Time To Dispel Some Common Myths About Disruptive Retailers

By Paula Rosenblum, JDA Software

We know the rest of the retail industry chases disruptors, but wanted to understand what exactly they are chasing. What makes for a retail disruptor? This week, we’ll focus on what they are not by dispelling the seven myths about retail disruptors. Frankly, we were surprised by what we found.

Myth #1: Disruptors Are Very Large Companies
It turns out that overall, most large companies are like steamships and turning them around is not easy. Legacy thinking, contracts and commitments get in the way. We could argue that Walmart, in particular, has become an incumbent and is investing heavily to find ways to return to its disruptive ways in the face of Amazon. We could also argue that Amazon is doing the same.

Myth #2: Disruptors Are Small Upstarts
This was something I, personally, was very sure of. I was wrong. It turns out that a retailer must reach a certain amount of scale for the industry, and a mass of customers, to create real impact.