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“As good as recommendation algorithms are, retailers have the opportunity to offer something that meets their needs.”
Changes in consumer behavior in the speed of likes in carts provoke B2C companies to plan and act quickly. Few certainties remained after the pandemic, when online sales were consolidating. The psychics on duty didn't get it right, because the end of the isolation ended up taking people back to the physical stores while they continued with their online purchases, bringing more challenges to business management, such as the search for loyalty, the unity of the brands and the maintenance of reputation in different channels.
With this theme on the radar, the Reputation Feed invited the CEO of the Panvel Group, Julio Mottin Neto, to talk, who travels in both environments with skill, based on the belief that proximity to the community and the strengthening of the business culture are possible even with 580 pharmacies in four states. “The best way to manage reputation in the midst of such major behavioral transformations is to anticipate them and have a strategy to face this new business model”, says Julio, who has been with the company for 26 years, of which since 2016 ahead of the organization.
Below are excerpts from the interview:
RETAIL CHALLENGES
“We are living the future a little earlier than we imagined. In the pandemic, people did not have access to stores, face-to-face contact with the seller and experimentation. The only alternative for retailers to continue selling was through platforms. In this sense, bookstores were the first victims of this process, having to face the digitization of products and being part of a sector whose e-commerce platforms are considered category killers. What do platforms want? They want recurrence, they want people to come back to buy something else. It is true that we are beginning to see a renaissance in the sector, with smaller bookstores, in neighborhoods, with greater curatorship, because the internet does not do that well. No matter how good recommendation algorithms and CRM works are, retailers have the opportunity, within their business model, to get to know people better, to explain to consumers what products are for and to offer something that meets their needs. of each one.”
REPUTATION BEFORE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS
“The best way to manage reputation in the midst of such major behavioral transformations is to anticipate them and have a strategy to face this new business model, which may be smaller stores, stores closer to the customer's home, which bring some comfort. Pharmacies realized this a long time ago, opening close to people's homes, on a corner, with parking. Shouldn't other retail models follow this line? It is necessary to generate strategies that preserve the business over time and not be a victim of this transformation. Consumers want more convenience. Today, we have 580 stores; Of these, 150 deliver to people's homes within an hour in all cities where we are present. If the consumer does not find a product, my store attendant or the digital platforms themselves manage to sell the mix that is not in that store and the consumer receives it the next day. It's a hyper convenience strategy. Stores can be the point of contact and product close to the person's home. Today, of the 60 stores that Panvel opens per year, 55-58 are opened in the neighborhood, and no longer in the center.”
“Reputation is key for the brand to be preferred.”
COFFEE IN THE POT: ETHICS, INNOVATION AND CAPABILITY TO ADAPT
“Whoever has coffee in the pot can have a reputation. In our case, it's 55 years of non-negotiable ethics. This is the point. Ethics is the foundation. To be great, you have to be ethical. Then there is the will, which is part of the culture, to surprise the consumer, to want to go beyond, from the store employee to the CEO, to innovate and to better serve the consumer. It builds reputation. Our own products are the embodiment of the brand's reputation. Our sunscreen is what sells the most. That's reputation on the skin. How to keep up with this consumer that changes faster than companies? Reputation is key for the brand to be preferred. Reputation is a consequence of this history, whether due to ethics, innovation, ability to adapt to changing times.”
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BEYOND COFFEE IN THE POT, THE POWER OF BEING PERCEIVED
“We have also seen that there are a lot of companies that innovate, that have a lot of coffee in the pot, and can't make this noticed. It's important to have a good product, but to have the ability to control the narrative. Identity is how you think you are perceived, and image is how people perceive you. The closer the image is to the identity, the stronger your brand will be.
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PEOPLE AND REPUTATION BUILDING
“Who maintains the culture are the people. Every day, people build the company's reputation. Cultural alignment within the organization starts with a good purpose, goes through a shared business vision and is based on important and present values. I think it's fundamental, especially in an organization that is dispersed in terms of branches, with people working in geographically distant points. Culture is strong and comes from example. The culture is one of attention to detail, of ethics. We do not tolerate any behavior that is not ethical and respectful of human beings. These are things that we hold sacred, it's our way of being. We are a 55-year-old company, and developing people within this environment preserves our culture.”
Christianne Schmitt is editor of the Reputation Feed
christianne.schmitt@ankreputation.com.br
