Future Retail Challenge

Generation Z refers to the demographic cohort born between 1996 and 2010. They're the second-youngest generation, between millennials and Generation Alpha. Gen Z identity has been shaped by the digital age, climate anxiety, a shifting financial landscape, and COVID-19 

Attracting and retaining Gen Z to retail is reported by retailers to be one of their single biggest business challenges. Gen Z seek many different things and have different priorities and beliefs. And increasingly, many of Gen Z in colleges and business schools state that their ambition is in fact to start their own businesses and to take an entrepreneurial path rather than to build a career with a company. 

The retail industry has for years struggled to attract talent when set against the appeal of other business sectors such as technology, banking or financial services for example. This is now being exacerbated by the changing demands of the new, younger workforce cohort. With retail having to also embrace and invest in new technologies and new channels, the requirement to attract and retain people with these skills grows ever more important.  

Gen Z, more than any other previous generation, has vastly different expectations around the working environment, career development and the kinds of businesses and brand values that they would want to work for.  

It is forcing many retailers to recognise this by promoting and strengthening their values, emphasising diversity in all areas, supporting a different work/life balance, offering better training and support, a recognition of the importance of mental health support and attractive, fair pay.  

This year’s Future Retail Challenge therefore has the opportunity to ask those in the spotlight of this recruitment crisis for the retail industry – Gen Z - what will it take to make retailing your career destination of choice? It is also an opportunity for all those participating in the Challenge to help the global retail industry understand better how they should focus on the critical next generation employees and future leaders.  

The 2025 Future Retail Challenge seeks to learn from you as important representatives of Gen Z about how you view the career opportunities of the global retail industry.  

As research shows, there is a strong entrepreneurial ambition amongst this generation which conflicts with traditional career development at established retail businesses. This Challenge seeks to blend the best of retail start-up businesses with the recruitment needs of retailers targeting Gen Z. 

• We are therefore asking each team to imagine that you are a retail start-up. It is not necessary to provide extensive detail on your business except to provide a quick outline for the judges of the retail sector you are focused on, who the brand is aimed at, the country or countries you are operating in and the channel or channels that you have chosen to reach your target consumer.  

• Your business is now at a critical growth phase which requires you to recruit new people to help deliver and manage this. In particular you need skilled people with knowledge around technology, AI, ecommerce, marketing and operations. You have instructed your newly recruited Human Resources team to begin recruitment but with a particular emphasis on Generation Z.  

• You have asked the HR team to review what established retailers are currently doing in your chosen sector to recruit Gen Z in order to find new, competitive ways to beat them to the best people. 

• You require the HR team to come up with an approach, a package of benefits and measures that matches your brand values and business requirements as a Gen Z founded and led retailer.  

• How will your HR team develop strategies for each of your new employees that ensures they stay and grow with your business? 

WHAT THE JUDGES ARE LOOKING FOR 

An understanding of your start-up business 

A detailed review of your competitive landscape in terms of how other retailers are targeting and recruiting Gen Z talent that you would like in your business 

A strong, detailed and robust plan for how you would go about recruiting Gen Z talent with the specific skills listed in point (2) above.  

How will this differ from the competition and how is it more targeted at the career needs of Gen Z?  

How will your approach and offer line-up with the brand values of your business? 

What is the business case and financial implications of the range of ideas you will use 

to entice people to your business and not to the competition? 

What is the plan to retain people in your business? 

To demonstrate a robustness to your recruitment strategy that other competitor retailers would struggle to copy or beat.