Book review: Retail Therapy: Why the Retail Industry is Broken

And what we can do to fight back.

The rise of online shopping and demise of brick-and-mortar isn’t new by any means, but Retail Therapy sets out to explain how broken the system really is.

Unfortunately, Australian retailers aren’t the only ones suffering a decline, and while it’s easy to blame the ‘Amazon effect’, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Retail Therapy instead points to the balance of power between producer and consumer, the nature of the supply chain and how brand relationships are changing.

Pilkington provides a comprehensive analysis of these forces and the longer term trends that are shaping retail, but more importantly, he explains what we can do to fight back. The book spells out key rules for future success, and shows how retail affects all of us – whether you’re in the industry or not.

The read is a little dry in parts, but persist and you’ll be rewarded.