Books
International Best-Sellers

Doug’s written works are prescribed texts in colleges and universities around the world, have been translated into five languages and are widely regarded as three of the premier works on the future of retail and consumer behavior.

Resurrecting Retail

From international best-selling author and futurist Doug Stephens, Resurrecting Retail is not just a riveting story of the unprecedented crash of an industry but a roadmap for its rebirth.

Few crises in modern history have so completely disrupted every aspect of daily life as the Covid-19 pandemic. Every market, industry, profession, service, and category of product was in some way rocked by its impact.

Researched in real time from inside the crisis, Resurrecting Retail provides a comprehensive and surprising vision of how it will reshape every aspect of consumer life, including the very essence of why we shop. Above all, it provides an inspirational and actionable future vision for any business leader looking not only to survive but thrive in a very different post-pandemic retail world.

Ian McMilanGlobal Retail Marketing Lead, Nike
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"Prophetic, inspiring and entertaining. Paints a clear picture of the post COVID world we are entering and how retailers must adapt to thrive."
Christina FontanaHead of Fashion and Luxury for Tmall, US and Europe
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"A vivid and meticulously researched picture of the post-COVID landscape and a strategic roadmap for retailers across all categories."
Mark C. ToroChairman, North American Properties
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"Presents retailers and landlords with a comprehensive view into the future of our industry, offering practical advice about how we can not just survive, but thrive in a post-pandemic world."
B. Joseph Pine IICo-author of The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money
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"In a time of massive upheaval in retail, Doug Stephens not only astutely identifies the core issues retailers now face, but provides a set of answers, directions, and key retail archetypes from which to learn. If you want to resurrect your retailing for a new era, then pay attention to his conclusion: 'Every company is an experience company.'"
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Reengineering Retail

Since the release of Doug Stephens’ first book, The Retail Revival, change in the global retail sector has accelerated beyond even the boldest forecasts. As predicted, online giants like Amazon and Alibaba.com are growing at a dizzying pace. Hundreds of well-known brick and mortar retailers have closed their doors, and brands and retailers across categories are struggling to understand the shifting needs and expectations of a new consumer.

Picking up where The Retail Revival left off, Reengineering Retail explores the coming revolution in the global retail and consumer goods market, offering sales and marketing executives a roadmap to the future.

Author and internationally renowned consumer futurist, Doug Stephens, paints a bold vision of the future where every aspect of the retail experience as we know it, will be radically transformed. From online to bricks and mortar, the very concept of what stores are, how consumers shop them, and even the core economic model for revenue, will be will be profoundly reinvented; changes sure to affect not only retailers large and small but any business with a stake in the global retail industry.

Infused with real world examples and interviews with industry disruptors, Reengineering Retail illustrates the vast opportunities at play for bold brands and business leaders. Stephens’ strategies will provide businesses with the foresight required to move quickly and effectively into the future.

Mark ToroFounder and Managing Partner, North American Properties
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"Doug Stephens sounds the alarm for brick-and-mortar retailers (and their landlords), and those who do not heed his advice do so at their own peril. Reengineering Retail is a survival guide for those of us navigating a sea change in physical retail."
Mitch JoelPresident, Mirum. Author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete
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"Disruption is facing every business. Retail is feeling the brunt of it. Technology changes everything. Software eats retail in a one-click and swipe-right world. Retailers talk about omnichannel and customer-centricity, but look at the landscape. It's hard to be optimistic. Still, big thinkers like Doug Stephens and his latest book, Reengineering Retail, draw the map and demonstrate what retailers need to think and do in this landscape. If you sell stuff, this is a must-read."
Harley FinkelsteinCOO, Shopify
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"Ten years ago, walking into a cool boutique to see a DJ spinning was novel. Today, it's about the least a store can do to keep up with the times. Brands and retailers that are standing out are pulling out the stops to turn shopping into a rich and immersive experience that leverages technology. Doug's book sets out a roadmap for how to best compete in this new retail world."
Ramesh Venkat, Ph.D.Director, David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing, Saint Mary's University
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"Doug Stephens paints a vivid picture of the massive disruption and reinvention that is occurring in the retail landscape. Reengineering Retail offers valuable insights into how the physical and the digital retailing worlds will augment each other and combine to create customer experiences that we can only imagine today. This book is a must-read and a wakeup call to any retailers that have been technological laggards."
Diane J. BriseboisPresident & CEO, Retail Council of Canada
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"Retail is no longer linear - it doesn't live in a protected tower - and it's arguably facing its greatest disruption ever! Doug Stephens' latest book, Reengineering Retail, shines the spotlight on the new ecosystem, one that feeds off innovation, the redefinition and refinement of customer experience, authenticity, value, excitement and experimentation. Doug's book challenges us to look at disruption more than by assuming that one form of retail will win over another - simply put, the book forces us to understand the power of personalization and customer engagement - the lifeblood of our new retail world."
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The Retail Revival

Doug’s seminal 2013 work, The Retail Revival looks into the not-so-distant retail past and forward into a future that will continue to redefine retail and its enormous effect on society and our economies. Massive demographic and economic shifts, as well as historic levels of technological and media disruption, are turning this once predictable industry—where “average” was king—into a sea of turbulent change, leaving consumer behavior permanently altered.

The Retail Revival provides no-nonsense clarity on the realities of a completely new retail marketplace— realities that are driving many industry executives to despair. But the future need not be dark. Stephens offers hope and guidance for any businesses eager to capitalize on these historic shifts and thrive.

Entertaining and thought-provoking, The Retail Revival makes sense of a brave new era of consumer behavior in which everything we thought we knew about retail is being completely reimagined.

John GerzemaAuthor of Spend Shift & The Athena Doctrine
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"This book captures in sharp detail the deep and unprecedented changes driving new consumer behaviors and values. More importantly, it offers clear guidance to brands and retailers seeking to adapt and evolve to meet entirely new market imperatives for success."
Gary SaretskyPresident and CEO, WestJet
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"It doesn't matter what type of retail you do - if you sell something, somewhere, you need to read Doug Stephens' The Retail Revival. Packed with powerful insights on the changing retail environment and what good retailers should be thinking about now, The Retail Revival is easy to read, well-organized and provides essential food for thought."
Joe LampertiusSVP, Shopper Marketing, Momentum Worldwide
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"The Retail Revival is a critical read for all marketing professionals who are trying to figure out what's next in retail Doug Stephens does a great job of explaining why retail has evolved the way it has, and the book serves as an important, trusted guide to where it's headed next."
Kit Yarrow, Ph.D.Consumer Psychologist; Professor, Golden Gate University; Co-Author, Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How and Why We Shop and Buy
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"Doug Stephens has proven his right to the moniker 'Retail Prophet.' With careful analysis and ample examples, the author makes a compelling case for retailers to adapt, change and consequently revive their connection with consumers. Stephens presents actionable recommendations with optimism and enthusiasm - just the spoonful of sugar we need to face the necessary changes ahead."
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