#379: Author Gary Hawkins Discusses His New Book and How an Evolving Society Impacts Retail Technology

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In his new book, BIONIC RETAIL: HOW TO THRIVE IN AN EXPONENTIAL WORLD, author Gary Hawkins discusses how the pace of change outside organizations is accelerating faster than within, creating a growing gap between what once made retail successful and what will be required in the future. There is often a disconnect between shopper expectations and the traditional store, and retail brands must pivot and adapt to remain relevant and achieve success.

Hawkins grew up in grocery retail, and his family once owned stores in the wholesale business in Upstate New York. It was in one of those stores, nearly 30 years ago, where Hawkins launched one of the first loyalty programs in the U.S. supermarket retail sector. The program served as a leader in the industry, providing much learning around customer data, shopping behavior, customer-level economics, and more. Eventually, his efforts switched to assisting other prominent retailers in the U.S. and around the world with a focus on capturing, understanding, and using shopper data. From there, Hawkins worked with bigger brands before moving to technological pursuits.

Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Hawkins about his book, the exponential environment brands operate in today, and how change outside an organization moves more quickly than change on the inside.
Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/LEZwEDVw-RE
Read the feature on Loyalty360 here: https://loyalty360.org/content-gallery/in-depth-exclusives/author-gary-hawkins-discusses-his-new-book-and-how-an-evolving-society-impacts-retail-technology