About the Retail Think Tank

Philosophy

The KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT) was conceived and created in 2006 by Helen Dickinson of KPMG LLP and Tim Denison of Ipsos Retail Performance to provide an authoritative, credible and trusted window on what is really happening in retail.

Through its quarterly meetings it develops and publishes thought leadership on the key areas influencing the future of retailing, which are designed to address both the health of the sector and the challenges it faces.

While the RTT is not sensationalist, it is not afraid to speak its collective mind. At the same time it does not aim to ruffle feathers but also does not flinch from expressing its democratically-arrived-at opinion.

The RTT aims to be a first port of call for journalists and commentators interested in retail, retail analysts, students of retail and for those involved in investment in retail.

Membership

The RTT consists of eight members, six of whom were invited to join the group by KPMG and Synovate and represent key areas of the retail industry. It is a deliberate policy of the RTT that no single member is employed by or speaks on behalf of any individual retail business, reinforcing the credibility and independence of the RTT membership.

Outputs

The Retail Think Tank issues regular news releases and white papers addressing issues specific to the retail industry. These primarily consist of two separate outputs each quarter:

  • The Retail Health Index, which provides a visual snapshot and commentary regarding how health is changing on a quarterly basis. This now represents the views of the RTT on retail health from a period over five years;
  • A white paper which provides an in-depth examination into a key issue debated by the RTT. The white paper is designed either to feed into the wider debate on how healthy the sector is or be of topical relevance to the retail sector.

Copyright

All the intellectual property within the RTT website and its outputs are jointly owned by KPMG and Ipsos.

First mentions of the RTT should be the “KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank” while the abbreviations the “Retail Think Tank” and “RTT” are acceptable thereafter.