Innovation…….something fresh, that creates value

Jeff Rogut
CEO AACS
“Something new is not enough for the definition of innovation. There are plenty cases where something new has no new value (a new color of a product or a new chemical produced that does nothing). Sometimes, the value creation results because the item is simply useful to us. We can create a lot of fresh or new things that are of no use and no value. It must create value to be innovation.
Also note that the “something” could be a process, product, or service and can start as small as your ideas and thoughts in your brain. In that case, it might just be innovative thinking.”
Source: freshconsulting
In the ongoing quest for business growth, and even sustainability, innovation is often trotted out as the ‘silver bullet’ yet few businesses really get this right in a lasting and meaningful way, or possibly having had initial success seem to be unable to replicate what led to the success. Innovation is not always an easy path – there may be challenges, roadblocks, financial constraints, regulatory frameworks to overcome etc etc. But are the rewards worth the perseverance?
In the Convenience industry, many operators historically left innovation to their merchandise suppliers. Increasingly though, more aggressive competitive forces on all parties have imbued all with a more collaborative spirit and that bodes well for the industry. Some retailers and some suppliers are doing it well, but disappointingly some still hold on to successes of old and times gone by.
Customers have far greater choice than ever and unless we continue to raise the benchmark and give them reason to shop with us, others will step into the void.
So what is fresh, that creates value that your business has introduced recently?
Some time ago AACS conducted research amongst our customers about some of the products or services they would like to see in our Stores, and the result was:

The full ‘Convenience 2020’ report was made available then to our Members.
At our ‘AACS/CCA Convenience Innovation Challenge’ recently held in Melbourne, the challenge winners devised a potential healthy option for the Industry taking Pharmacy, one of the services desired by Customers, and demonstrating how this could potentially come to life. Not without its challenges, however pharmacy and convenience have co-existed in the USA, as an example, for many years, and is a growing trend even in Japan [see Family Mart + below which ahs a pharmacy in the store …….with a Pharmacist].

Read through the recent presentation and see whether this could be an innovative change for your business…..something fresh that creates value!