Retail CEOs are most worried about…

When it comes to what keeps retail CEOs up at night, put exchange rate volatility and over-regulation at the top of the list.



That’s according to PwC’s 19th Annual Global CEO Survey, which explores top business concerns of retail and consumer product CEOs.



Of the many different political, social and economic risks businesses face, those that concern retail sector CEOs the most are over- regulation (37% are extremely concerned), exchange rate volatility (36%), an increasing tax burden (33%), and social instability (29%).



By contrast, the issues that worry them the least are access to affordable capital (20% are not concerned about this at all), unemployment (14%), and the Eurozone debt crisis (14%), according to the survey.



Surprisingly, given some of the other findings from the sector, 20% of retail CEOs are not concerned at all about climate change, although 34% do cite it as a significant concern.

Key concerns for consumer goods CEOs include exchange rate volatility, the increasing tax burden and the availability of key skills.



Here are some other findings from the report:

• Seventy-seven percent of retail CEOs say they are concerned about the impact of shifts in consumer spending and behavior.



• Eighty-five percent of retail CEOs say they are expected to address wider stakeholder concerns than ever before.



• Technologies that got strong ratings for their ability to connect retailers and consumer goods companies to their publics were data and analytics (70% retail, 64% consumer goods) and customer relationship management systems (71% retail, 69% consumer goods).



• Seventy-four percent of retail CEOs rate technology advances as one of the top three global trends likely to transform wider stakeholder expectations of their business.



• Seventy percent of retail CEOs rated data and analytics as likely to generate strong returns for engaging with stakeholders.



The PwC report is based on a survey of more than 210 retail and consumer product CEOs in 61 countries.

For the full report click here.