Our vital signs show how well our body is functioning. The normal blood pressure reading of our Markets could be said to show positive vital signs and our heart rate remains relatively stable. We are well, much of the life of our cities can be summed up in their Markets, which convey how the inhabitants of a city develop their lives, blending culture, history, economy, social aspects and life. The sum of a "participatory culture", an "urban culture" and an "entrepreneurial culture" will produce a "creative culture" that will allow our Markets to continue to be a differentiated, appreciated, attractive, desirable, ultimately MODERN, SUSTAINABLE, RESPONSIBLE AND SOLIDARITY format, providing a high value service to citizens.
The Municipal Retail Markets respond to the historical reality of each city, forming an important part of its economic and social reality, good proof of which is the centrality of their locations and the emblematic nature of their buildings; in all cases they have one quality in common: they have made life easier for citizens. From a commercial point of view, they represent a very important part of the distribution of fresh food, generating a middle class that economically and socially contributes wealth and stability to their environment. (https://www.dreamingmarkets.com/manifiesto).
Our heart is in the more than 25,000 markets in Europe, which employ more than 1 million people and generate a turnover of 40 billion euros. A market can be a tool to physically transform a city and its neighbourhoods if it is considered as part of urban planning policy and strategies. Markets and their hearts contribute to the social, environmental and economic well-being of the neighbourhood/city in which they are located.
A new vision: bringing the consumer into the centre of our thinking
If we look at what happened 15 years ago and especially in the last year 2020, we realise that never before have there been so many profound changes in such a short space of time. Technologies are advancing, markets are changing, consumers are evolving.
When an environment changes at the speed of thought, I believe it should make us think about a new approach to our commercial format, by which I mean looking for or trying to understand so-called consumer behaviour. "The big fish no longer eats the little fish: it is the fast fish that is going to eat the slow fish". Therefore, Municipal Markets are still obliged to evolve and adapt to a new type of consumer who is more demanding, diverse and with new emerging needs in their behaviour.
The Heartbeat of the Heart.... a new vision for our Markets, a vision that I understand is that Municipal Markets should place the consumer at the centre of their thinking and future planning. It is about inviting our clients, the consumers, to collaborate in the design of the offers made by our Markets. In this way, by offering customers more options, they will tend to be more loyal and show more interest in our commercial format.
In the current situation of global financial and economic crisis and with the probable certainty that this will last for several more years, trying to think about intelligent Municipal Markets is nothing more than a reflection of trying to open a new window of fresh air to oxygenate our Markets and the companies that work and operate in them on a daily basis. It is about trying to achieve the loyalty of our customers so that they buy our products and use our services in a convinced way and without doubts that the price of these is an insurmountable barrier.
In today's knowledge-based economy, entrepreneurs located in Municipal Retail Markets can no longer rely on their business activities to develop in the same way as before.
From my point of view, the key to growth based on the benefits provided by the customers, or not, of our Markets begins with an in-depth knowledge of their point of view, the coordination of interaction with them and the continuous and constant improvement of the advantages they provide us with. Let there be no doubt that these customer-centred practices are the foundations on which the trust of our customers, that of our Municipal Markets, rests. The customer is the centre of the universe and the reason for our heartbeat.
Roberto Alonso Gordón
Co-Founder and DIRECTOR of the Dreaming Markets Platform
For further information:
Email: info@dreamingmarkets.com