durosas

After quite literally handing a head start to Amazon and enabling it to become it’s default connection for Customer’s Toys ‘R Us finds itself the latest victim added to the ever-growing heap at the retail morgue (see: Borders, HH Gregg, Circuit City, RadioShack, Payless Shoes, Sports Authority etc). That and the massive debt load (more than $5 billion) that it took on as a result of (over) leveraged buy-out by PE firms KKR, Bain Capital, and Vornado Realty Trust certainly didn’t help. Toys ‘R US Chairman Dave Brandon said that today the company can operate free from financial constraints with the debt restructured under Chapter 11 and stores are supposed to stay open for the Christmas season where Toys ‘R Us earned 40% of its U.S. sales last year. He went on to say that this should also buy them time to invest in the business by improving the Customer experience (both in store and online). Part of that apparently will include closing underperforming stores whilst remaining locations

Yes, yes indeed. @cj_wentz @Eagles https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2017/9/13/16300588/nelson-agholor-carson-wentz-eagles-fucking-savage-air-yards-bitch-philadelphia-touchdown-micd-up

How many of us are looking at this dedicated space that Kohl’s is allowing Amazon in their stores to be a Trojan Horse? Orrrr is it at Kohl’s chief merchandising and customer officer said an against the grain tactic to provide a best-in-class ominichannel experience? Spoiler alert see how well Amazon “helped” other retailers like Borders and Toys ‘R Us to be innovative. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-06/kohl-s-teams-up-with-amazon-in-bid-to-drive-traffic-to-stores https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/kohls-partners-with-amazon-to-sell-echo-devices-and-smart-home-items.html

https://www.recode.net/2017/9/11/16284754/amazon-nordstrom-fashion-scott-galloway-prime-squared-recode-decode-podcast-kara-swisher

In a seemingly paradoxical move Walmart signs a partnership with a third-party group, San Diego-based Acenda, to help it optimize its portfolio offerings across e-commerce marketplaces with the end goal of getting the right product in front of the right consumer at the right moment (i.e.: intent to purchase) on the Path to Purchase. The move is paradoxical because Acenda already partners with Walmart main rivals Amazon, Google and eBay. (https://p2pi.org/article/walmart-teams-acenda-improve-third-party-listings?eid=362039299&bid=1862676). In doing some brief research (https://mixergy.com/interviews/gavin-mandelbaum-acenda/) I learned a little bit of the history behind the founder of Acenda but also what it is, exactly, that Acenda does. It’s actually a marketplace integrator. So it enables individuals to establish a presence on different e-Commerce marketplaces. The curious part is that Acenda can actually see all of the revenues that are passing through each of the marketplaces. A

US Soccer is just now realizing why it fired Bruce Arena the first time around. https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2018-world-cup-qualifying/2017/9/6/16258694/usa-usmnt-honduras-what-we-learned-world-cup-qualifying-concacaf

Facebook opened its first volley in the Content Wars (see: Apple vs Amazon vs Netflix vs AT&T/TimeWarner vs Comcast vs Disney vs FOX vs Verizon/Oath). Okay, it wasn’t THAT big of a shot in its bid to broadcast the Indian Premier League (Indian cricket matches) which it lost out to Rupert Murdoch’s Star. What’s interesting to note is that Facebook was looking at live content. Live content, the rule-of-thumb goes, is highly unskippable. Meaning that Consumers will watch the ads for fear of missing something that occurs. Additionally, the content is something that is preferred to be watched in that moment (no one likes to really see a replay of a game or have to avoid ESPN so as not to see the score of a game that they recorded). It also can be cheaper than building content for sitcoms or movies. Could their bid have been a primer for moving in on NFL broadcast rights that come up next year when Verizon’s mobile rights expire?

Macy's and Best Buy have leapt into the same-day delivery service but is it too little too late? First take into account the business rationale. They’re doing it to be competitive with Amazon. But their models are distinct and don’t lend themselves to following that trend. Even in their hey-day brick & mortar stores were showrooms. Start from the front apron in. The windows with their seasonal displays from wardrobes to toys to the latest household gadgets to when a Customer begins to walk the actual store with mannequins highlighting the current fashion trends and how the Customer could look in those new threads. The end destination of all those wares was the store and to make it all look marvelous. Whereas the end purpose of Amazon was built on a delivery system wherein the final destination was the Customer’s home. For Macy’s and Best Buy to really be competitive it’s less about pitching around the edges and moreso about taking a close look at their sacred cows (i.e.: