In the below presentation from the Next Generation Customer Experience conference, Tim Teran, Senior Vice President, Consumer Insights & Strategy, Macy’s, examines the transformative influence of the millennial consumer on retail and Ecommerce markets worldwide, and how retailers can maintain a competitive edge.

“Customer experience is something you are going to have to do better because honestly, it’s the only thing that you are going to have an advantage on,” said Teran. “We live in a world in which the customer is in control. A little part of my history lesson for the day is that up until the 1950s, the retailer was king; we went to the banks on bankers’ hours; and stores were closed on Sundays. That’s because there was more demand than supply, so basically the suppliers controlled the chain, if you will. In the 1970s, the big boxing of America came and there became more supply than demand, and then grew the idea that the ‘customer is king.’ We all woke up and said, ‘Boy, we have to get that customer and woo them,’ and now people work to do that.”

“But now we’re in an age in which not only is there more supply than demand, but we have a very sophisticated consumer who can get information on a product or a service any time they want,” he continued. “I don’t know about you, but even from my best customers, I get less than 50 percent of their share of wallet for all their apparel. It is a promiscuous consumer environment in which the customer is really smart. They are also really conscientious. They know what’s good and what’s not good and they know where to find it.”

Check out the video of the presentation below, or visit the website here for the full transcript of Teran’s speech.