“Listening and meeting people matters”

Sampo Päällysaho graduated with a Master’s degree in Economics from the Helsinki School of Economics (now Aalto University School of Business) in the late 1990s, and since then has worked in various positions in the retail sector. The latest turn in his career is moving from the S Group to become the CEO of Tokmanni.

“My schedule makes it possible to study at a suitable pace, as I am leaving my current position and will not start my new job until summer 2026. It was natural to see what kind of courses my alma mater offers.”

He chose the course “Kaupan liiketoimintamallit ja markkinointi” (in Finnish) from Aalto University Open University’s offering.

“This is a genuine win–win situation for everyone. I’m really happy that Sampo took part in this course. We’ve had excellent discussions, and the students have certainly gained many new ideas during the course, as we have been able to delve much more deeply into practical management challenges,” says the course teacher, Professor of Marketing Arto Lindblom.

Customer needs as the starting point

When Sampo Päällysaho started his first job in retail in 1988, it was a very different time than today. Since then, the retail sector has been affected by many megatrends, such as climate change and digitalisation. These major shifts are also reshaping the skills the sector needs.

“We easily think of retail as square metres and cubic metres, but today retail is omnichannel, with online stores and platforms,” Päällysaho says.

It is no longer enough for retailers to meet only consumers’ basic needs in their brick-and-mortar stores. To succeed, they must be present in many different channels and also be able to anticipate customer needs. This requires large amounts of data, which makes retail a highly data-intensive industry. Data-driven management is becoming increasingly important, and with the help of various AI solutions and algorithms, retailers can develop better services for their customers.

But if services are not developed by listening to customers, the effort is wasted.

“Sometimes you need to take your feet off the ground”

Strategic planning and future foresight are an important part of strategic management in retail, and these themes are also central to Sampo Päällysaho’s work in executive roles in the sector. In a turbulent market environment, however, they are not enough on their own; agility, the ability to react quickly, and the ability to act creatively when required are also needed. Another key aspect is the ability to interpret hard performance indicators and take the necessary actions based on them.

Creative thinking, open-mindedness and broad-mindedness were evident in the course projects, in which students envisioned the future of retail. Even if not all ideas can be commercialised as such, at least not immediately, they can still serve as input for future solutions.

“I think it’s really important that we know how to take our thinking towards solutions that are not yet visible and boldly envision the future. Sometimes you need to have your feet a little bit off the ground,” Päällysaho says.

According to Arto Lindblom, one of the biggest benefits of the retail course is precisely that topics are examined in a very holistic way, drawing on creative, entrepreneurial thinking. Students also seem to enjoy this and get a great deal out of it.

He believes that open university studies are an excellent pathway for business leaders as well to develop their skills and acquire new knowledge.

“By taking part in degree programme courses, leaders have the opportunity to hear young students’ thoughts and perspectives on how they see the world and what matters to them.”