Evolving Financial Ecosystem Requires Retailers to Adapt to Thrive: BDO Survey

Alana Gold
Bliss Integrated Communication
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Retail CFOs believe the year ahead will bring healthy merger and acquisition (M&A) activity. According to a BDO USA, LLP survey of 100 retail CFOs, only a mere one percent expect M&A activity to decrease. CFOs cite increasing market share and revenue and profitability as the primary drivers of strategic deal flow.
 
But M&A is not the only method retailers are employing to grow their businesses and expand their physical footprint. Thirty-seven percent of CFOs look to improved merchandise assortment as a top tactic for growth. This marks a shift away from e-commerce and mobile, which were the leading growth priorities during 2014 and 2015, now that robust digital channels are more of a necessity than a competitive advantage.
 
"Retailers continue to face unrelenting competition," says Ted Vaughan, national leader and partner in the Consumer Business Practice at BDO USA, LLP. "And as gross sales are increasingly deemed the superior measure of success according to CFOs, retailers are avoiding putting all their eggs in the e-commerce basket, instead pursuing multiple growth strategies and initiatives to grow market share and capture consumer dollars."
 
Other major findings from the second of three data releases from the tenth annual BDO Retail Compass Survey of CFOs: