Kurt Salmon Associates

While the deepening recession is decimating the U.S. retailing landscape, forcing steep markdowns and pushing traffic to the discount channel, a new Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA) study predicts retailers with unique and compelling products and experience, supported by seven capabilities, will emerge from the recession successful. KSA studied the performance of more than 100 major U.S. retailers over the last 10 years and found that the recession has only accelerated a more pervasive trend: a surplus of merchants with insufficient differentiation in their product offering and customer experience. As a result, KSA sees the retail shakeout as a sign of cash-strapped consumers rejecting retailers that do not offer a compelling reason to shop with them rather than with discounters.