How the omnishopper gave rise to a new dawn for specialist retail

This article considers how the omnishopper experience has meant that a smaller number of 'everything' retailers will dominate the commodity market, while consumers develop category-specific relationships with specialists.

The rise of the specialist retailer

James LlewelynGfK

The dawn of the omnishopper has given rise to two models: the generalist and the specialist retailer. A small number of 'everything' retailers, who are edging towards instantaneous, seem set to dominate the commodity market, whereas specialist retailers will develop category-specific relationships with shoppers to deliver a personalised experience.

Over two millennia ago, way before the invention of the chain store, specialists were kings of retail. The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker understood your individual needs, because you were one of relatively few shoppers visiting an independent store. It...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands