durosas

Back in the day Amazon used to sell books but it also had a strategic approach to broaden it's portfolio. That was to establish a seemingly non-hostile relationship with brick & mortar retailers like Toys 'R Us (see bankruptcy), Borders Books..etc. The goal? To get in front of the customer interaction. Amazon sold itself as an expert in the digital space and allowed for cost efficiencies (i.e: not having to build out a web-site or deal with the head-ache of how to fulfill product or the logistics on from where) from the brick and mortar company to focus on what it did best (selling in a physical store) while letting Amazon manage it's digital footprint which was a low volume mix relative to the traffic that was walking into the brick & mortar stores on a daily basis. But, as we all know now, by insinuating itself in the path to purchase and putting its brand in-between the customer and the brick & mortar brand Amazon was able to create a wedge that has grown...

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...

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.: ...

Is the Google + Wal-Mart alliance just window dressing in the eCommerce War? Yes, Wal-Mart gets access to a technology its biggest rival, Amazon, already has in the Echo (see voice ordering) and in return Google gets access to all the purchase history consumers make using the service. But will it be enough to leap-frog Wal-Mart ahead of Amazon? Also, does Google get to serve up ads, content and offers to consumers based on that purchase history even if the offers are for similar products outside of Wal-Mart? With Amazon effectively becoming a commerce search engine unto itself can an alliance beat out an integrated approach? Probably not. Amazon is the main river that all of its tributary businesses flow into so it has a common current (or purpose) whereas Google and Wal-Mart do not. Also, at what point does Google realize that to compete with Amazon not only in e-commerce but also in the cloud AND search it actually needs to be the direct contact point for transactions and breakoff f...

Right about now Tim Cook is probably wishing Steve Jobs hadn’t sold Pixar to Disney. Think of the arsenal of content and iconic characters not to mention the head start it would now have versus its tech peers (i.e.: Amazon and Netflix). Instead Apple is playing catch-up in an ever escalating content arms race. The first salvo Apple fired was back in June with the hiring of two former Sony execs to start up video programming positions that didn’t exist before at Apple. And now, after Netflix upped the ante by signing hit maker Shonda Rhimes, Apple has reportedly set aside $1 billion to invest in the creation of original content. BOOM? No, not really. Because that was the same amount that Amazon invested 4 years ago when it started up its original content machine and a pittance compared to what both Netflix and Amazon are projected to invest on programming this year ($6 billion and $4.5 billion respectively). BUT, Apple has a built-in advantage that neither Netflix nor Amazon can ...

After Netflix was skewered by Disney’s announcement that it will remove its content from Netflix Barron’s announced that Netflix stock was vulnerable because it essentially was the Moneyball of content (i.e.: it took former homerun hits and recycled them to manufacture everyday hits by becoming a default syndicator). But now, following the Moneyball analogy, Netflix has responded by dropping Neymar sized money (for those that don’t follow football Paris St. Germain paid a record $500 million transfer fee to rip Neymar away from FCBarcelona) stealing a top talent from Disney in Shonda Rhimes to be their new Designated Hitter. Sounds good, right? Netflix gets a proven winner to help them build amazing content and shrug off the defection of Disney. Not so fast. Like fashion content creation can be fickle (just as Mickey Drexler) and what is trending and hot today can be passé tomorrow (or in internet speed the next few seconds before you finish reading this post). And after shelling out a...

In the ever-evolving content vs. pipes vs. tech battle Disney has fired a shot heard ‘round the world by announcing that it will pull all of its content from Netflix. On one side I think, it’s about time! Disney obviously has finally seen the light that Netflix is stealing a page from Amazon’s early playbook by establishing a direct link to the end user by inserting itself between the seller and the buyer. The seller in the Amazon scenario were companies like Toys "R" Us, Borders Books and Target (to name a few) turned over management of their eCommerce platforms to Amazon. But not only did they turn it over management but the actual Consumer experience was Amazon! So Amazon, by default, was who consumers felt they were actually shopping from and we all know how that ended for Borders and many other brick & mortar stores. So rather than letting Netflix Amazon them Disney decides to launch a rival streaming service (kinda late to the game if you ask me. CBS launched one ba...

In the Digital War Target has been lacking in headlines relative to its peers (i.e.: Amazon and Walmart). But recently Target's CEO, Brian Cornell, had an interview (see it here: https://youtu.be/dPBZ-Xrdb7Y) to discuss his strategic approach. Part of that approach includes pulling back on moon-shot initiatives and focusing on the core. This includes things like; opening smaller footprint stores in urban centers, store remodeling and fulfillment. Cornell commented that Target had brought in entrepreneurs that they provided seed money to but he felt that they were “drifting out to another universe” and that he wanted to see shorter lead-times in the payoff to the investment. He also wanted to refocus the investments on the core business with the consumer in mind first. Is this new approach to innovation more like pitching around the edges? Should Target have had (and should have) a long-term strategic approach that would have enabled the entrepreneurs they brought in to be...

Both Coke and Pepsi made comments recently reflecting how their businesses are being negatively impacted as more consumer no longer visit malls driving down purchase incidences (think less people buying in food courts and vending machines). It also seems that CPG, which has long relied on the 3-tier process of getting their goods into the hands of consumers, have just watched the behemoth of Amazon mow down brick & mortar chain one after the other with little regard that is until that same behemoth bought Whole Foods. If anything it should be a wakeup call for CPG marketers to begin racing (not walking) to devise new ways for their products to get in front of and be purchased by their target consumers (see Millennials). But to do so as the below article calls out requires a change in their go-to-market strategies. CPGers that rely on warehouse models may be less affected because one would think they can shift the use of those warehouses to go from stores to homes (can Uber p...

In the ever evolving battleground known as the Omnichannel Wars Amazon has dropped what could be the equivalent of an atom bomb in it's agreement to purchase Whole Foods. One article from Chain Store Age (http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/amazon-buying-whole-foods-market?tp=i-H43-Q5S-3mq-5klKX-1u-14Qs-1c-5kr1Q-PxptV&utm_campaign=BreakNew&utm_source=Experian&utm_medium=email&cid=14560&mid=85026709) summed it up nicely stating; Jeff Bezos is a master of PR," said Kelly Sayre, analyst, retail/CPG, IHL Group. "He is brilliant at timing announcements for coopting the news cycle. The drone story and Amazon Go stories of the last two years just happened to coincide with Black Friday weekend. It is not lost on us as analysts that this announcement just happens to coincide with the day(s) that Lidl opened its first stores in the U.S., and Walmart bought Bonobos (http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/walmart-acquire-bonobos?tp=i-H43-Q5S-3ms-5kyiv-1u-14Qs-1c-5...