Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption

by Steve Dennis

Physical retail isn’t dead—but boring retail is! Remarkable Retail equips the savvy retailer with eight essential strategies to deliver a powerful customer experience.

Despite the clickbait headlines that warn of a “retail apocalypse,” many brick and mortar retail brands are enjoying strong growth and profits. Others, however, are destined to become obsolete because they offer merely convenience, decent prices, or an okay shopping experience. In Remarkable Retail, industry thought leader Steve Dennis argues that retailers can no longer count on scarcity to drive sales, or settle for providing indifferent in-store experiences, because customers live online and have a wealth of choice and information at their fingertips.

In the book, Dennis unpacks the trends that are squeezing traditional stores and presents eight essential strategies for visionary retail leaders who are prepared to reimagine the customer experience in the age of digital disruption. A remarkable retailer is digitally enabled, human centered, harmonized, mobile, personal, connected, memorable, and radical.

In most retail categories, digital channels are now central to the consumer’s journey, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t also shopping in stores. Packed with illuminating case studies from some of modern retail’s biggest success stories, Remarkable Retail shows retailers and those in adjunct industries such as manufacturing, marketing, and tech, what it takes to create big buzz around the in-store experience.

In an age where consumers have short attention spans and myriad options, Remarkable Retail is your crucial roadmap to creating a powerful retail experience that keeps your customers coming back for more.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

284 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Paul Ark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite the title, this book was unremarkable. Actually, it was awful. A lot of disjointed blathering and pontification, and statements backed up by no quantitative data and a stunning lack of qualitative case studies. No unique insights, and at times it seems like the random platitudes dressed up as wisdom were often contradictory. I’ve read many a book on the retail industry, and this one was by far the worst.

[João Gonçalves · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I have read in my life.

100 pages where he explains the evolution of the industry (everyone knows Amazon) and then presents some "essential" solutions (Obvious solutions that every company already applies) that you have to apply in your retail business. Total waste of time and money

I do not understand how it appears in Forbes

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

absolutely useless

[Clionadh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives great insight if you have business targeting the retail sector. I would definitely put this on a must read list!

[Gonçalo Rocha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit below of my expectations because I was waiting to more data to support all the actions the autor defends as remarkable. Nevertheless, an interesting and organized framework, applicable beyond retail sector, based on 8 guiding principles on what any business should do "to stand out from the crowd". He grabs marketing concepts, sometimes buzzwords very hard to see where they fit, and constructs a kind of a balance and checks list that any company must consider when operating th e market.

[Mukesh Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book by borrowing a copy from my local library. To say that i was impressed would be an understatement. The book is divided into two parts. The first part makes the case as to why retailers should change their strategy and then goes on to share his 8 ways to remarkable model.

I really liked reading the book and would strongly recommend the book for anyone who is part of the retail industry or serves that industry..

[Amit Tripathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished reading Remarkable Retail by Steve Dennis. Kudos to the author for the no nonsense, yet very clear and framework based approach to redefine what Retailers need to do to be remarkable to their customers and flourish their business through the process. The eight essentials of Remarkable Retail capture the crux of what a business needs to invest in to be impactful to its stakeholders.

While most of the book is dedicated to Retailers or people who work in Retail, I felt like the messages were fairly universal and lot of them could be applied even to our own jobs day in and out.

Few really great take-aways for me:
1. Customer is the channel; any other channel definition leads to silos
2. Physical retail is not dead, but severely underutilized
3. It is no longer acceptable to be moderately effective as a business in order to be important to your customer
4. Businesses need to find ways to compete with Amazon on areas where they are not effective, rather than other way round
5. Experiences need to be memorable for customers to drive any form of loyalty
6. Innovation is not a buzz word to be thrown around, organizations need to invest money in order build the platforms and culture to innovate
7, Finally, the right time to change is "now"

[Chris Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for anyone in retail or marketing who wants to understand how to stay relevant in a fast-changing world. Steve Dennis does a great job of breaking down the forces reshaping retail and, more importantly, how brands can respond in practical and meaningful ways. The mix of real-world examples, clear frameworks, and honest insights makes it both engaging and useful.

I especially appreciated how the book balances strategy with action. It doesn’t just talk about the challenges of digital disruption but offers tangible steps for creating experiences that truly connect with customers. Whether you’re a retail veteran or just starting out, this is a book you’ll come back to again and again.

[Tuncay Özdemir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap iki ana bolumden olusuyor. Ilk bolumde perakende sektorundeki degisimler ve genel yanilgilara yer verilmis. E-ticaretin ayri bir fenomen olarak degil, mevcut duzeni bastan basa degistiren ve ona eklemlenen bir bozucu olarak ele alinmasi cok mantikli. Bu baglamda perakendecilere yeni performans gostergeleri onerilmis.

Ikinci kisimsa gunumuz perakende firmalarinin rekabette fark yaratabilmeleri icin sahip olmalari gereken 8 ozellige ayrilmis. Inovasyon kulturune ve “simdi” baslamanin onemine yapilan guzel vurgularin disinda bu kisim bana kalirsa biraz genel gecer kalmis.

[Hadi Farhat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Dennis a retail expert and an industry veteran give us great insight on what makes Retail. This is highlted in the last revision post-covid. It's a must read whether you're in the industry or simply willing to understand the history of it or simply interested in keeping updated on the last tendencies.
What makes it a great read is the capacity of the author to present his arguments and illustrating them with real world examples.
I also recommend following his podcast.

[Apurva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic book on succeeding in retail. Sometimes you know what needs to be done and what is common sense, but sometimes you need a reminder and a map to manoeuvre your brand/ company from where it is to the next step. This book provides you the tenets to work with when creating your strategy.

[Peter P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, well-researched and a worthwhile read for anyone who is in retail, or who makes a living dealing with retailers. Dennis has a solid background in retail and his perspectives are low on hyperbole and high on pragmatism.

[Angad Nayyar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Dennis lays out the future, and present, of retail with such detail and accuracy. He almost predicts the Covid pandemic which accelerates a lot of the thinking in his book already.

Must read for anyone in retail.

[Paul Gaffney · Rating 4 out of 5]

informed take on the state of modern retailing and things to focus on to be compelling

[Sadiq Kazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vindicates what I have always thought the future of retail is - that online and offline will co-exist with online being a channel of convenience and offline that of experience.