Showtime at the Shop Front: Phil Molyneux on Sony's Retail Reinvention
Voices of retailNXT is our new series of one-on-one interviews that introduce our readers to the thought leaders who are defining the future of retail across categories, tiers, borders and touch points.
Even as retailers and brands leverage social media and digital marketing to deepen connections with consumers, attention is beginning to turn back to the original point of decision – the store. Leading the way, Sony Electronics’ President and COO, Phil Molyneux, is driving new levels of customer engagement at the shop front and drawing upon his high-touch European retail roots to make Sony's spaces golden in the U.S. market.
newmarketbuilders' CEO, Carol Spieckerman, interviews Mr. Molyneux on his vision for Sony's retail reinvention.
Carol Spieckerman: I’ll start by asking what was behind your decision to make organizational changes that shift resources away from buying office support and toward what you guys are calling shop front activities, such as in-store sales training, merchandising, and other consumer-focused engagement initiatives.
Phil Molyneux: The simplest answer to that is that I really want our organization to get closer to the consumer, and to understand more about our consumers, in terms of their wants and needs. We need to participate at the shop front or retail point level, learning and growing and communicating more effectively. Working with the buying offices of our retail partners for many years has been extremely good for us, but our need to understand the consumer on a different level is evident.