchandising efforts afford when filtered by annual revenue:

Figure 1: The Lens Changes The Picture

What this chart reveals can be quickly summed up as a “tale of two cities “. The smaller the retailer, the more they believe they have a chance to bring new products to market faster. Sure, on paper this makes sense, but one shopping trip – whether online or in the physical world – begs the question: is this reflective of reality? Is today’s small retailer really nimble enough to bank on this as their promise? Only 5% of mega retailers (those with more than $5B in sales) say they are even going to try to compete here, so the good news (for the littlest guy, at least) is that the dance floor appears to have been ceded. So the opportunity IS there – what we’d like to see is more examples of small retailers capitalizing upon it.

On the other side of the world, the larger the retailer, the more they are just trying to get their arms around their inner workings (hoping cross-functional teams to cover planning duties will break down some of their long-standing internal silos), and the omnipresent need to optimize pricing and markdowns. What’s worthy of note here is that neither of these are sexy aspirations: big retailers just want to get to level ground. If we can plan for it – great. If we can’t let’s at least not lose the house on the markdown.

A tale of two cities, indeed. Bring on the onslaught of better mousetraps, small retailers!