Conversation with… Martin Newman
Martin Newman has spent decades advising global retailers on how to thrive in a world where trust, loyalty, and experience are as important as price and efficiency. In his latest book, ROI Reimagined, he challenges the very way we think about ROI.
Ahead of him speaking at Retail Ecom Connect on 15 October, here we chat with Martin to explore his redefined model of success, including what it means for retailers, and why culture and people strategies are the key drivers of commercial performance.
Subscribe to TRBYour book takes a fresh approach to ROI, moving beyond traditional financial reporting. Can you explain the thinking behind this shift?
Traditional return on investment is too one-dimensional. It’s all about the numbers, such as cost savings, revenue uplift and margin. Of course, those matter, but they only tell a fraction of the story.
Today, businesses win or lose not just on efficiency or price, but on trust, loyalty, relevance and experience – both for employees and for customers.
That’s why I’ve reframed ROI through 11 new lenses: inspiration, integrity, interaction, innovation, integration, and more. These reflect the outcomes people actually value and ultimately drive sustainable growth.
In retail, where competition is fierce and consumer expectations are rising, this shift is critical. If you only measure spend and efficiency, you miss the real levers of differentiation. Measuring trust, inclusion, inspiration and interaction means that you’re not just reporting on performance, you’re actively shaping it.
You talk about the undeniable link between employee engagement and customer engagement. What can retailers learn from your model?
Disengaged employees can’t deliver great customer experiences- it’s that simple.
That’s why I introduce concepts like Return on Inspiration. It’s about empowering employees to make decisions without waiting for sign-off from a manager. That empowerment speeds up service and makes employees feel trusted, which changes how they see their role and how customers experience the brand.
Then there’s Return on Inclusion. This is about building a workforce that reflects the customers you serve. Diverse teams make better decisions, deliver more relevant service, and connect more authentically with consumers.
And Return on Involvement: are you giving teams a voice in shaping how you serve customers? Too often, decisions come top-down. Listening to the “voice of the colleague” is just as important as the “voice of the customer.”
Retailers can also embed customer-first behaviours into performance reviews, create feedback loops, and align incentives around service and advocacy and not just sales. When employees feel empowered, engaged, and proud, that energy rubs off on customers. The data shows it drives repeat purchases, frequency, lifetime value, and loyalty.
Many leaders still see culture and people investment as “soft.” How does your book show the commercial impact?
That’s one of the biggest gaps in retail today. Too often, boards see culture as intangible, when in fact it has the most tangible impact on performance.
A stronger culture leads to higher retention, which lowers recruitment costs and protects customer relationships. Empowered employees handle service recovery better, directly protecting revenue and loyalty. Inclusive teams innovate faster, which keeps you relevant.
Take Return on Intervention: it tracks revenue saved when service recovery prevents churn. If customer service teams are incentivised not by how many calls they answer, but by first-time resolution, customers stay loyal, and they advocate for you instead of criticising you on social media. That’s a measurable commercial outcome.
Put simply: human outcomes drive commercial outcomes.
You describe your approach as revolutionary. In practical terms, what will change for businesses that apply it?
When I present these ROIs, you can almost see the lightbulb moment. Suddenly, people realise they have a new way of framing decisions.
What changes is alignment. Finance, HR, marketing, operations – all departments start speaking a common language. Decisions stop being judged purely on financial ROI and start being judged on broader impacts for employees and customers.
That shift reduces wasted projects, aligns people strategy with customer strategy, and creates a culture where every employee – not just those in customer-facing roles- feels accountable for the customer outcome.
The transformation? Higher retention, stronger advocacy, improved reputation, and growth that compounds over time. That’s how you build businesses that deliver value for shareholders, employees, and customers alike.
Finally, which organisations do you think embody this kind of purpose-led, customer-first approach?
Patagonia is a standout. They lead with purpose – you’ll often see campaigns about environmental or social issues front and centre on their website instead of products. Their people and customers share the same values, and that creates deep loyalty.
Zappos is another. They’re famous for their fun, people-first culture. They even offer new hires $2,000 to quit after their first week, because they only want employees who are truly committed to the brand’s ethos of service and collaboration.
And then you have brands like Apple and LEGO. They treat people and customers brilliantly, have compelling propositions, and as a result, inspire emotional loyalty rather than just transactional relationships.
Purpose-led businesses tend to outperform because people don’t just buy their products, they buy into their values. That’s the future of retail.
