As information empowerment gives consumers a new swagger at home, consultants help to globalize an industry in which local business savvy determines whether companies live or die.
When an Internet user Googles "Tesco U.S. Plans," a link to Wikipedia's entry on the UK's largest retailer appears atop the search results page. The online encyclopedia's 13-chapter blurb describes the "secrecy" surrounding the supermarket giant's West Coast invasion, the construction of a dummy store within a Santa Monica warehouse, and statistics related to its joint venture in China — and also includes gossip from a "Tesco insider."
That search transaction might delight hardcore retail consultants. The exchange reflects several forces keeping U.S. retail executives awake at night: the value of churning massive amounts of data into useful information (Google's search algorithm), the information empowerment of individual consumers (Wikipedia's collaborative, "open-source" editing model), international expansion (Tesco's savvy approach to the China market), and a clear sign that U.S. retailers need to defend their home turf (Tesco's plan for stores in California, Arizona, and Nevada).
