Digital to the rescue of department stores

G.R.N.: Please introduce the scope of I.A.D.S. 

Selvane du Ménil: I.A.D.S. is a think-tank serving department stores’ management. We bring together 12 global department store giants, including Galeries Lafayette, Manor in Switzerland, El Corte Inglés in Spain, Breuninger in Germany, Falabella in Chile and SM in the Philippines. The combined annual turnover of our members exceeds €31 billion via 490 department stores and 233,000 staff. Our mission is to promote co-operation and identify increased efficiency by sharing best practices, key market insights and through dedicated workshops (category management, private labels). As retailers are often family-owned, they are not subject to the same constraints as those owned by investors or by pension funds.

After having targeted Chinese tour operators, department stores now need to talk to local customers.…