Amazon Acting like Walmart

Is Amazon acting like Walmart in the 80s?  In Retaillink:

" ... Amazon's investments in trucks, planes, cargo boats and drones continue to drive speculation on whether the company is building a full-scale delivery platform. But an RBC Capital Markets analyst has drawn attention by likening the moves to Walmart's shift to tighten supply chain costs three decades ago.

"At the core, we think the decisions Amazon is making today parallel those made by Walmart during the 1980s, as the company began to integrate itself more fully with its suppliers to aggressively reduce costs across all aspects of its business, especially the supply chain," wrote John Barnes in a note last week. "This can accomplish two things: reduce costs in any way possible and ensure that customers receive goods in a timely manner year round." ... "

Wal-Mart Online Strategy

Just who is Wal-Mart's future competition?  Business model?  Evan Schuman examines the evidence.

" ... When you watch Walmart, you start to wonder where it wants to go with its business model, and whether it has any chance of ever getting there. Two moves that the giant retailer made this week powerfully illustrate this. One move is future-facing and at least somewhat bold, while the other seems aimed at protecting the existing bricks-and-mortar business model even as the chain makes a feint toward online. ... " 

Retailers Tackling Amazon

Evan Schuman comments on the right way that retailers should tackle amazon. In ComputerWorld.

On the Power of Now: Retail Forecasting

In Think with Google.  Have followed a number of growth models.  Examining this one.

Marketing's New 'Power of Now'
In a world of infinite information and product choice, consumers hold more power than brands. For retailers, this means embracing marketing's new 'power of now.' Below, Steve Dennis of SageBerry Consulting offers a strategic growth model for retailers, anchored in five core experiential elements ...  "

Benchmark Intelligence

Brought to my attention by the Brandery.  Benchmark Intelligence. " ... The New way to Manage a Chain ... Operational Business Intelligence for Restaurant Chains (and more)  ... Streamlined field auditing, text based customer feedback with innovative reporting and more. ... "

Kroger and Omnichannel Balance

Feedback in general is always a key interest, it can exist at many levels and sources.  It still remains difficult thing to combine different kinds and levels of feedback.  This is becoming more interesting as social data is integrated into feedback results ...

How Kroger strives for the omnichannel balance 
Customer feedback is key in shaping a retailer's transition from traditional to omnichannel, said Shashank Saxena, Kroger's director of digital and e-commerce technology. He also advises retailers to keep up with big-picture trends, tweak business models as trends change and take great care when testing changes to core brands. ....   "

The Influence of Showrooming

Lots of fears regarding the influence of 'showrooming' in driving place of purchase ...

" ... But a study released Thursday from Columbia Business School and loyalty management firm Aimia aims to “bust” what it calls “myths” surrounding showrooming.

The researchers surveyed 3,000 consumers in the U.S, the U.K and Canada and found that while a majority of shoppers said they are guilty of showrooming, mobile phones can actually improve the odds of an in-store purchase. ... " 

GigaOM Reports.

Supermarket Dominance

Why does some retail dominate?  A history of the dominance of a company that started in 1919.  " ... "It became such a success story because it was aggressive at adapting to consumer trends, diversifying and innovating," says Gray. "It took a hell of a lot of risks in the 1990s but they paid off." And diversify it did. Tesco is now a bank, it offers insurance, credit cards and loans. You can buy a flat-screen TV, a mobile phone and clothes alongside bread, milk and butter. It runs education programmes for staff and keep fit classes. ... " 

Augmented Reality Sandboxes

Sandbox as a User Interface - UI.  We did something related, but without sand.  Touch interface.   Created a sandbox workbench which implemented a retail design.   This allowed customers and designers to work together to build and quantitatively evaluate a design.  There is something about a touch interface that builds engagement with something, and then the analytic evaluation can drive the results home.

Retailers Using Tweet Chats

In Supermarket News:  A view of how grocers are using and can use tweet chats.  Fairly obvious, but a good review of a retail strategy.  Not much here about its use to promote private label, where I think it can provide value.

Fake Shops

In our innovation labs we experimented with using false front displays to set contexts for consumers in a laboratory.  Interesting and obvious idea, but the coverings tend to be much more permanent than expected.  Stifling innovative experience.  The same idea has been used for a long time in the real world.  My UK correspondent sends about this in a BBC article.  Cover ups are all around us.

Costco vs Amazon in Grocery

In BusinessWeek:    " ... Amazon is expanding in the grocery business, which could create a headache for CEO Jeff Bezos' onetime mentor, Costco Wholesale CEO Jim Sinegal. Executives at Costco say they aren't overly worried but admit they'll be watching Amazon's efforts. "We view Amazon as one of our primary competitors in almost every category," said Paul Latham, Costco's vice president for membership, marketing and services. "We all believe we are going to have to adapt in some form." ... " 

Dieticians at the Supermarket

In AdAge:  Good piece on another example of linking related expertise to the retail interaction.  This may be an area where the personal touch could work well.  The article has excellent detail.

Multiple Media Strategies in Retail

Good article in StoreFrontBacktalk. Read the whole thing, allows you to nicely think about these multiple strategies. ' ... The mobile retail world has now neatly morphed into three categories: consumer-used (with true M-Commerce, mobile research from home and on the road, etc.); retailer-used (for price checks, inventory inquiries, in-aisle supply chain inquiries, etc.); and consumer-in-store (2D barcodes, price comparisons, SMS communications with the chain, watching demos, mobile research from within the store, direct payment, etc.) ... ' .