A Retail Leaders Bookshelf

I'm sharing my current bookshelf, some I've finished, some I'm part way through and others are sat starting at me longingly to be read.

Now I've broken these books into a few themes, and the basis this lies in a book that I am writing on the history through to future of trade, management, environment and consumers of Australia from First Nations to digital futures, hence some of the interesting reads that may not typically be found in a retail leaders bookshelf. However, I recommend going beyond the norm as they give incredible insight into the nuance of Australia (for me, as an English migrant who knew very little about historical Australia and why it's so unique from countless lenses).

The groupings I've created in Notion (which I am using to map all my research, topics, interviews, project manage myself, branding etc) are:

• Retail Sector

• Consumer Packaged Goods Sector

• First Nations Culture & History

• Consumer Centric

Now you will notice I am not talking about any of the usual books here that management always recommend reading that have catchy titles and are interesting, but too broad. This is more around a focussed approach to learning that it is about rounding edges, as I assume most of you have read the likes of Crossing the Chasm, Blue Ocean Strategy, The Lord's of Strategy and so on. If you haven't, I recommend it but just ask Anthropic's Claude to give you recommendations as they all say the same for management and strategy reading.

So into the list...

Retail Sector

Redefining Retail: 10 Guiding Principles for a Post-Digital World by Philip Kotler & Giuseppe Stigliano

Omnichannel Retail: How to build winning stores in a digital world by Tim Mason & Sarah Jarvis

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping—Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond by Paco Underhill

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Dr Barry Schwartz

Silent Selling: Best Practices and Effective Strategies in Visual Merchandising by Judy Bell

Retail Therapy: Why The Retail Industry Is Broken by Mark Pilkington

Also recommend reading his other works such as Retail Recovery, all amazing books.

Future of Shopping by Jorg Snoeck & Pauline Neerman

Reengineering Retail: The Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World, by Doug Stephens

(Also read Retail Revival by Doug)

Consumer Packaged Goods Sector Books (Less of a focus for this list but good reads that help on both sides of production and distribution)

FMCG: The Power of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods by Gregory Thain

Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas, From the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley by Jennifer Mathews

First Nations Culture & History

The Biggest Estate on Earth by Bill Gammage

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

First Knowledges by Various

An incredible collection where you have multiple authors and views across a diverse topic range, read more here: https://thamesandhudson.com.au/the-first-knowledges-series/

Aboriginal Economy and Society: At the Threshold of Colonisation by Ian Keen (a brilliant economist that brings unique perspectives, and you'll find amazing value in all of his books)

Consumer Centric Books

Converted: The Data driven way to win customer’s hearts by Neil Hoyne at Google

The Perennials: Unleashing the Power of our Postgenerational Society by Mauro Guillen at The Wharton School (also my favourite book title in a hell of a long time!)

Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How and Why We Shop and Buy by Kit Yarrow, Ph.D.

Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First by Frank Trentmann

So there you have it, some of my past, present and future reading materials that will take me through to the end of the holiday break this year, and into the new year. There's plenty more (biographies e.g. "Beneath whose hand: The autobiography of R.M.Williams", business centric books such as "Lesson from Gin" by Matt Jones at Four Pillars Gin) or historical book such as "Only in Australia: The History, Politics and Economics of Australian Exceptionalism" (something interesting to me from a cultural perspective).

As you can see the whole point with this list is to not just go deep in sector, but understand the history of trade and why we are where we are currently. I truly believe that we will see connection to the past and sustainable practices continue to increase, and there is no where else on Earth with more history and value to learn from than Australia.

Hopefully you find some use in the list above, and decide to read one or two of them! Or maybe you've read some already and want to add some thoughts! Or finally you've got some recommendations you want to make! Let me know and join the conversation!