Soft assets as a competitive advantage of retail enterprises

The article is devoted to the study of soft assets and their potential as a tool for creating retail-enterprise competitive advantage. The issue is gaining momentum due to the growing competition in the retail market, which makes it imperative for individual retail enterprises to look for new competitive practices, and the low rate of soft-asset usage by retail enterprises. The purpose of the study is to identify additional retail-enterprise competitive strengths derived from a more efficient management of soft assets (case study: OAO Magnit, and X5 Retail Group). The methodology applied to the analysis of the efficiency of soft-asset use includes: an analysis of soft assets as part of organizational assets; a conventional-criteria-based analysis of soft assets; an evaluation of the value of soft assets and of the business in general; an analysis of retail enterprises’ private brands; an analysis of soft-asset franchising-based transfer. The study has revealed that soft assets are a potent means of improving a retail enterprise’s competitiveness through cost reduction, retail emotional gravitation, differentiation and enhancement of a retail enterprise’s investment attractiveness, etc. The results obtained can be deployed by retail enterprises to improve soft-asset management practices with the view to enhancing competitive advantage.