Interview with Álvaro Otal, Manager of ANCECO

Commerce, collaboration, SMEs, at a difficult time for the retail sector. We discuss all of this in this interview for D/A Retail, on the eve of their participation in the Spain Retail Congress.

As a speaker at the upcoming Spain Retail Congress, can you briefly summarize the current situation for the sector as a whole: unpredictable, complex, volatile, ambiguous?

Uncertain, certainly. We are living through a pandemic that could generate an unprecedented crisis in the retail sector. Although significant progress seems to have been made in the search for a vaccine, businesses are still operating with substantial capacity restrictions. In some communities, restaurants, bars, gyms, beauty salons, theaters, cinemas, and shopping centers are closed, and in others, they could be tomorrow.

Towns, cities, and communities are imposing mobility restrictions; we are once again living under a state of emergency, and the population is suffering from growing exhaustion and weariness due to a situation they don’t fully understand and which has radically altered their way of life. How long it will last and what the consequences will be are two of the many uncertainties generated by this crisis.

New Era. In a word, do we need to Reinvent Retail or Build the New Retail?

Retail is constantly evolving and has adapted to various changes throughout history. Channels, tools, habits, payment methods, supply, and product delivery all change, but the fundamental purpose of retail as the final link in the distribution chain remains the same: to sell goods in small quantities to a customer.

The challenges. What are the three challenges facing commerce in the short to medium term? Are SMEs more vulnerable, or are the opportunities for customer engagement and change greater in “less cumbersome” companies?

• Surviving the Covid crisis
• Transform digitally, which involves much more than just having a website or selling online
• Maximize productivity and improve profitability

Read the full interview at: Distribución/Actualidad Magazine