The panel discussion with four heavyweights from the retail sector — Olivier Van den Bossche (MediaMarkt BeLux), Geoffroy Gersdorff (Carrefour Belgium), Anaïs Claes (CRG) and former Ahold Delhaize manager Wouter Kolk — at the RetailDetail Night painted a picture of a retail world between consolidation, digitisation and cultural complexity. Five quotes sum up the essence.
1. “Cultural sensitivity is hugely underestimated”
Van den Bossche sees MediaMarkt’s acquisition by JD.com as a great opportunity, but realises that international mergers only succeed if companies are willing to take local customs and customer expectations seriously. “Cultural sensitivity is hugely underestimated.” Kolk also saw this during his time at Ahold Delhaize: “We left each brand intact in order to make it stronger, while benefiting from economies of scale in the background.”
