Tag: tech
Jeff Bezos’ Retail Legacy
July 4, 2021
Jeff Bezos changed retail forever. By catering to us like royalty with tech-driven convenience and efficiency, Amazon’s founder: ⭐️ Raised industry standards⭐️ Elevated consumer expectations⭐️ Influenced global retail’s digital backbone (Plus, Amazon helped me snag a John McEnroe t-shirt & matching infant onesie as gifts; I won Christmas 2010!) Even as Bezos exits the CEO […]
Revisiting Retail’s Revolution
June 7, 2021
What keeps retail CEOs up at night … Let’s revisit this 2021 Retail PEST Analysis from January 2021 to capture today’s market conditions. Additional factors: POLITICAL– International travel restrictions shift– U.S. infrastructure bill could help companies & consumers– CDC relaxes mask guidelines for fully vaccinated Americans ECONOMIC– Prices rise for products & raw materials– Retail […]
1 Year Later – How Covid-19 Changed Global Retail
May 31, 2021
Retail looks different. Today marks one year since this piece initially went live, so let’s see which changes have stuck. LASTING CHANGES: E-commerce & e-grocery explosionHome delivery boom timeBOPIS & curbside pickupCashless is king MORE CHANGES: Dark storesOff-mall expansionDigital magnetism like AR & livestreaming OVERARCHING THEME:Most of these changes support online shopping and stores’ emerging […]
E-Commerce as Entertainment
May 26, 2021
E-commerce and entertainment keep converging. Today Amazon announced it’s buying MGM Studios, as the line between merchandise and media consumption continues to blur. Media assets can help retailers: 🔹 Extend their marketing reach🔹 Embed their offerings into our everyday habits🔹 Personalize marketing to fuel e-commerce sales🔹 Reduce acquisition costs🔹 Maximize lifetime value per customer & loyalty […]
Livestreaming Enlivens Retail
May 24, 2021
Retail goes live to air. Livestreaming helps retailers and brands: – Interact with consumers in real time– Target relevant audiences– Fuel e-commerce sales Notice how tech giants and department stores are adding livestreaming to their marketing strategies. Have you ever watched a retail livestream? Related: 2021 Retail Tech Trends2021 Retail Strategy Trends SOURCES: Droesch, Blake. […]
E-Commerce Fuels Stores’ Evolution
May 2, 2021
What’s in store? E-commerce’s influence. Online shopping growth has forced retailers to transform their brick-and-mortar stores into omnichannel assets. As e-commerce catapults forward, global retailers are collaborating with tech and logistics partners to deliver omnichannel: – Speed;– Agility; and– Convenience (Notice how many grocery and big box retailers are showing omnichannel resilience.) How else have […]
Amazon 2021 Strategy Diamond
January 17, 2021
How Amazon keeps winning … As this framework (Hambrick & Frederickson’s Strategy Diamond) reveals, the e-commerce giant sets industry standards, dazzles consumers and spooks rivals. For instance: CONSUMERS save time & money from unmatched tech efficiencies SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERS gain resources that fuel growth & agility🥊 RIVALS had to react to an October Prime Day, […]
Why Tech is Winning
January 10, 2021
Revenge of the nerds? The 43% surge in the tech-heavy NASDAQ index in 2020 proves it pays to be digitally-savvy. That’s because, more than ever, we rely on technology to meet our universal needs. For instance: Zoom connects us with loved onesDoorDash delivers dinner to our doorstepsDuolingo languages prepare us for future exotic escapes In […]
2020 Retail Partnerships
November 15, 2020
Look who’s hooking up … These 2020 retail partnerships reveal where retail is heading, retailers’ strategic priorities and which core competencies matter to delight consumers. Overarching themes: 1. Speedy delivery 2. Tech innovation 3. Omnichannel options Most importantly, these partnerships prove collaboration is essential, as a company can’t manage this year’s retail upheaval all on […]
Social Commerce is the Future of Retail
November 1, 2020
Last week’s announcement of the new partnership between TikTok and Shopify dazzled global retail markets. This partnership unites social media, video and e-commerce to make shopping more exciting and interactive. Already pervasive and popular in China, social commerce is taking off in North America by bringing the mall to popular social platforms during the pandemic. […]
Amazon SWOT Analysis (Q4)
October 19, 2020
Profitable pivots: 2020’s COVID-19 curveball rattled even the biggest retail leaders. In this SWOT analysis check-in, we see how Amazon has responded to market pressures, including changes that directly address specific weaknesses and threats. Additional overarching patterns I see are: Building brand trust (beyond anti-counterfeit measures), ranging from humanizing the brand for a softer corporate […]
Why Small is BIG in 2020
October 16, 2020
Big retailers think small. As the 2020 holiday sales season kicks off, leading retailers seek nimble small businesses to give consumers what they want. Their relationships are mutually-beneficial … To stay competitive and solvent in a pandemic, small suppliers need an online presence, which they can achieve through retailers’ robust e-commerce and logistics infrastructure. As […]
Global E-Commerce Boom
September 7, 2020
The future of retail is online. This year’s global pandemic has made e-commerce a retail necessity to connect companies and consumers. More consumers now rely on online shopping for convenience, safety and time savings. Retailers and CPG brands invest in e-commerce (as well as tech and logistics partnerships) to overcome store closures and consumer reticence […]
Amazon Gets Intimate
August 9, 2020
Oh baby: Amazon is getting intimate with us. It could be the lockdown loneliness kicking in but I’m convinced that Amazon is the best date ever. Think about it, people: they’re seductive ninjas, subtly applying the 5 Love Languages (Gifts! Movies! Dinner!) to make us swoon. (Personally, I can’t wait until I can say, “Alexa, […]
2020 Retail Trends
July 27, 2020
According to Stats Canada, Canadians caused a 99% surge in online purchases between February and May, As e-commerce booms, here are some ways traditional sales seasons and retail strategies could change this year. Key success factors include: PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS:Prompt, reliable delivery and in-stock merchandise could make consumers more forgiving and loyal. (Advantage: Amazon) PHYSICAL STORES:BOPIS […]
Amazon’s Path to Post-Pandemic Prosperity
June 28, 2020
This infographic’s alternative title could easily be Why Jeff Bezos Will be a Trillionaire Soon. Last week, Amazon went on a shopping spree to secure its retail tech supremacy and customer-centric continuous improvement to position the company to thrive now and after COVID-19. These investments show Amazon’s priorities range from delivering short-term consumer benefits to […]
E-Commerce Gets Spicy!
June 15, 2020
Today’s announcement of Walmart’s strategic partnership with e-commerce superstar Shopify is shaking up online shopping. Yet Shopify also recently made headlines for its collaboration with the launch of Facebook Shops, a social commerce platform that merges social media and shopping. WHY NOW? Now is the *perfect* time for these alliances because: Many consumers remain homebound […]
E-Grocery Success Factors
June 14, 2020
Consumers crave convenience: 2020 is boom time for grocery retailers with robust e-commerce infrastructures. That’s because COVID-19 has shaped how we shop: 3 billion global consumers were homebound, and many restaurants closed, sparking a surge in home cooking (World Economic Forum) $2.5 trillion, representing 35% of global food expenditures, is now up for grabs as […]
2020 Retail PEST Analysis
June 7, 2020
What keeps CEOs up at night: Coronavirus impact, global recession, and mass protests and movements for starters. As this PEST analysis shows, retail executives and their teams need to juggle a variety of complex market factors as they revise their 2020 strategies to navigate new risks. UPDATED Jan. 2021: 2021 Retail PEST Analysis Overarching themes […]
2020 Retail Rumble
May 26, 2020
Forget crowdless UFC matches – 2020’s biggest rumble is taking place between retail giants Amazon and Walmart. Their arena is today’s unrelenting market complexity, including economic and technological upheaval amid the coronavirus crisis. In this third and final piece in a series, we compare Walmart and Amazon’s enduring and pandemic-specific strategies to spot market opportunities […]