TheNowMall: The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®

The White Paper On The Future Of Retail Stores

2012-02-06T06:44:00.007-05:00

Consumers Are Now Moving More Rapidly From Stores To Clicks – The Exodus Has Begun

Maybe We Can Solve This Problem With A Lesson From The Home Depot’s Evolution.

Here’s the Newest Retailer Problem which we have been predicting since 2007 – as well as a Solid Solution based on The Home Depot’s earlier startling effect on retail.

Amazon’s 2011 annual sales growth just increased by an amazing 40.5% ($14 billion) see chart one as more and more consumers abandoned retail stores and chose e-commerce due to Amazon’s convenience, better prices and much wider choice. And, Amazon more than doubled their anticipated Q4 profits due to this turnaround in shopping habits.

In contrast, overall retail growth in 2011 was barely 3%.

If Amazon’s growth had been only 3% like most other retailers, their sales growth would have been just $1 billion versus their actual $14 billion.

So, Amazon took $13 billion away from all other retail competitors. Just about the same as Walmart took – but Walmart’s growth is currently “only” an average of 6% annually !

TOGETHER, Amazon’s and Walmart’s sales growth totaled $42 billion in 2011 – $28 billion siphoned away from other retailers, putting many into significant losses because they couldn’t match the convenience, better prices and much wider choice of Amazon and Walmart.

Amazon’s & Walmart’s very simple Success Formula: More Convenience, Better Prices & Much Wider Choice. Time proven, but tough to match.

“So What, We Hear This All The Time”

Yes, but it is much worse today than yesterday as Amazon is sea-changing the current retail status quo and nobody is doing anything effective to reverse this sea-change.

Until the Problem is fully understood, the Solution will never be understood, nor the need for it.

CASE STUDY: THE HOME DEPOT

It’s the same as when The Home Depot first started in 1978 and upset the then status quo with a sea-change of convenience, better prices & wider choice. The entire home improvement industry immediately went into rejection and denial.

A new business method had come to town and ALL of The Home Depot’s local competitors (every single one of them – no exceptions) ridiculed it instead of embracing it simply because it radically changed the status quo that they understood and were comfortable with.

So they didn’t even try to compete with it and The Home Depot ultimately stole the show unchallenged and they remain in that dominant position today, 35 years later.

Their competitors were big, long-standing companies with smart people – but not original thinkers. They all vanished – other than Lowes, who took a while to catch on to the sea-change in consumer preferences.

BELLWETHER TSUNAMI WARNING: 2012 looks even worse for retailers than 2011 as consumers are leaving stores in droves as was forecasted years ago and is now proven by Amazon’s astounding growth, very similar to what happened with The Home Depot 35 years ago.

This is now well documented and deadly serious stuff. But most major retailers are in denial of the serious effects of this tsunami on their local stores.

It’s already hitting most local area stores near yours – many are collapsing under the pressure but are blaming the economy instead of the consumer’s changing shopping preferences.

Something bold and decisive is needed quickly to get these consumers back into your stores and away from the tsunami beach head.

Ignore the following at your peril as early competitors of The Home Depot did years ago.

There is a new retail business method capable of deflecting Amazon’s tsunami – it can help retailers who accept the seriousness of Amazon’s challenge and who realize the comfortable status quo of retail shopping has changed forever.

A limited few retailers are beginning to realize that adopting new and more powerful common sense game-changing strategies is needed to reposition their current business method against this newest sea-change.

Unfortunately, most others are downplaying the sea-change and criticizing these new strategies. They are hoping it is all just a bad dream (as The Home Depot’s original competitors all did) until it’s too late. Unfortunately, this gives Amazon an unchallenged playing field (same as The Home Depot had).

“Our Stores Are Doing Just Fine – And We’re Real Happy With Our E-Commerce Growth”

CASE STUDY: BEST BUY

You know how much business you gained in 2011, but do you know how much you lost ? Maybe this case study will help.

CHART TWO: See the stats below for what this “tsunami” just did to the world’s largest and best electronics retailer: Best Buy.

Look at their e-commerce sales compared to the Amazon tsunami. AND BEST BUY IS ONE OF THE TOP 10 IN E-COMMERCE – they are a huge well-run company similar to yours.

Best Buy’s e-commerce sales are reportedly 5% of total sales and reportedly growing at 20% annually, but according to their 5 year trend line, even with 20% e-commerce growth, they are now losing a whopping 9% growth annually.

And this loss rate will increase if they don’t quickly find the right new game-changing business method to offset this newest tsunami.

Best Buy has historically been a reliable growth company under strong management. Look at their record. They’ve done all the conventional right things, including their website.

However, their recent efforts have been to no significant avail. Clearly they share The Home Depot competitor’s scenario – stuck in 3^rd gear, and being swept away.

But they are still “on the beach” in the Tsunami Hazard Zone getting progressively hammered as are the other major retailers.

Now Best Buy needs something very new and much more powerful than even their website just to stay relevant.

They need to go to newer, much higher ground.

This higher ground will not be found in conventional marketing programs, mobile apps, cost reductions, new store fronts, or a great new product, or even a few dozen new products as The Home Depot’s competitors all tried to do, in vain.

A huge “game-changing” new business method is needed to offset the size and power of the Amazon tsunami – and it is needed RIGHT NOW.

But many executives are overwhelmed due to the size and scope of the strategies needed to compete with Amazon & Walmart, so, too often, they disregard the size of the problem and go back to updating store inventory and displays.

This is an entirely new game – like The Home Depot – with new rules and new unconventional players – it’s now adapt or die for most retailers.

This tsunami threat is the same for your stores and it is here now and growing exponentially every day.

You can be assured your growth has been altered in a very similar manner even if you can’t see it (or are ignoring it, hoping the future economy will improve things).

Does chart two (below) look anything like your current profile ?

”I still don’t think the tsunami will do major damage to my unique stores”. – OK, let’s look at chart three.

CHART THREE: So you say Best Buy’s problem is unique to Best Buy.

Well, because of their size, they are taking the biggest hit of all others so everyone notices it, but Best Buy’s problem is pervasive in the retail industry.

Best Buy “only” lost $1 billion in new sales growth in 2011 with more to lose in 2012. Where did Amazon’s other $13 billion come from, assuming Walmart didn’t also join in for the kill ?

Let’s look at 12 TOP companies in 4 major retail industries.

CASE STUDY: THE OFFICE SUPPLY INDUSTRY

First, Office Products (chart 3 below) is an old reliable retail growth industry, comprising mainly Staples, Office Depot and OfficeMax – ALL of them recently hit by the tsunami.

Not too long ago, these were all top, “cream-of-the-crop” companies under great management – what happened ?

Look carefully at Year 2007 – the year BEFORE the recession began in 2008. See anything strange ?

YES – In just a few years, Amazon caught up to and passed Office Depot and OfficeMax, then they both stalled – same as just happened to Best Buy in 2011 (chart 2) – coincidence ?

NO WAY – look at Staples in 2010; exactly the same thing – Amazon passed them and Staples stalled. Four in a row – no coincidence.

Office Depot and OfficeMax are now on the edge of extinction, and both are still in absolute denial – see chart 7 (same as The Home Depot’s long gone competitors).

The tsunami hit them hard, washing away their customers and sales, and they still can’t see it or don’t believe it.

Let’s see if any of this holds true in the Books & Electronics industries.

Well how about that ! The same thing happened in the Books & Electronics industries as shown in chart four below.

CASE STUDY: BOOKS & ELECTRONICS

CHART FOUR: In 2004, BEFORE the recession began, Amazon passed BOTH Borders & Barnes & Noble in sales and then they both stalled – Borders subsequently died in 2011 after a long and painful struggle.

Then Circuit City was passed by Amazon in 2007 BEFORE the recession began, and they died in 2009 (or should we say drowned in 2009).

Could Circuit City have survived against Best Buy ?

Probably, given a conventional playing field. After all, Best Buy also subsequently stalled when Amazon passed them also sweeping away their sales growth.

Here we go again – same thing:

CASE STUDY: THE RETAIL INDUSTRY

CHART FIVE: Retail Industry – Once again, Amazon creeps up and all six of these major retailers stalled (or died). Mass Denial – Same as with The Home Depot’s competitors.

Look at Amazon’s website. Today they sell everything: shoes, shirts, tools, cameras, sunglasses, and diamond rings, everything – not just books, electronics and office supplies.

Not too long ago, retailers were betting consumers wouldn’t buy these things online – well ??

And if you are counting on unique brands, fashions, styles, etc. – look again, Amazon is coming right after you with their TWO million Third Party Sellers.

Please look at year 2011 carefully. Check our numbers yourself. These companies are being devastated, starting in 2007, BEFORE the recession began.

And they are all oblivious as to the real reason because it snuck up on them in plain sight (same as The Home Depot did 35 years ago, devastating their competitors who complacently stood by and watched).

IT IS TIME TO GET OFF THE BEACHES AND CLIMB TO HIGHER GROUND WHILE YOU STILL HAVE THE POWER TO DO SO.

Unfortunately, many will ignore this warning and all the signs and signals just like all The Home Depot’s competitors did, until it is too late. And, for many, it is already too late – they no longer have enough staying power (customers & profits) because Amazon has already swept them away when they weren’t looking. Their Brand Names are becoming irrelevant: “I haven’t been in a Best Buy store in 8 years, Amazon has everything I need at less cost and it’s more convenient.” (recent consumer comment)

”I Agree Amazon Is A Rising Problem, But I’m Still Not Convinced They Will Be A Major Threat” – Let’s look at chart 6.

CASE STUDY: PAST & FUTURE RETAIL & E-COMMERCE

CHART SIX: Notice how the retail economy still grew in 2008 and didn’t slip until 2009, leveling out in 2010 and growing again in 2011 – so why did most of the above companies stall in 2007 BEFORE the recession began ?

Simple Mathematics: If the retail economy is growing at 3% average annually, and retail e-commerce is growing at 17% average annually (and rising) then it is e-commerce (convenience, price & choice) that is causing your in-store sales to decline from what they should have been, not the economy. And this growth decline will increase as e-commerce growth is further compounded. Again, Simple Mathematics.

When do the in-store and e-commerce growth curves cross each other ? 2020. After that, store closings will be rampant with huge numbers of job losses unless something is done RIGHT NOW.

Please notice how local store sales growth is gradually slowing between 2011 and 2020 as a percent of TOTAL retail as more and more retailers announce “downsizings”.

Then add Walmart’s Price, Choice & New Convenience (Next-Day delivery) and it’s game over for many stores much sooner than 2020.

The tsunami just drowned them.

“Nonsense – we’re doing just fine – lots of good things are in the works.”

Actually, we’re simply pointing out the newest statistics of the rapidly changing e-commerce retail world. Let’s see if chart 7 sheds any additional light.

CASE STUDY: THE TOP 50 PUBLIC RETAIL COMPANIES

CHART SEVEN: You may ask: “What’s all this red about ? Why so many ? Sure there is always a few under water – but not half (or more).”

Not too long ago these were ALL super performing companies or they wouldn’t be on this list. (Like The Home Depot’s myriad original competitors that denied the NEW reality and are now gone.)

The first step to solving any problem is to acknowledge it, then to clearly understand it.

No it’s not caused entirely by the economy. And no, it’s not entirely e-commerce versus in-store either. So what is the Problem ?

The answer is blatantly clear & simple: Consumer Preferences Are Rapidly Changing As Technology Advances. Ask the industry leaders: Amazon, Walmart & Google.

Consumers Want More Convenience. Better Pricing. Wider Choices. NOW !

Give them this (as The Home Depot did) and this will stop the Tsunami dead in its tracks – Because This Created The Tsunami In The First Place.

“Wait, Wait, Wait – Not So Fast – We Simply Can’t Do All This.”

Well, actually YES you can do all this – easily, inexpensively and with even greater profits.

CASE STUDY: THE INDUSTRY SOLUTION (CHARTS 8 & 9)

CHART EIGHT: Certainly this is not something any one retailer can achieve alone – you need a well coordinated, knowledgeable and very diverse team. (A Consortium.)

Retailers like Best Buy have done all the conventional stuff and much more – but against the e-commerce tsunami, it’s been to no avail so they are buying back shares and retrenching (going smaller, less relevant) – instead of looking for a new game-changing common sense business method as The Home Depot did (and as Amazon did – and so did Walmart when they added groceries). Standing alone on the beach watching this thing roll over you is, well . . . . . !

“I’ve Heard All The Doomsday Sayers Before – I Think The Whole Solution Is Impossible and Blown Out Of Proportion”

Look, Amazon just announced its huge sales growth explosion and caught everyone off guard – so it will be much tougher tomorrow than yesterday – no doubt about it. After all, consumers now love and depend on Amazon because they are reliable and they protect the consumer with positive AND NEGATIVE product reviews to guard and enhance consumer experience. Plus today’s consumer can get everything online (other than most time-sensitive perishables) at great prices, which is why Amazon is expanding so phenomenally. More Convenience, better prices and far more choice than you now offer – so the tsunami continues to roll over you.

BUT, when you really study the myriad components of The Network Consortium (below), including the massive geography, you will see that store by store and area by area, there is a simple symbiotic relationship significantly benefitting all participants that is absolutely designed to offset Amazon & Walmart in every way that most of you have never investigated because we have never heard from you, thus leaving you stranded on the beach. Yes, we know this is a huge statement but we have 30 years direct experience allowing us this unique perspective.

The common sense simplicity is that our SuperCyberCenter with ROOF Network Consortium is the solution retailers need to defend against the Amazon tsunami. The Network Consortium comprises local neighborhood retailers including grocers, restaurants and pharmacies, thus giving the consumer more convenience, far more choice and better pricing as well as building on the community aspect. But this is a radically new retail business method for local shopping and delivery, something retailers may find perplexing – but it is a true game-changer that is necessary to turn the tide of this new tsunami – Amazon (and Walmart).

Ignore this at your peril.

For retailers to benefit from The Network Consortium, it does require an open mind and a few exceptional and innovative executives (that will be well rewarded). Here’s how it works:

The online SuperCyberCenter has Anchor stores with in-line smaller tenants in a group
setting – a simple structure used effectively for years by every major regional mall owner. (And Amazon & Walmart.)

This online SuperCyberCenter is enhanced by Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF): 1-Hour in-store shopping and delivery is the drawing card (the more convenient part) BUT THE MOST DIFFICULT PART .

With a diversity of dissimilar local neighborhood retailers participating as Third Party Sellers in the SuperCyberCenter – much wider choice is easily achieved, which no single retailer alone could match (including Amazon & Walmart) because, for the first time, we include retailers selling time-sensitive perishable items like milk, ice cream, cheeseburgers and fries.

But the tricky part is also offering better prices with higher profits & margins – therefore the solution is multi-part.

· As each retailer promotes their own stores in the SuperCyberCenter Network Consortium, cross-marketing reduces all participants’ marketing costs substantially (same as in a regional mall)

· As this generates all new incremental business – sales and profits are higher (same as in a regional mall)

· Retailers can use some of these added profits to lower consumer service costs (same as in a regional mall)

· Anchor retailers pay less and get more (same as in a regional mall) assuming their competitors didn’t get there first.

· Your competition (Amazon & Walmart) now have a much higher threshold to achieve thus protecting your sales and profits.

This results in a very new business method, very bold and very decisive: certainly powerful enough that the tsunami can’t reach the Network’s higher ground – and it’s been fully tried and proven over time and at enormous expense.

Together we can overcome the looming threat of the tsunami with Bold & Decisive Action; assuming you still have a viable business left.

Chart 8 Look at what can be done if a few original thinkers take up the Amazon challenge. (Amazon’s growth rate returns to normal – yours continues at an improved rate – leaving a level playing field.)

To sum up Amazon’s disconcerting news – Retailers Must Advance In Strength or Die. The choice is yours. Denial is simply not an option for you or your industry. (Remember The Home Depot’s original competitors – all gone !)

CHART NINE: Yes, there is a strong ongoing place for e-commerce – it’s certainly here to stay. But let’s level the playing field !

To do so, we offer the National SuperCyberCenter with ROOF Network Consortium requiring national retailer participation; starting with just a few visionaries who acknowledge their problem with the tsunami (Amazon and Walmart).

Then, as an early adopter Anchor or Charter Member in The Network Consortium, there are myriad other benefits you gain directly and indirectly.

Frankly, under these new circumstances, it should be an easy decision for most retailers TO AT LEAST CALL US to review their options.

Here’s How You Save Your Stores And Possibly Your Career.

Assuming you are past the normal excitement of watching the big wave roll in, and/or the denial that there even is a wave;

And assuming your brand name still has any consumer power left, which many no longer have;

Then there is virtually no cost to have one of your appropriate EVPs (or higher) call us – you owe at least this much to yourself and your shareholders.

AND if any of this makes any sense to you, and if by any chance you see your company threatened by the tsunami, please see our one-time incentive to join us below.

Overview: The Retail New Business Method.

CONVENIENCE was, and always will be, the number one consumer driver. With COST a close second and CHOICE their final deciding factor. Consumers simply don’t care about your profitability or store traffic counts, that’s your problem. But holding back on delivering faster, better, less expensive services to your customers because you don’t want to do something new or different is totally unwise. (The Home Depot competitor syndrome.)

Let’s look carefully at how you can deliver the future to your customers AND GET GREATER SALES, PROFITS & IN-STORE TRAFFIC COUNTS – ALL TESTED & PROVEN.

1. CONSUMER CONVENIENCE: Rapid Delivery in 30 to 60 minutes from your local stores with us doing the entire order processing including assembly and payment before we leave your store; you will probably concede every single customer you have would prefer this over FedEx or UPS delivery in 3 to 10 days and we can do this cheaper, faster and more efficiently than FedEx and UPS given our 30 years experience (see The Network below). Both FedEx and UPS are currently trying to come up with Same-Day service which only 33% of consumers want (see chart above). How about In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery in 1-Hour ? Net Result: Happy and loyal new customers.

2. CONSUMER PRICE: These are all INCREMENTAL SALES so you are much further ahead to start BUT add to this your HUGE Local Third Party Seller profits via our SuperCyberCenter “SCC” Network (see “The Network Consortium” below) and you are light years ahead in profits no matter what you offer your local customers in pricing incentives AGAINST Walmart & Amazon. Using your Third Party Seller profits, you can become more competitive in your core products and still make MORE profit than you are now. Net Result: Very happy and loyal new customers (and shareholders).

3. CONSUMER CHOICE: Let’s say you are in the electronics business as is Amazon. Now add a neighboring Third Party Seller store in the dissimilar “shoe” business to your SuperCyberCenter “SCC”, similar to Amazon’s online Marketplace. The resulting cross-marketing on your SCC produces new sales for your store exactly the same as major Regional Malls bring local shoe purchasers into your electronics stores. It’s effective, economical & powerful. AND it’s probably why your stores are already in malls, shopping centers or high traffic areas. Now add a few more dissimilar high attraction retailers such as restaurants & pharmacies & grocers to your SCC and your local store sales will rise proportionately. Amazon is doing it successfully. Walmart is doing it successfully. And every Regional Mall in the world is doing it successfully. How about you ? Net Result: Extremely happy and loyal new customers (and ecstatic shareholders).

4. IN-STORE TRAFFIC: Traffic is important both online and in-store. But in-store traffic is critical and, as we all know, it’s moving online. Add cross-marketing with dissimilar high attraction Third Party Seller local stores to your SCC and both your in-store traffic and online traffic will increase proportionately. Then add “in-store incentives” to your SCC and you have the best of all worlds. Common Sense. Amazon & Walmart have been gaining more traffic this way for years with dissimilar high traffic Third Party Sellers and online in-store promotions.

5. RETAIL PROFITS: Trying to stay competitive with Amazon and Walmart simply saps your bottom line unless you can increase your sales proportionately; but against Amazon & Walmart – tough to do. OK look around, what else do you have to create new profits ? Look up. Is the Brand Name above your stores powerful ? If so, use it together with your 30 to 60 minute In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery of products from your stores to bring on board your dissimilar high attraction Third Party Seller neighboring stores whose customers also want In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery. The value of your Brand name will sky-rocket and so will your bottom line.

6. Killer App: Great customer service is important to all retail executives. If 20% to 30% of all your store customers went away unhappy and returned their purchases, you would go insane. But you are OK with this when FedEx and UPS do exactly that EVERY DAY to your e-commerce distribution centers. How about cutting that down to 2% to 3% by getting the right things to the customer from your stores so fast & friendly they can’t change their minds – as a supplemental service to in-store pickup. Now you have control of the order every step of the way.

7. In-Store Smartphones: It is shocking how many people regularly shop with their smartphone front & center. They check your product and price and then (if it’s cheaper) order it from Amazon BEFORE THEY LEAVE YOUR STORE and there is nothing you can do to stop this. But you can turn it to your advantage: Put in-store signs (the bigger the better) that invite shoppers to check your online price and 1-Hour delivery timing against Amazon’s online price – give them your SuperCyberCenter (SCC) web address so they can see your ONLINE price with our one hour shopping & delivery against Amazon’s 3 to 10 day delivery.

Yes, your SCC online price can be less than Amazon and less than your in-store price AND MORE PROFITABLE DOING IT because you will use your Third Party Seller Profits (as Amazon does) to offset your lower online prices AND your 1-Hour delivery is more customer-friendly than Amazon’s unfriendly 3 to 10 days. Now your customer’s choice is: (1) Amazon Online unfriendly & more expensive (2) You Online friendly and less expensive, or (3) take it home from your store at a slightly higher in-store price and you are local, Amazon isn’t. Many will simply buy in-store and take it home with them – even more convenient. Choices galore from previously limited choices. And remember THREE things: (1) online orders are historically larger and more profitable than in-store orders; (2) be thankful you have that customer at home instead of at Amazon (or Walmart); and (3) your local stores are now absolutely relevant to your future success, rather than a drag on profits. Naysayers – beware of the rapidly growing tsunami.

HERE’S YOUR BONUS: Shareholders and investors want a stronger company with higher profits. Join us. Result: Higher Market Cap.

To achieve all the above, simply give your customers what they have always wanted. More Convenience, Better Prices, Wider Choices as provided by The Network Consortium (see below).

Added Bonus: We sponsor FREE Delivery.

The SuperCyberCenter Network Consortium with Rapid 1-Hour In-Store Shopping + Delivery is all in one package. And it’s 100% turnkey; you and your staff do nothing new or extra (see below).

SUMMATION: We know many of you are really struggling with all this (our communications get an amazing 40% readership – for which we sincerely thank you). Your industry is in yet another massive change, and change is tough to swallow, but you know you must change and adapt or die. Not a great alternative.

Secondly, you may have questions about who we are, etc, etc. As the founders, we have invested 30 years and $ millions in R&D and myriad field trials in many cities, personally investing everything we owned (and more) as most entrepreneurs do – simply because we knew from our unique perspective what consumers want and where all this had to eventually end up. Convenience (1-Hour versus 3 to 10 days) Lower Price (Third Party Seller Participation as Amazon does) and MUCH Wider Choice (all your local neighboring stores with whom you already cooperate as a community, including those selling time-sensitive perishables). Just as Walmart and Amazon have been doing at your expense for years.

We know you know this is simple common sense, and yet perhaps it still seems like very foreign stuff. And many of you have outright told us you would prefer to stick to your product line and not add other things like (horrors) milk and cheeseburgers. Yes, in simpler days, that is what we were all taught, “stick to your knitting”, then along came the tsunami (Amazon and Walmart). Times have changed forever and so has the retail status quo, but with a SuperCyberCenter Network Consortium with Rapid Online Order Fulfillment, you still only concentrate on what you do best – we do all the other stuff in a symbiotic relationship same as we did so successfully with McDonald’s (see chart at the end).

This is an industry-wide problem, yet to our surprise it is also an industry-wide response same as happened with The Home Depot years ago: resistance and denial to the solution, yet more than half of major retailers are already in serious trouble.

SOLUTION: We need you and you need us ….Now! Firstly join us in Buffalo, NY for your initial benchmarking (sticking your toe in the water); then when you find the water is actually rather nice, join us in Pittsburgh, PA (walk around the wading pool); then when you are really comfortable, join us in Atlanta, GA (swim across the pool – in the shallow end) then when all this is comfortable and paying off – go National with us as a Consortium, thus outmaneuvering the tsunami.

Those who join us now when we ALSO need you will receive initial and long term Charter Member privileges – not to mention at virtually no risk while potentially saving your company. Here’s what you get.

THE NETWORK CONSORTIUM:

this Decade’s TWO Biggest Retail Innovations – for “Space Age” Customer Convenience, Price & Choice:

1. SuperCyberCenter^© (SCC): a HYBRID online “Marketplace” with Third Party Sellers similar to Amazon, eBay and Walmart but much more powerful:

A ‘Hybrid’ because we add a patented upgrade – we include “LOCAL” physical stores; restaurants; pharmacies, grocers & retailers with unique fashion and/or time-sensitive commodities as Third Party Sellers. Not available on Amazon (or anywhere else). Take The Leadership Position In Your Industry.

This is an astoundingly lucrative new Third Party Seller profit source enabling you to dramatically increase your in-store sales from LOCAL cross-marketing

· In-Line Retail Participants – no cost to join

· Anchor Retail Participants – no cost to join – lower operating costs

· Charter Retail Participant – SCC is branded in your name – you are front and center everywhere – you earn powerful EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” new profits on all Third Party Seller Store ROOF sales. Limited Charter positions are available in any area.

These locally-focused Neighborhood initiatives are a strategy that Amazon, without local stores, simply cannot EVER match. Our patents will cause Walmart to try the “back-door” into a unique Hybrid business they know nothing about.

2. ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^©): a HYBRID FedEx/UPS for your local stores AND your SCC Third Party Seller Stores. The Logical Customer Convenience Choice. People want things right NOW, not next day or next week ! Amazon, Walmart & Google are already bringing on smaller versions of this new powerful service against you (click their links to see how). Are you ready to compete effectively ?

A ‘Hybrid’ because we add our 100% Turnkey LOCAL In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery … both usually within 30 to 60 Minutes 24 / 7 / 365 using our proprietary and excellent Shared Workforce. No single retailer, no matter how large, can do this without local area Third Party Seller Stores co-operating in sharing a “much” larger driver pool to cover your volatile Peak & Valley periods; it takes an entire neighborhood in scope and our years of experience doing it (similar to Amazon’s 10 year lead online and Walmart’s 30 year lead in-store).

Another Consideration: Delivered prices of your products via ROOF can be the same or less than in-store prices and are more profitable than if delivered by UPS / FedEx since your store staff do not assemble, package or deliver ROOF orders PLUS we pay before we leave the store – ROOF is 100% turnkey. And you have control of the order every step of the way.

This enables you to earn substantial income from your increased in-store sales & profits reclaimed from Amazon & Walmart (and other local competitors) due to our Rapid Shopping & Delivery (30 to 60 minutes – 24 / 7 / 365) instead of same-day, next-day, or up to 10 day more expensive in-house fulfillment with FedEx/UPS delivery.

THEN ADD your new Charter Member EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” from all ROOF rapid fulfillment orders through your Third Party Seller stores. Again, nobody else can match this, it’s “The Last Mile Of The Internet^®” literally.

Hidden Windfall:

· You also save your current significant cost of the usual 20% to 30% returned online orders shipped by USPS, UPS or FedEx.

· Our online store-branded discount coupons redeemable in-store are FAR less expensive, easier to use and faster to update than regular online daily deal sites like Groupon, which you can add to or change at any time without someone else’s approval – a huge ADDITIONAL selling point for your Third Party Seller Stores.

· We sponsor Free Delivery (unlike FedEx and UPS).

BONUS:

There are 600± neighboring Third Party Seller Stores around each of your stores = cross-marketing and use of our shared rapid in-store shopping & delivery workforce which destroys Amazon’s, Google’s and Walmart’s basic online marketing tool of same-day, next-day to 10 day home delivery.

Getting Started Is As Simple As Plugging In A Toaster !

As the only major game-changing / industry-changing solution in sight, we enable you to significantly boost your sales, profits and share value with a proven HYBRID online LOCAL marketplace with EVERYTHING: Delivered In A Flash® 24 / 7 / 365 that nobody else can even closely match – including FedEx, UPS, Amazon, Walmart or your local competitors.

The Ultimate Shopping Convenience® Delivered In A Flash®

Email us at gnichols (at) thenowmall.com And remember, there is limited room for SCCs in any area. First movers will attract the best Third Party Sellers and the most customers.

We will demonstrate every step of the program including how we logically increase your Net After Tax profit by as much as 58% or more (see Gold Standard chart below) depending on the plan you choose.

Please email me to schedule a time when you have a few minutes to discuss this Bold and Decisive Strategy and we will give you your Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) service FREE for your first 3 months during any of our initial benchmarking cities (Buffalo, NY; Pittsburgh, PA then Atlanta, GA.)

Thank you,

Gail

Gail Nichols - Vice Chair

Email: gnichols (at) thenowmall.com

www.TheNowMall.com

When All Around You Fails – Sometimes Common Sense Is Hidden In Plain Sight

2012-01-16T13:13:00.000-05:00

Amazon has recently been called a lot of things, including The Death Star.

The retail world has changed forever but retailers haven’t yet changed enough to deal with “The Death Star”.

Most retail executives (including Walmart’s) have been blindsided by the spectacular rise and impenetrable marketing power of Amazon while they watched in shock, copying this, trying that, but still losing ground, putting their companies and their careers at high risk.

Chart 1 below shows a classic example of the effect of “The Death Star” in action against an otherwise great company, who has tried every conventional thing to compete – to no avail.

A Simple Common Sense Solution can reverse this tough situation, rendering Amazon’s quick rise into a disastrous fall with excessive and expensive distribution centers that will no longer be required. (Chart 2) Incredible But True when retailers see the obvious solution and start the journey back with a competitive advantage Amazon cannot match.

Let’s review what we already know, but maybe are overlooking: Amazon’s Achilles’ heel.

Follow along with us for a moment. Let’s explore an unconventional solution that you might never normally consider, but now, against “The Death Star”, it might all of a sudden make sense.

Nobody likes to wait – particularly in a retail line-up. Everyone knows this – it’s simple common sense.

Chart 3 below shows the results of the steadily compounding growth of e-commerce – which is absolutely predictable based on past and current government statics – but which nobody wants to believe. (We didn’t have the nerve to show the greatly reduced local retail store sales in 2030.)

Given total consumer retail spending growth is a constant long term average of 3%, then e-commerce sales (17% average growth) are inevitably growing at the expense of your local stores – making them irrelevant.

Given your local stores currently represent 90%± of your sales (and assets), and because you have sales both in-store and e-commerce, it is also probable that you have mixed emotions about this future outlook.

Chart 4 shows (in light blue) what online sales are readily available from your local stores at no extra cost. The red indicates sales that remain outside the local sales arena.

Consumers have clearly shown their constantly growing preference for e-commerce because of convenience, price & product choice. (see Chart 1) And that’s not going to stop.

But consumers don’t like to wait.

They prefer next day e-commerce deliveries (or sooner) to next-week deliveries (or later). Amazon, Walmart & Google all realize this and are quickly moving in the consumer’s preferred direction. Common Sense.

However, Amazon, being the true radical innovator in the crowd, is now offering Same-Day e-commerce delivery. Again, a lot of common sense. Unfortunately it’s from “The Retail Death Star”. Please notice their current position in Chart 6.

So how in the world do you get your business back from Amazon (and Walmart and Google) ?

Common Sense rules the day.

Would you wait 3 days to get something you want, when you can easily get it in 30 to 60 minutes at a lower cost? Of course not. Nobody would. Even Same-day is way too slow for today’s busy consumer. That is simple common sense. (see Chart 5) And don’t kid yourself, it doesn’t matter what it is , a TV set or a house or a cheeseburger – you still want it now, if you can get it now at the same price.

But, you might reply: it can’t be done; or, it will be too expensive; and anyway, it’s too complicated; and people don’t need it; and “Retail Is Different”; and, and, and. This is where common sense just left the room. 30 to 45 minute delivery has been with us most of our lives: pizza, Chinese food, etc – common practice, efficiently done for years (or it wouldn’t still be here).

Many others, like Webvan, Publix and McDonald’s, tried to offer rapid delivery but failed only because they had the wrong business model. Wrong vehicles, wrong drivers, wrong product, wrong technology, wrong delivery timing, etc, etc. But in many other countries like India and the UK, it’s common practice and has been done right for years, same as pizza delivery here.

Here’s where common sense becomes revolutionary.

A pizza is delivered to your home in 30 to 45 minutes, reasonably hot, and costs roughly $20/$30 including the pizza. Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s pizza is one of our founders. We took his 40 years experience in pizza and combined it with our 30 years in retail and groceries and simply put them together during several years of field trials, which are now completed.

Rapid (30 to 60 minutes) Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) is actually easy, low cost and highly efficient (more so than same-day or next-day or 3 to 10 days) when you know how, creating a new marketing, sales & distribution channel, thereby saving many retail stores and the jobs of roughly 7 million retail employees nationally. Truly A Revolutionary Event.

Here’s where a revolution becomes innovative.

Chart 4 shows (in light blue) the size, scope & effect of what can be the future of your retail stores – with simple retail common sense and a little imagination. Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) in the U.S. is a huge new channel. Challenging today’s e-commerce. Some will see it as scary, a dreamer’s dream, when in fact it is simple common sense. To an innovator it is taking on an exciting industry-changing program that in-turn will also transform companies who need revitalized sales & profits and who are battling the currently invincible Retail Death Star.

If your company is in Chart 6, particularly in the red section, common sense says you should seriously consider a new marketing shift to safer more productive waters as shown in Charts 2 & 4 and described in detail after Chart 6.

In the cold light of day, you have 3 choices, (1) ignore the obvious and do nothing; (2) wait until someone beats you to it and steals your market; or, (3) call us (or e-mail us) –and become your industry’s innovative leader very possibly saving your company and its employees.

Let’s innovate together starting right now! Or at least send this to those in your company who are aggressive and in a position to innovate.

Gail

The Importance Of Innovation In The Future Of Retailing

2012-01-12T17:47:00.003-05:00

Here is the 2011 chart of the stock market results for the Top 50 Publicly Traded Retailers – The “Winners” and 15 “Super Winners” are in black while the others are in red.

The interesting thing: This 5 year study clearly shows the Winners all keep winning, unaffected by strong competitors such as Walmart and Amazon or even the economy, while only a few retailers in the red are beginning to show the innovative tendencies necessary to transition into the black.

Certain retail Industries are in trouble as shown by one or more struggling companies, which indicates a lack of overall Innovation (creative change) needed to accommodate consumers’ rapidly evolving shopping preferences.

All of the companies with 50% or higher increase in share price performance are Radical Innovators, trying new products & services all the time – they are never happy with the status quo as many in the red appear to be.

To rise from the red, strongly into the black, retailers need to do something new and spectacular – a true ‘Game-Changer’ to realistically attract and keep the myriad new customers they need.

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” - Andrew Grove, co-founder of Intel Corporation.

Which retailers are ready to radically innovate for a substantial competitive advantage ? The size of this available new market is truly impressive. (See “US Retail & E-Commerce” Charts #1 and #2 following “Overview” text below)

Amazon, Walmart & Google are already bringing on smaller versions of their new powerful service (click their links to see how). Will national retailers be ready to compete effectively ? (See Overview item #2 below)

(Click Chart to Enlarge)

Overview of this Decade’s TWO Biggest Retail Innovations – for “Space Age” Customer Convenience:

1. SuperCyberCenter^© (SCC): a HYBRID online “Marketplace” with Third Party Sellers similar to Amazon, eBay and Walmart but much more powerful:

This is an astoundingly lucrative new Third Party Seller profit source enabling national retailers to dramatically increase their in-store sales from LOCAL cross-marketing and our powerful EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” program. This locally-focused Neighborhood initiative is a strategy that Amazon, without local stores, simply cannot EVER match. Our patents cause Walmart to try the “back-door” into a unique Hybrid business they know nothing about.

2. ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^©): a HYBRID FedEx/UPS for local stores AND SCC Third Party Stores. The Logical Customer Convenience Choice. People want things right NOW, not next day or next week ! Amazon, Walmart & Google are already bringing on smaller versions of this new powerful service (click their links to see how). Are national retailers ready to compete effectively ?

A ‘Hybrid’ because we add our 100% Turnkey LOCAL In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery … both usually within 30 to 60 Minutes 24 / 7 / 365 using our proprietary and excellent Shared Workforce. No single retailer, no matter how large, can do this without Third Party Seller Stores co-operating in sharing a “much” larger driver pool to cover volatile Peak & Valley periods; it takes an entire neighborhood in scope and our years of experience doing it (similar to Amazon’s 10 year lead online and Walmart’s 30 year lead in-store). Please see chart 3 “When Consumers Want Delivery” below for consumer preferences.

This enables retailers to earn substantial income from their increased in-store sales & profits reclaimed from Amazon & Walmart (and other local competitors) due to our Rapid Shopping & Delivery (30 to 60 minutes – 24 / 7 / 365) instead of same-day, next-day, or up to 10 day more expensive in-house fulfillment with FedEx/UPS delivery.

THEN ADD new EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” from all ROOF rapid fulfillment orders through their Third Party Seller stores. Again, nobody else can match this, it’s “The Last Mile Of The Internet^®” literally.

Another Consideration: Delivered prices of products via ROOF can be the same or less than in-store prices and are more profitable than if delivered by UPS / FedEx since store staff do not assemble, package or deliver ROOF orders PLUS we pay before we leave the store – ROOF is 100% turnkey. We also sponsor Free Delivery (unlike FedEx and UPS).

Hidden Windfall: You also save the current significant cost of the usual 20% to 30% returned online orders shipped by USPS, UPS or FedEx. Our online discount coupons redeemable in-store are FAR less expensive, easier to use and faster to update than regular online daily deal sites like Groupon, which retailers can add to or change at any time without some else’s approval – a huge ADDITIONAL selling point for their Third Party Stores.

BONUSES:

A. There are 600± neighboring Third Party Seller Stores around each of the national retailers’ stores = cross-marketing and use of our shared rapid in-store shopping & delivery workforce which destroys Amazon’s, Google’s and Walmart’s basic online marketing tool of same-day, next-day to 10 day home delivery.

B. As the only major game-changing / industry-changing solution in sight, we enable national retailers to significantly boost their share value with a proven HYBRID online LOCAL marketplace with EVERYTHING: Delivered In A Flash® 24 / 7 / 365 that nobody else can even closely match – including FedEx, UPS, Amazon, Walmart or their local competitors.

Google has just confirmed everything we’ve ever told you – the future of e-commerce is CONVENIENCE.

2011-12-05T11:10:00.001-05:00

Retailers who can deliver their products immediately with FREE Delivery will be the big winner – and Google intends to be that winner, taking all.

Good News: The Ultimate Shopping Convenience® Delivered In A Flash® The Last Mile Of The Internet® already exist – ready for retailers to use nationwide NOW. Proven and 100% turnkey.

Respectfully: Our 1-Hour service (usually 30 to 60 minutes) beats Google’s Same-Day program HANDS DOWN. Bonus: We sponsor FREE Delivery (which no other service provider does).

PLUS joining us today puts major retailers as the real market leader in their industry with local Third Party Seller Store SALES & PROFIT Royalties that Google is now trying to get.

As you probably now realize, the E-commerce market is heating up much more quickly than anyone expected – all because of Rapid Delivery to which we are the ONLY Experts.

National retailers need to join us today while their industry exclusive still exists. (see details below these 3 articles)

Articles:

Same-Day Shipping? Google Eyes Speedy Delivery System (click here)

Search giant Google is reportedly in talks with retailers and shippers about deploying a new system that would enable online shoppers to have same-day or next-day delivery for a low fee.

If successful, the speedy delivery system could pose a serious threat to Amazon.com the leading seller of online goods.

According to The Wall Street Journal, retailers, many of which feel threatened by Amazon’s prowess, have expressed an interest in signing onto Google’s project.

Google Targets Amazon's 'Prime' With 1-Day Delivery (click here)

Google Inc. is aiming to challenge the e-commerce supremacy of Amazon.com Inc. by diving deeper into the fast-growing world of Internet retailing.

The Web-search giant is in talks with major retailers and shippers about creating a service that would let consumers shop for goods online and receive their orders within a day for a low fee, said people familiar with the matter.

Why Wal-Mart needs its big boxes to win online (click here)

"Fast, faster, fastest," is the new policy.

Same day shipping is the Mecca of online commerce

Wal-Mart is preparing for the end of the Big Box era.

Shipping also integrates online and stores more, by effectively turning Wal-Mart stores into distribution hubs.

These Registered Trademarks are a glimpse of the most dynamic & powerful TRUE solution to national retailers’ current competitive nightmare – Walmart & Amazon.

The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®; Delivered In A Flash®; When You Just Can’t Get Out Or Have Better Things To Do®; The Last Mile Of The Internet®

Overview of this Decade’s TWO Biggest Retail Innovations:

1. SuperCyberCenter^© (SCC): a HYBRID online “Marketplace” with Third Party Sellers similar to Amazon, eBay and Walmart but much more powerful:

This is an astoundingly lucrative new Third Party Seller profit source enabling Major National Retailers to dramatically increase their in-store sales from LOCAL cross-marketing and our powerful EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” program. This locally-focused Neighborhood initiative is a strategy that Amazon, without local stores, simply cannot EVER match. Our patents cause Walmart to try the “back-door” into a unique Hybrid business they know nothing about.

2. ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^©): a HYBRID FedEx/UPS for their local stores AND their SCC Third Party Stores.

A ‘Hybrid’ because we add our 100% Turnkey LOCAL In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery … both usually within 30 to 60 Minutes 24 / 7 / 365 using our proprietary and excellent Shared Workforce. No single retailer, no matter how large, can do this without Third Party Stores co-operating in sharing a “much” larger driver pool to cover their volatile Peaks & Valley periods; it takes an entire neighborhood in scope and years of experience doing it (similar to Amazon’s 10 year lead online and Walmart’s 30 year lead in-store).

This enables Major National Retailers to earn substantial income from their increased in-store sales & profits reclaimed from Amazon & Walmart (and other local competitors) due to Rapid Shopping & Delivery (30 to 60 minutes – 24 / 7 / 365) instead of same-day, next-day, or up to 10 day more expensive in-house fulfillment with FedEx/UPS delivery.

THEN ADD their new EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” from all ROOF rapid fulfillment orders through their Third Party Seller stores. Again, nobody else can match this, it’s “The Last Mile Of The Internet^®” literally.

Another Consideration: Delivered prices of their products via ROOF can be the same or less than in-store prices and are more profitable than if delivered by UPS / FedEx since their store staff do not assemble, package or deliver ROOF orders PLUS we pay before we leave the store – ROOF is 100% turnkey. We also sponsor Free Delivery (unlike FedEx and UPS).

Hidden Windfall: They also save their current significant cost of the 20% to 30% returned online orders shipped by USPS, UPS or FedEx. Our online discount coupons redeemable in-store are FAR less expensive, easier to use and faster to update than regular online daily deal sites like Groupon, which they can add to or change at any time without some else’s approval – a huge ADDITIONAL selling point for their Third Party Stores.

BONUSES:

A. There are 600± neighboring Third Party Stores around each of their local stores = cross-marketing and use of our shared rapid in-store shopping & delivery workforce which destroys Amazon’s and Walmart’s basic online marketing tool of same-day, next-day to 10 day home delivery.

B. The above programs (SCC + ROOF) are available on an exclusive industry and area basis – so they can immediately recover their market share from their local competitors as well as from Amazon and Walmart.

As the only major game-changing / industry-changing solution in sight, we enable them to significantly boost their share value with a proven HYBRID online LOCAL marketplace with EVERYTHING: Delivered In A Flash® 24 / 7 / 365 that nobody else can even closely match – including FedEx, UPS, Amazon. Walmart or their local competitors.

And remember, as results of their initial benchmark city roll forward, this increases the speed, payback time and Internal Rate Of Return (IRR) of ongoing ramp-up in the next cities. Based on a very high Internal Rate Of Return, this puts this project to the top of their investment list and allows rapid national & international rollout with very little invested capital beyond the initial benchmark cities.

“To be, or not to be, that is the Question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles” William Shakespeare

We hope you will share this information with major retailers so they can secure their Industry exclusive position to defend their stores with our proven weapons recently adopted by Google, Amazon and Walmart to provide: The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®

Thanks,

Gail

NEWS ALERT The Retail Battle Of The Decade - With Retail Stores As Collateral Damage

2011-11-20T16:28:00.001-05:00

Last week, AdAge reported what retailers all fear the most: The Retail Battle Of The Decade has begun between Walmart & Amazon.

“While Walmart may be 10 times Amazon's size in overall sales, it has only about a tenth as much in online sales, making Walmart a distant also-ran online.” A Perilous Situation For All Retailers.

Walmart knows Amazon’s Achilles’ heel: No Local Stores. So, to prevail against Amazon, Walmart is unleashing their version of The Ultimate Shopping Convenience^® – Rapid Home Delivery.

But Amazon recognized their weakness years ago and started LOCAL Rapid Home Delivery programs in most major cities, albeit unsuccessfully – but they kept trying because they knew a huge Apocalyptic battle with Walmart was inevitable. Today, Amazon is countering Walmart’s enormous store footprint by offering local SAME-DAY service using their TWO MILLION Third Party Sellers.

Unfortunately, major national retailers’ stores are standing in the middle of this Armageddon, the potentially final catastrophic battlefield between these opposing behemoths. To win, Amazon and Walmart both need new customers; consequently these major retailers’ stores could become significant collateral damage without a miraculous intervention. (See their SIX “Target Industries” charts below)

Synopsis Of AdAge Article Nov 14/11: “Walmart Brings Bricks and Mortar Battle to Amazon” (click here for full AdAge article)

“Walmart competes with almost everyone in retail, but is increasingly focused on rival: Amazon.

That has put Earth’s largest retailer and Earth’s largest online retailer on a collision course for what could be the “retail battle of the decade”

“Sales in electronics and general merchandise have gone from 43% of Amazon global sales only two years ago to 59% last quarter, and an even bigger 61% in North America.

Key to Walmart’s emerging e-commerce strategy is integrating store and online marketing like never before.

Walmart is using its 3,800 stores as a logistical and marketing advantage over Amazon. Last month it rolled out “Home Free” delivery, with free home shipping on orders over $45 from its stores.

Walmart plans "next- day delivery at a very economical price" using its stores as distribution centers and aimed largely at urban markets.” (Sure beats FedEx, UPS & USPS.)

HARVARD BUSINESS ANALYSIS Oct 10/11: “Retailing Revolution: Category Killers On The Brink” (click here for full Harvard article)

“Best Buy and many similar businesses didn't see the bullet coming.” (see charts below)

“Initially their sales lost to Internet competitors were quite small in relation to overall business, and confined to a small number of items. And as these retailers introduced their own shopping sites, they became complacent about the impact of the Internet to their overall store model. Much like the story of the frog in the slowly boiling water, they are finding out late in the game that their physical store businesses are fundamentally unsustainable. Given the item assortments they carry, these stores are just too large. Even a robust economic recovery is unlikely to do more than delay the inevitable “restructuring”. (Borders, Circuit City, Blockbuster, etc)”

1. “Retailing generally is at a tipping point, with category killers being the first significant casualties.

2. Physical stores can compete by emphasizing (1) instant gratification, (2) unique shopping experiences, and (3) customized support.” (NOTE: The Now Mall does all 3 of these for you)

Walmart’s Timing Couldn’t Be Better. Other than Amazon, most major retailers have been struggling for years. (See Retail Behemoths’ SIX “Target Industries” charts below)

Major National Retailers can trump Amazon’s and Walmart’s newest strategy with Guerilla warfare tactics outlined below.

Walmart’s and Amazon’s newest battle strategy of Rapid Home Delivery is that of a COPY-CAT, as most retailers know. It’s their collective Achilles’ heel.

Major National Retailers have the advantage of thwarting both of them by joining the proven leader that has 30 years of knowledge that they do not have – patents included. We’re leading the very powerhouse Walmart and Amazon are now BOTH trying to copy.

The NOW Mall.com is the Industry Leader in Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^© (ROOF) technologies & shared workforces using our 100% turnkey SuperCyberCenter^© Network – developed and proven during our 30 years of retail rapid fulfillment experience and with 1.3 MILLION Local Third Party Seller Stores earnestly awaiting Major National Retailer participation. (See more details after the industry charts below)

Guerrilla Warfare Strategy: Major National Retailers can trump the behemoths by combining our seasoned mobile forces and technology together with their stores in a coordinated onslaught of superlative customer service.

The Retail Behemoths Collective Achilles’ Heel: They are COPY-CATS. They don’t know HOW to do true “Rapid” Online Order Fulfillment (30 to 60 minutes) so they are trying to copy the easier parts (same-day & next-day) of The Now Mall.

The Underlying Strength: We patented the Rapid Online Order Fulfillment© (ROOF) system, technologies & shared workforces which use our 100% turnkey SuperCyberCenter© Network.

Key Tactics: Major National Retailers can join us now to benefit from our over 30 years retail rapid fulfillment experience and 1.3 MILLION Local Third Party Seller Stores. Collectively, these will generate substantial ongoing “Evergreen” free cash flow to their bottom line via this unique and effective retail sales, marketing and distribution channel that complements their current multi-channel strategies. (See more details following the SIX “Target Industries” charts below)

Only we can help these Major National Retailers aggressively and nimbly counteract the looming pincer attack by Amazon and Walmart with our patented SuperCyberCenter Network with ROOF in this totally unusual crisis period to return their store sales, profits & growth rates to 2006/2007 levels and higher.

And, for a limited time, these retailers can also secure a competitive advantage with an Industry EXCLUSIVE enabling them to not only compete with Amazon and/or Walmart; but also with their regular local competitors.

Defend against The Four Horsemen Of The Retail Apocalypse: Inertia, Fear, Myopia, Apathy© by working with us TODAY to reverse the downward trend of their FIVE YEAR STATS (below), leaving their competitors the only option of fighting these behemoths alone and unprepared. (Good luck to them since Webvan, McDonald’s, Borders and many others failed trying the same seemingly-simple in-house delivery approach.)

Members of their industry (see below) are in discussion with us for the exclusive rights for their branded SuperCyberCenter with ROOF. Just Imagine where that leaves the others: with virtually no defense in the middle of this newest Apocalyptic Battle of the decade between the two Retail Behemoths. We urge them to place their order for their Industry exclusive with us TODAY while it’s still available.

For further details about our SuperCyberCenter with ROOF, please scroll down below the following Industry charts.

AMAZON’S & WALMART’S SIX “TARGET INDUSTRIES”

1. “ELECTRONICS” INDUSTRY ARMAGEDDON: Top 3 Players 5-Year Results:

hhgregg +4.04%; RadioShack -32.32%; Best Buy -50.79% // AMAZON +402.13 DOW JONES -2.58%

2. “OFFICE PRODUCTS” INDUSTRY APOCALYPSE: Top 3 Players 5-Year Results:

Staples -45.03%, OfficeMax -90.48%, Office Depot -94.48% // AMAZON +402.13 DOW JONES -2.58%

3.     “BOOKS, MUSIC & VIDEOS” INDUSTRY WRECKAGE: Top 3 Players 5-Year Results:
Hastings -76.25%, Books-A-Million -87.23%, Barnes & Noble -57.64% // AMAZON +402.13 DOW JONES -2.58%

4.     “RETAIL PHARMACY” INDUSTRY CATACLYSM: Top 3 Players 5-Year Results:
CVS +31.76%, Walgreens -22.98%, Rite Aid -71.78% // AMAZON +402.13 DOW JONES -2.58%

5.     “MASS MERCHANT” INDUSTRY DECIMATION: Top 4 Players 5-Year Results:
Target -8.97% Kohl’s -23.41%, Sears Holdings -59.07%, J.C. Penney -59.39% // AMAZON +402.13 DOW JONES -2.58%

6.     “GROCERY” INDUSTRY ANNIHILATION: Top 4 Players 5-Year Results:
Kroger +1.09% Safeway -38.24%, SUPERVALU -76.15% // AMAZON +402.13 DOW JONES -2.58%

These Registered Trademarks are a glimpse of the most dynamic & powerful TRUE solution to national retailers’ current competitive nightmare – Walmart & Amazon.

The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®; Delivered In A Flash®; When You Just Can’t Get Out Or Have Better Things To Do®; The Last Mile Of The Internet®

Overview of this Decade’s TWO Biggest Retail Innovations:

1. SuperCyberCenter^© (SCC): a HYBRID online “Marketplace” with Third Party Sellers similar to Amazon, eBay and Walmart but much more powerful:

2. ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^©): a HYBRID FedEx/UPS for their local stores AND their SCC Third Party Stores.

A ‘Hybrid’ because we add our 100% Turnkey LOCAL In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery … both usually within 30 to 60 Minutes 24 / 7 / 365 using our proprietary and excellent Shared Workforce. No single retailer, no matter how large, can do this without Third Party Stores co-operating in sharing a “much” larger driver pool to cover their volatile Peaks & Valley periods; it takes an entire neighborhood in scope and years of experience doing it (similar to Amazon’s 10 year lead online and Walmart’s 30 year lead in-store).

BONUSES:

Initial ramp-up capital cost payback for their branded SuperCyberCenter with ROOF is 9 to 14 months on our conservative “Plan A” (which we are pleased to send upon request); or 6 to 9 months on our less conservative Plan B (full marketing plan); and immediate (2 to 3 months) on our aggressive Plan C (which we have already done for one of the World’s largest US retailers and can validate from their statistics in detail). And remember, as results of their initial benchmark city roll forward, this increases the speed, payback time and Internal Rate Of Return (IRR) of ongoing ramp-up in the next cities. Based on a very high Internal Rate Of Return, this puts this project to the top of their investment list and allows rapid national & international rollout with very little invested capital beyond the initial benchmark cities.

“To be, or not to be, that is the Question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles” William Shakespeare

We hope more national retailers will contact us to help defend their stores with our proven weapons recently adopted by Amazon and Walmart to provide: The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®

Thank you,

Gail

Gail Nichols - Vice Chair

Have Walmart, Amazon & eBay Made You & Your Industry Irrelevant ? Here's A Glimpse Of The Future.

2011-11-14T11:22:00.000-05:00

It’s no secret, everybody knows it, including your shareholders, analysts, suppliers and major customers.

Collectively, Walmart, Amazon and now eBay’s $2.4 Billion GSI Commerce have already devastated the top 5 retail industries: Electronics; Office Products; Books; Pharmacy & Grocery with more on the way.

Look at the top three players in each of these industries. At least one (if not all three) are “On-The-Ropes” with sales dropping steadily, profits in decline, and working capital slipping; causing share values to tank (see Chart One below).

That is the simple reality that nobody wants to talk about, let alone do anything serious about.

BUT THERE IS A REAL SOLUTION FOR THOSE WHO APPRECIATE POWERFUL CUSTOMER-CENTRIC SOLUTIONS.

Our Registered Trademarks listed below give you a glimpse of the most dynamic & powerful “real” solution to your current nightmare(s) – Walmart, Amazon & eBay’s GSI Commerce.

The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®; Delivered In A Flash®; When You Just Can’t Get Out Or Have Better Things To Do®; The Last Mile Of The Internet®;

To be more specific:

Overview of this Decade’s TWO Biggest Retail Innovations:

1. SuperCyberCenter^© (SCC): a HYBRID online “Marketplace” with Third Party Sellers similar to Amazon, eBay and Walmart.

A ‘Hybrid’ because we add a patented upgrade – we include “LOCAL” physical stores; restaurants; pharmacies, grocers & retailers with unique fashion and/or time-sensitive commodities as Third Party Sellers. Not available on Amazon (or anywhere else). Take The Leadership Position In Your Industry.

This is an astoundingly lucrative new Third Party Seller profit source enabling you to dramatically increase your in-store sales from LOCAL cross-marketing and our EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” program. This locally-focused Neighborhood initiative is a strategy that Amazon, without local stores, simply cannot EVER match.

2. ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^©): a HYBRID FedEx/UPS for your local stores AND your SCC Third Party Stores.

A ‘Hybrid’ because we add our 100% Turnkey LOCAL In-Store Shopping + Rapid Delivery … both usually within 30 to 60 Minutes 24 / 7 / 365 using our proprietary and excellent Shared Workforce. No single store, no matter how large, can do this without Third Party Stores co-operating in sharing a “much” larger driver pool to cover your volatile Peaks & Valley periods; it takes an entire neighborhood in scope and years of experience doing it (similar to Amazon’s 10 year lead).

This enables you to earn substantial income from your increased in-store sales & profits reclaimed from Amazon (and other local competitors) due to Rapid Delivery (30 to 60 minutes – 24 / 7 / 365) instead of same-day, next-day, or up to 10 day more expensive FedEx/UPS delivery. THEN ADD new ‘EVERGREEN’ Free Cash Flow from all ROOF rapid fulfillment orders through your Third Party Seller stores. Again, nobody else can match this, it’s “The Last Mile Of The Internet^®” literally.

Delivered prices of your products via ROOF can be the same or less than in-store and are more profitable than if delivered by UPS / FedEx since store staff do not assemble or package ROOF orders PLUS we pay before we leave the store – ROOF is 100% turnkey. We also sponsor Free Delivery (unlike FedEx and UPS).

Hidden Windfall: You also save your current significant cost of the 20% to 30% returned online orders shipped by USPS, UPS or FedEx. Our discount coupons redeemable in-store are FAR less expensive, easier to use and faster to update than regular online daily deal sites like Groupon, and can be added or changed at any time without some else’s approval – a huge ADDITIONAL selling point for your Third Party Stores.

Bonuses:

A. There are 600± neighboring Third Party Stores around each of your stores = cross-marketing and use of our shared rapid in-store shopping & delivery workforce which destroys Amazon’s basic marketing tool of next-day to 10 day delivery.

B. The above programs (SCC + ROOF) are available on an exclusive industry and area basis – so you can immediately recover your market share from your local competitors as well as from Amazon and Walmart.

As the only major game-changing / industry-changing solution in sight, we enable you to restore your market value with a proven HYBRID online LOCAL marketplace with EVERYTHING: Delivered In A Flash® 24 / 7 / 365 that nobody else can even closely match – including FedEx, UPS, Amazon. Walmart or your local competitors.

Initial ramp-up capital cost payback is 9 to 14 months on our conservative “Plan A”; or 6 to 9 months on our less conservative Plan B (full marketing plan); and immediate (2 to 3 months) on our aggressive Plan C (which we have already done for one of the World’s largest US retailers and can validate from their statistics in detail).

And remember, as results of your initial benchmark city roll forward, this increases the speed and payback time, Internal Rate Of Return (IRR) of ongoing ramp-up in the next cities. Based on a very high Internal Rate Of Return, this puts this project to the top of your investment list and allows rapid national & international rollout with very little invested capital beyond the initial benchmark cities.

A Graphic Look At The Problem: The THREE Top Players in the Office Supply Industry and their Competition compared with The Dow Jones

A Graphic Look At The Solution:

A Graphic Look At Our Track Record of Achievements:

We're looking forward to being of assistance to you and your industry.

Thank you,

Gail

Gail Nichols

Vice Chair

www.TheNowMall.com

The Four Horsemen Driving The AMAZON Retail Apocalypse

2011-10-31T13:16:00.000-04:00

The Four Horsemen Driving The AMAZON Retail Apocalypse Are: Inertia, Fear, Myopia, Apathy

Amazon’s “Killing Fields” are now relentlessly consuming the entire Specialty Products Industry with significant help from “The Four Horsemen of the Retail Apocalypse” (Inertia, Fear, Myopia & Apathy).

Amazon’s recent QUARTERLY results show their $40.3 billion online sales rose $3.3 billion (31% y/y); more than the TOTAL sales of most specialty retailers whose in-store y/y sales were -2% to +3%.

Borders (1971-2011), Blockbuster (1985-2011), and Circuit City (1949-2009) (collectively “BB&C”) were the largest “Big Boxes” recently taken down by Amazon, with more on the way.

The Problem Is: the bigger Amazon gets, the more NEW sales it needs to continue its 30% annual growth over the next 10 years. And to do this, they are significantly investing in new technology and infrastructure all the time to meet these higher and higher internal growth needs.

What Can You Do About It ? It’s really quite simple:

E-Commerce is relatively new. Amazon had a 15 year head start. Copying Amazon now is risky with dubious to mediocre results at best. You need a significant “Game-Changer” not a ho-hum copy-cat.

Beware The Four Horsemen (Inertia, Fear, Myopia & Apathy) who force the gates open from within allowing Amazon inside unchallenged to destroy you and your Industry (confirmed in chart one below).

Here are a Few of The Horsemen’s Misguided Opinions that Push Open the Gate; Allowing Amazon Unobstructed Entry to Your Customers. (You simply need to close the gate).

1. “When the economy recovers, so will we” – Your company’s decline began 1.5 years BEFORE the recession which ended one year ago (see Dow Jones below & the “Real Reason” – Amazon).

2. “You are blowing this whole Amazon thing way out of proportion” – Look Ahead – Within 10 years Amazon will be the #2 retailer in America next to Walmart from their current #17 position unless they are stopped now.

3. “We don’t believe your Pro Formas can be achieved” – Prospective client only see our Plan ‘A’ – We achieved Plan ‘C’ (a MUCH larger plan) with one of America’s largest retailers, and we can prove it.

4. “We want to be on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge” – What about the fact that Amazon already has you on the bleeding edge (see below).

5. “The bar has been set for next-day delivery” – What about Amazon’s “Same-Day” delivery, significantly up from their previous “Next-Day” and 3 to 10 days.

6. “Nobody needs things in 30 to 60 minutes” – Amazing. Our research proves consumers prefer service in 30-60 minutes (83%) Vs. Same-Day (33%). What else do you think can beat Amazon’s “Same-Day” service ? AND why are they offering it ?

7. “We’ve been in this business for years and don’t need anything new” – What about your customers who are now at Amazon – they wanted something new. (see below)

8. “What if it doesn’t work for us” – What about the decline of your sales, profits and share value over the last five years ? Try it in ONE benchmark city.

9. “This is so new, I could lose my job if I OK it” – What about your job (and résumé) if your company follows BB&C ? Trying it in one benchmark city gives you huge rewards with minor risk.

10. “We had other problems like this before but our senior executives always came through” – What about your responsibility to suggest/recommend/implement “turn-around” change ?

11. “We’re introducing new features into our website, like a complementary marketplace to offset Amazon” – What about Amazon’s 15 year head start ? Copying Amazon will not stop them from depleting your in-store sales, quite the opposite.

12. “We’re installing our own Rapid Delivery system” – When you consider added staffing to cover your considerable PEAK & VALLEY order periods, it’s cheaper and more efficient to hire local couriers. (Webvan; Borders & McDonald’s amongst many, tried DIY and failed.)

The Grand Finale: “What makes you think you are the only solution to our problems” – Please see ‘Our Credentials’ below. Offsetting the drain on your sales by your biggest marketplace problems (Amazon, eBay & Walmart) with new growth sales, free cash flow and higher profits by implementing a proven system they can’t duplicate will have a tendency to mitigate your other lesser internal problems.

When your Innovative Industry Executive Champion objectively looks line-by-line at: (1) our detailed SuperCyberCenter ‘Before & After’ P&L statements; (2) Earnings Analysis; (3) 18-month ramp-up per store; and (4) 3 to 12 months capital payback period; they will quickly confirm our claim – and want to at least try it in one benchmark city.

Assuming you are open to something new, we are the only realistic “game-changing” solution to The Amazon Retail Apocalypse (shown graphically below).

As far as The Four Horsemen go, behind them are good people, but they need your Executive help to get on track with the current problem below.

These Other Four Horsemen (Action, Courage, Vision, Boldness) Can Easily Beat AMAZON – as long as they know:

1. There is an INDUSTRY-WIDE problem – that is relatively new, but growing quickly.

2. Their job is not at risk for “trying” a new significant “game-changing” solution.

3. AND they will be rewarded for their extra efforts. Win-Win – not Lose-Lose.

Thanks,

Gail

Gail Nichols

Vice Chair

www.TheNowMall.com

Get Amazon Out Of Your Stores – While You Still Can

2011-10-25T15:14:00.004-04:00

Get Amazon Permanently Out Of Your Stores – Once And For All.

An Incredibly Difficult Task – Particularly In The Hard Hit ‘Mass Merchant’ Industry.

Even More Difficult: Quickly Getting Back The Customers You Lost.

Here’s The PROVEN Industry-Changing Solution:

Summary of the Problem with Amazon: (see it graphically below)

5 years ago, when we forewarned retail executives about Amazon and the Internet’s future negative impact on their store sales, nobody paid any attention. They said, “Losing a few store sales to the internet is not going to hurt us.”

Today, seeing consumers with smartphones comparison shopping in-store with their staff’s help, then buying from Amazon while their store sales stagnate, retail executives are now highly concerned because nothing is stopping Amazon from increasingly devastating their stores at will. Amazon had an unrestrained 10 years to gain unstoppable traction while nobody cared. (see 6 Reasons Why Amazon is Nearly Impossible to Beat – a bellwether warning).

Then, 1.5 years BEFORE the recession, your stores began significantly losing customers to Amazon’s unrelenting growth that continues on rising unabated, recently crushing ‘Big Box’ stores such as Borders, Circuit City and Blockbuster, with more casualties to come, and causing your share value to suffer (see actual example below at -94.68%) while Amazon’s increased an incredible 604.62% in the same time period. This widening gap will not reverse any time within at least the next 10 years. (See the Conclusion in the above-mentioned bellwether warning article)

A few aggressive retail senior executives have recognized the full extent of this problem, and importantly what’s yet to come. Some are fighting back (e.g. Sears, Best Buy) to improve customer loyalty with in-store pick-up and faster service from their stores (e.g. same-day couriers) but @ 3X cost, ¼ revenue and lower profits. Some have tried their own in-house next-day delivery like Webvan, OfficeMax, Borders & Walmart by saying: “The Bar Is Set At Next-Day Delivery”. This is ‘70’s thinking that Amazon has now matched and beaten, especially price-wise.

More recently, a few retailers have attempted to copy Amazon’s Marketplace with complementary third party sellers. However, none have succeeded simply because Amazon is so far ahead in every conceivable way, particularly in technology, branding, customer loyalty and unimaginable traffic counts. Unfortunately, such well-intentioned marketplace copies don’t have a chance of “game-changing” success. However, this effort is a clear indication of the seriousness of this yet unsolved Amazon challenge. (Details in Item 2 in the above-mentioned bellwether warning article)

Copying Amazon’s Marketplace might increase your online sales 5% to 15% but this won’t stop Amazon’s progress, let alone bring your existing in-store customers back. To stop Amazon (and now others), a powerful game-changing / industry-changing solution is urgently required. Two confirming articles: Harvard Business School and Computerworld.

Here’s Your PROVEN “Industry-Changing” Solution To Permanently Stop Amazon and Bring Your Customers Back:

The Ultimate Shopping Convenience^® is Your Decisive Competitive Advantage

“Physical stores can compete with Amazon by emphasizing (1) instant gratification, (2) unique shopping experiences, and (3) customized customer support.” See “Thinking About The Future” – third topic heading

Overview of this Decade’s TWO Biggest Retail Innovations:

1. SuperCyberCenter^© (SCC): a HYBRID online “Marketplace” with Third Party Sellers similar to Amazon and eBay.

This is an astoundingly lucrative new Third Party Seller profit source enabling you to dramatically increase your in-store sales from LOCAL cross-marketing and our EVERGREEN Free Cash Flow “War Chest” program. This locally-focused Neighborhood initiative is a strategy that Amazon, without local stores, simply cannot EVER match.

2. ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^©): a HYBRID FedEx/UPS for your local stores AND your SCC Third Party Stores.

This enables you to earn substantial income from your increased in-store sales & profits reclaimed from Amazon (and other local competitors) due to Rapid Delivery (30 to 60 minutes – 24 / 7 / 365) instead of same-day, next-day, and up to 10 day more expensive FedEx/UPS delivery. THEN ADD new ‘EVERGREEN’ Free Cash Flow from all ROOF rapid fulfillment orders through your Third Party Seller stores. Again, nobody else can match this, it’s “The Last Mile Of The Internet^®” literally.

Delivered prices of your products via ROOF can be the same or less than in-store and are more profitable than if delivered by UPS / FedEx since store staff do not assemble or package ROOF orders PLUS we pay before we leave the store – ROOF is 100% turnkey. Plus, we also sponsor Free Delivery (unlike FedEx and UPS). You also save the significant cost of the 20% to 30% returned online orders shipped by USPS, UPS or FedEx. Our in-store discount coupons are FAR less expensive, easier to use and faster to update than regular online daily deal sites like Groupon, and can be added or changed at any time without some else’s approval – a huge ADDITIONAL selling point for your Third Party Stores.

Bonuses:

A. There are 600± neighboring Third Party Stores around each of your stores = cross-marketing and shared rapid in-store shopping & delivery workforce which destroys Amazon’s basic marketing tool of next-day to 10 day delivery.

B. The above programs (SCC + ROOF) are available on an exclusive industry and area basis – so you can immediately recover your market share from your local competitors as well as from Amazon.

As the only major game-changing / industry-changing solution in sight, we enable you to regain your 2007 market value with a proven HYBRID online LOCAL marketplace with EVERYTHING: Delivered In A Flash® 24 / 7 / 365 that nobody else can even closely match – including FedEx, UPS, Amazon or your local competitors.

Initial ramp-up capital cost payback is 9 to 12 months on our conservative “Plan A”; or 6 to 9 months on our less conservative Plan B (full marketing plan); and immediate (2 to 3 months) on our aggressive Plan C (which we have already done for one of the World’s largest US retailers and can validate from their statistics in detail).

We look forward to helping you achieve your future success in returning your stores and profits to your previous high growth rate.

A Graphic Look At The Problem:

A Graphic Look At The Solution:

A Graphic Look At Our Track Record of Achievements:

Thank you,

Gail

Gail Nichols

Vice Chair

www.TheNowMall.com

Who Wins? Juggernauts, Innovators, Caretakers or Undertakers: A Surprising Conclusion

2011-09-05T13:31:00.002-04:00

AMAZING – Amazon’s Sales Growth Just Beat Walmart’s . . . But Here’s The Shocker !

In 2010, Amazon’s sales growth was $5.3 Billion, while Walmart’s sales growth was only $3.8 Billion ! 10 years ago, Amazon barely existed.

In the 24 months ending 12/2010 and 01/2011 respectively, Amazon’s sales growth was $15 Billion and Walmart’s sales growth was $17.5 Billion. TOTALING $32.5 Billion “NEW” SALES.

The Shocker is: COLLECTIVELY they are tracking to reach $33.8 Billion NEW GROWTH THIS YEAR ALONE (equaling the last 2 years). That’s $66.3 Billion GROWTH in the last 3 years !!

Where did these Juggernauts’ incredible $66.3 Billion NEW sales growth come from during this sluggish economy ? Let’s do a little exploring.

These sales came from other retailers (including mall tenants). But, you may ask, which retailers lost this incredible amount of sales, and where will this year’s greater losses come from ?

Some innovative companies are still winning new sales against these Juggernauts (as well as from other retailers) as shown in the following graph.

HOWEVER, companies don’t win or lose – only their senior management teams do.

Let’s evaluate the following management team profiles to discover who the Winners & Losers are and who is most likely to win LONG TERM against these Juggernauts.

But first, take this simple test that allows you to DEBATE these remarkable conclusions from your senior management team’s unique perspective as a Winner or Loser.

OK, First let’s explore these interesting Profiles to discover Who will most likely be the LONG TERM Winner:

JUGGERNAUTS: were first to discover a new “RADICAL Game-Changing System”, which they quickly exploited to the fullest before anyone else even knew it existed. Then along came the “copycats” who tried knock-off copies that inevitably failed against the sheer power and knowledge of these Juggernauts, at great cost to the “copycat’s” brand and balance sheet as well as their time lost to find and implement more productive solutions.

INNOVATORS: are ALWAYS open to new ideas and new challenges. They take calculated risks that Caretakers would never consider. They win more often than they lose. So this team is always very busy with other great and challenging projects. The problem is: there is a huge waiting list for access to their time. BUT, “radical game-changing” opportunities pass by in fleeting moments.

CARETAKERS: are notorious for holding the line rigorously, doing nothing radically new (other than a few “Bells & Whistles”). Any major radical change is a non-starter – too risky and anyway “we’ve been doing things this way successfully for years”. They absolutely believe as long as they’re not losing ground, they must be winning ! They will give myriad reasons to their shareholders and analysts why none of the following options will work for them or their company, such as; “Our people explored the ecosystem and there’s no independent corroboration” – even as these solutions produce extremely positive results for their Juggernaut competitors !

UNDERTAKERS: Here are 7 reasons this team SHOULD be the LONG TERM winner using a Winning Option outlined below.

1. THEIR NEEDS ARE BY FAR THE GREATEST. (Including virtually all regional mall owners whose tenants are losing to the Juggernauts).

2. They know they have a problem, but can’t find the solution usually because their mid-level management team is looking in the wrong direction (they prefer Safety – nothing Radical – just more of the same old).

3. They blame the economy for their current predicament hoping a solution will “mysteriously appear” BEFORE they become the next Borders or Circuit City.

4. They tried all the new “Mods & Apps” but none changed their overall competitive position.

5. They tried the “copycat” routine with stunning failure, so they are now “Gun-shy”. (Why waste more time or money on “copycat” things that simply can’t get you out of the hole?)

6. As only the senior management team is held to account, overall executive leadership must prevail to be the long term winner.

7. Since they have KNOWINGLY been under fire so long (12 – 36 months), this leadership team is most likely to prevail considering the low risk and very high reward of the options below.

Winning Options: 3 New “Radical Game-Changers” to Catapult Juggernaut Challengers Ahead Of All Others– with ONE Major Winner:

1. ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment^©) 100% Turnkey In-Store Shopping & Delivery usually within 30 to 45 minutes, 24 / 7 / 365, NATIONWIDE and it is patented.

Orders are assembled and paid for by us at your local store BEFORE we leave. Delivered price can be the same as in-store price. We handle returns which are reduced to less than 5% from normal 20% - 30% online.

When You Just Can’t Get Out Or Have Other Things To Do®

If FedEx (or UPS) could deliver your online orders at less cost and in 30 to 45 minutes – there would be a line-up of customers on your website because NOBODY LIKES TO WAIT 3 to 10 days for online orders.

Walmart has been doing Next-Day delivery for years in other countries (not 3 to 10 day delivery) and just brought “Walmart-To-Go” to the USA. Amazon is trying to do the same thing in Seattle as well as promoting AmazonLocal.com nationwide. ROOF enables you to significantly improve upon the Juggernaut’s Next-Day delivery – or even Same-Day. (And ROOF strategically complements “Order Online with In-Store and/or Curbside Pick-up”.)

SuperCyberCenters: HYBRID – Patented – Online – LOCAL AREA – Marketplaces – uniquely including ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment) that no other Marketplace offers.

The Last Mile Of The Internet®

Ever wonder what was Amazon’s key growth factor? Its Marketplace. Third Party Sellers using Amazon’s trade name for higher traffic and higher sales are now 40% of Amazon’s ONLINE GROWTH and revenues.

Walmart.com also is a significant ONLINE Marketplace. Many “Copycats” have tried in-house Marketplaces against these well-founded and powerful Juggernauts and colossally failed at a huge cost to their brand; such as Overstock.com simply because they had nothing truly unique to offer. Our SuperCyberCenter with ROOF is so unique, it is patented.

EVERYTHING – Delivered In A Flash® THE HIGHEST FORM OF CONVENIENCE & THE FUTURE

The bar has been raised to a NEW standard in customer service: Choice, Price & Convenience are the three things all consumers want, need & desire. The Juggernauts only have the first two – We have all three. Convenience is overall the most important of these three consumer attractions putting the Juggernauts at a huge disadvantage. Here’s your chance to greatly improve upon the Juggernauts’ overall programs with a powerful NEW patented customer service loyalty program the Juggernauts simply cannot match and cannot copy.

Walmart and Amazon cannot touch this SuperCyberCenter merged with ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment).

Your 3 SuperCyberCenter Winning Options with ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment):

A. Your Brand Name Local SuperCyberCenter with ROOF

Ideal for major LOCAL area retailers, restaurants and/or regional malls.

With LOCAL AREA Stores & Restaurants as Third Party Sellers promoting your stores locally and cross-marketing with these major local retailers, with higher profit ratios than your local store.

B. Your Brand Name Regional SuperCyberCenters with ROOF

Primarily for major REGIONAL retailers, restaurants and/or major regional mall owners.

With LOCAL AREA Stores & Restaurants as Third Party Sellers promoting your stores locally and cross-marketing with these major local retailers, with higher profit ratios than your local store.

C. Be an Anchor or Regular Tenant in your LOCAL SuperCyberCenter with ROOF

Put your local stores ONLINE where your local customers can go to find local products and get immediate in-store shopping & delivery.

Use the power of well-respected major retailers to draw the premier customers in your LOCAL area to your store (as well as to your website) away from the Juggernauts who have been hurting your sales and profits for years. Cross-market with other tenants and anchors for mutual recognition, growth and sales.

3. Master SuperCyberCenter with ROOF INTERNATIONALLY for all SuperCyberCenters – The ONE Overall Long Term Winner.

Perfect choice for a major international company with significant global influence and an exceptional innovative executive management team.

The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®

EVERYTHING – Delivered In A Flash®

Are you ready to Innovate to Win against Juggernauts with a truly new and fully proven RADICAL Game-Changing Network ? If yes, please let me know your preferred ‘Winning Option” before September 15 and I will have the appropriate person contact you ASAP. Your customized Earnings Analysis for your SuperCyberCenter with ROOF “Game-Changer” option is available upon request.

Thank you,

Gail

Gail W. Nichols - Vice Chair

Adapt Or Die - The Big Box K-T Extinction Event - Who Survives ?

2011-07-25T14:48:00.000-04:00

The Internet "K-T Extinction Event" changed our world, spawning Amazon, eBay, Walmart.com and other online retail predators that nobody was prepared for.

Borders, Circuit City, CompUSA, Linins N' Things, Blockbuster, Mervyn's – were all Dinosaurs who wouldn't adapt to their changing world, making life easy for their powerful predators.

Yesterday, they buried Borders along with the other Big Box K-T Event casualties, because their executive leaders would not adapt to the changed world.

Adapting to a new world requires serious change, hard change, which most executives avoid, until it's too late, then they blame the predators instead of the K-T Event they underestimated.

Downsizing & Sharing Space simply create a continuing downward spiral with the same net result - bigger predators.

Social Media events, Glitzy coupons and Slick websites won't save your company – but a SuperCyberCenter^© will (see below).

If you are an Innovative leader ready to adopt new strategies that Amazon, eBay and Walmart.com cannot duplicate – so you can fend off what they are already using against you, then call us today. If not . . . . Well ?? (This unique competitive advantage is available on a first come basis.)

Marketplaces: Holy Grail of Retail E-Commerce - Your Silver Bullet for Rapid Growth

2011-06-04T17:08:00.002-04:00

We offer you a unique look at the largest multi-channel e-commerce opportunity to come along since the birth of the Internet. Retail E-Commerce Marketplaces (REMs) have been called the “Holy Grail of Retail”.

Overview of REMs:

Retail E-Commerce Marketplaces (REMs) are the online equivalent of large Regional Malls with multiple Third Party Stores joining together to benefit from the enormous amount of consumer traffic (shoppers) generated by the Mall layout, location and cross-marketing. Typically, Regional Mall Third Party Stores pay a minimum base rent and a percentage of sales over the base rent to the Mall owner/manager based on traffic and location.

REMs have become a major driver of new business for online merchants and Regional Mall owners that leverage REMs as channels for increased sales. REMs are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce.

Consumer transactions are processed by the REM owner/manager, functioning as the merchant of record, and are fulfilled, then delivered by Third Party Stores/Sellers. REMs offer a wide variety of products and provide consumers with the convenience of purchasing such products from a single location then having everything delivered. REMs generally provide better prices, greater selection and higher levels of availability than traditional online retailers.

Proof that REMS are the “Holy Grail of Retail”:

The largest REMs are:

Amazon, one of the fastest growing retailers today with 40% of sales ($16 Billion annually) through its REM;
eBay with its announced $2.4 billion purchase of GSI Commerce (one of the first and largest REMs); and
Walmart, through the recent creation of its “Project Titan” REM.

Delivery is by FedEx, UPS and USPS usually within 3 to 10 days. However, both Walmart and Amazon are trying to speed up delivery with Next Day service.

REMs are the newest major retail sales channel enabling smaller retailers to become online e-commerce Third Party Sellers, while an early few of the top national well-branded retailers will become successful long-term REM owner/managers. (Not all major retailers can support their own REM due to lack of Brand dominance, experience and current market positioning.) Large, well established Regional Malls will also eventually become successful long-term REMs duplicating their existing malls.

Like all new sales and marketing channels, the early visionaries have the best chance of success in this powerful but highly selective new arena.

Pros Of REMs:

REMs can increase owner/manager’s sales 35% to 50% (see Amazon above) and profits 50% to 100%REMs instantly broaden owner/manager’s products and marketplace
REMs increase traffic to owner/manager’s e-commerce websites and Bricks & Mortar locations that could not be done without a REM
REMs enable cross-marketing online and in-store with Third Party Sellers

Cons Of REMs:

REM owner/managers must have sufficient initial traffic to attract enough Third Party Sellers
REM owner/managers need specialized experience to run and succeed with a REM
REM owner/managers need strong branded national presence for rapid consumer acceptance
REM owner/managers need a unique marketing differentiator to attract sufficient Third Party Sellers

As the main function of retail e-commerce is DELIVERY Of Products, major differentiators include: speed of delivery, efficiency, hours of service, payment & collection and quality control features of delivery.

Major Differentiators of Your Branded REM SuperCyberCenter versus Walmart, Amazon & eBay REMs:

· Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) Program – 100% Turnkey, Patented

o 1-Hour, 24 / 7 / 365 order assembly and local delivery from your stores and your Third Party Sellers’ instead of 3 to 10 Days delivery by FedEx, UPS & USPS

o Product payment to store cashier by ROOF CyberValet Shoppers before leaving

o Personal Customer service at-their-door with product inspection prior to transfer and payment

o Returns processing to store where product purchased

· Virtual contact center for consumer inquiries, order processing oversight, tech support

· National sales team that recruits, coordinates and manages your SuperCyberCenter’s Third Party Sellers

· National transport team experts recruit, train and supervise CyberValet Shoppers

Why Partner With Us:

We have over 30 years REM experience internationally in Rapid Fulfillment of Time-Sensitive Commodities (Groceries, Retail, Pharmacy, Restaurant & Fast Food). Frankly, nobody else anywhere has anything close to our combined experience and/or abilities.

Our competitive advantages also include our REM patent, proprietary technology, various trademarks, Smithsonian Computerworld Award and our prior success in creating numerous industry-changing patented products and services now ubiquitous worldwide.

Please contact us today to review how your company can qualify for a Branded REM SuperCyberCenter owned by you and operated for you by The Now Mall and our affiliates.

As there is room for only a limited number of major REM retailers in local communities, please call us now while your preferred areas remain available. We look forward to working with you.

Thank you,

Gail

The Retail Market Is SHIFTING Again - Who Is Winning, Who Is Losing ?

2011-05-09T13:06:00.005-04:00

What separates business winners from losers in today’s new e-commerce culture ?

A lot of pundits would say you need to be efficient, cost conscious and manage margins. Others would say you need to be really good (excellent) at something – much better than anyone else. Unfortunately, that sounds good but in our fast-paced, highly competitive world today those platitudes don’t really create winners. Success has much more to do with the ability to shift. And to create shift. Quoted from “Winners Shift, Losers Don't” (see article).

As an example, Amazon’s current annualized sales are now $39 billion, rising 38% annually, of which 40% ($15.6 billion) came from Third Party Sellers in their Marketplace (see "Third Party Sellers” here).

However, Amazon’s Marketplace of Third Part Sellers didn’t exist 10 years ago, thus demonstrating the undeniable power of e-commerce Market Shifting – taking the lead ahead of anyone else.

Today, eBay, Walmart, Sears and others are all copying Amazon’s Third Party Seller program for competitive reasons. However, these copycats are not Market Shifters as they didn’t change anything (other than perhaps their companies into a more competitive position). The net-net of this Major Market Shift are a few early winners and many late-to-arrive losers.

Another terrific example of Market Shifting is by Walmart, who intends to become the world’s largest online retailer surpassing Amazon, with their “Project Titan’s Next-Day Delivery. (see MOST CURRENT Articles #1 and #2 ). This improves on Amazon’s 3 to 10 day delivery and at lower delivery costs.

Tommy Lasorda said: “There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens.”

You can watch what happens with “The Battle Of The Titans” while trying to expand your market share, same as your competitors are doing (see GREAT article) – OR – make it happen by Market Shifting with new platforms to spike your growth as The Titans are doing.

You certainly will not take market share from Walmart or Amazon doing the “Same-Old-Thing” – quite the opposite. Even matching The Titans won’t cut it anymore.

For the Top 500 chain retailers, in-store retail sales are marginally up while online sales are now 10% to 30% of total sales. (see article)

If your current sales are not at least equal to either of the above averages, you need a Market Shift: maintaining your core business; while shifting to new platforms with quickly changing consumer preferences. "Times have changed forever. Trends are NOT like the shadows of yesterday." (Quote by Robert Taylor) It’s essential to shift to new platforms quickly with today’s trends or become irrelevant.

And forecasting future online sales over the average growth rate of 11.3% annually (see above article) is downright dangerous without making a significant Market Shift.

Here’s How To Market Shift with Your “SuperCyberCenter”:

ADD 15% to 20% of sales from other LOCAL retailers, restaurants, pharmacies & grocers (Third Party Sellers) to your existing in-store sales (as The Titans are doing) with a SuperCyberCenter = 40% additional sales & 79% added profits including your 15% ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment) in-store sales – WITH HIGHER PROFITS.

Shift your overall strategy to easier achieved platforms as many of these LOCAL retailers do not yet have e-commerce capability but know they need it. Why struggle with underperforming e-commerce fulfillment platforms when easier, more profitable trends are right in front of you.

“Too often business leaders spend too much time thinking about what they do. They think about costs, margins, the “business model” and execution. But success really has less to do with those things than understanding trends, and capitalizing on those trends by shifting. You don’t have to be the lowest cost, or most efficient or even the most passionate. What works a lot better is to go where the trends are favorable, and give customers solutions that align with the trends. And if you do this early, before anyone else, you’ll have a lot of time to figure out how to make money before competitors try to cut your margins!”

“Recognize that most “execution” is about preserving what happened in the past. Trying to do things better, faster and cheaper. But in a rapidly changing world, new competitors change the basis of competition.”

“For investors, employees and suppliers you are better off to be with the company that shifts. It has the ability to grow with the trends. And the faster you get out of those companies which are stuck, locked-in to their old business model and practices in an effort to defend historical behaviors, the better off you’ll be. Despite the P/E multiples, or other claims of “value investing,” to succeed you’re a lot better off with the company that’s finding and building on trends than the ones managing costs.” Quoted from “Winners Shift, Losers Don't” (see article).

Your new SuperCyberCenter sales are assembled, paid for as we leave the store and delivered by our professional CyberValet^® Shoppers from all your Third Party Sellers usually in less than 1-Hour 24 / 7 / 365 at the same (or less) price than in-store prices. And delivery can be FREE. Collectively, these are the reasons why the other LOCAL stores will participate with you, INSTEAD OF THE TITANS, as NONE of The Titans can offer them any of these significant SuperCyberCenter features, making SuperCyberCenters uniquely different than “Marketplaces”. AND, your high profile nationally-branded stores are the “BEACON” to drive in local online consumers (bringing even more traffic to you from your Third Party Sellers’ myriad and loyal local customers.)

AND it’s 100% turnkey – We do it all.

Let your customers know about your SuperCyberCenter’s 1-Hour In-Store Shopping & Delivery program – they will be delighted to participate because their needs are so great and SuperCyberCenters uniquely offer other important local stores and restaurants “When You Just Can’t Get out, Or Have Better Things To Do ®” Your LOCAL Third Party Sellers will willingly do the same promotions.

Neither Walmart nor Amazon can match, let alone beat, your SuperCyberCenter. (It’s patented.) And it complements & significantly enhances your current Online & In-Store platforms.

Your SuperCyberCenter is the difference between being relevant, or becoming irrelevant, in today’s new e-commerce culture. However most staff members prefer the “Same-Old-Thing” because it’s job security – no risk – nothing unknown/new. Only rising star staff members have the chutzpah to recommend such reasonable initiatives as Market Shifting and SuperCyberCenters.

If 40% sales increase with 79% higher profits is of interest, let’s discuss the feasibility of your company adding a SuperCyberCenter (or, in the least, joining one).

Thank you,

Gail

The Battle Of The E-Commerce Titans (Wal-Mart & Amazon) Heats Up Fast - LOOK AT THIS

2011-05-03T16:51:00.001-04:00

For several years now, we have been reporting on The Growth Of The Internet as it relates to retail stores and shopping centers.

At first, our reports were met by Out-And-Out skepticism. “After all, 15% annual growth of not much is still nothing.” Nobody is saying this anymore.

Our Online Retail Sales Growth Chart (below) was summarily discarded by most last year – Now it is used by many as reference material.

What also was ignored: “The Battle Of The Titans” (Click Here) between Walmart and Amazon for dominance of E-commerce.

LOOK AT THIS IMPORTANT article about Amazon (Click Here). Their surging online sales plus Walmart’s “Project Titan” (Click here) with faster delivery (Next-Day instead of 3 to 10 Days) of online orders from their local stores, are heating up E-commerce competition to the boiling point.

These powerful initiatives will raise online retail sales way beyond anything anyone anticipated, thus raising the stakes for all other players WAY beyond the current E-commerce Status Quo (i.e. free delivery in 3 to 10 days).

THE NEXT DIMENSION OF E-COMMERCE BEGINS.

AND, LIKE IT OR NOT, YOUR STORES ARE ALL RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS ENORMOUS NEW BATTLEFIELD.

After all – it is YOUR store sales that the Titans are after. Neither Walmart nor Amazon is going to let anyone win without giving huge unmatchable consumer incentives way beyond what is sustainable. As the above reports confirm: It’s going to be a long and bloody battle. There will be a few winners starting with the consumer (and Walmart) and a lot of losers starting with single-line Bricks & Click stores who rely on 3 to 10 day delivery services.

Previously; Bricks & Clicks retailers could hide behind the fact that Walmart & Amazon did not sell their BRANDS as well as the major segment of consumers who did not want to go to Walmart’s large and crowded stores.

THIS ONLINE BATTLE HAS 100% CHANGED ALL THAT. They now both have significant Online “Marketplaces” – participating retailers filling in their blind spots including all independent brand names.

SCARY STUFF: Look at the tremendous firepower these two are pouring into this long term, fiercely fought battle. Nobody else in their right mind can even think of matching this as the Titans extend their powerful reach with much lower prices, much wider selection, and now much faster delivery right past your stores into your customers’ living rooms.

Stores with flat in-store sales can no longer count on increasing their e-commerce sales to make up the difference. Pick-Up in-store and 3 to 10 day delivery – even if it is free, won’t cut it now. Of course, you could try in-house delivery as Webvan did and Sears is struggling to do with MyGofer !

BUT HERE IS THE SCARIEST THING

Inertia & Apathy: Everyone is afraid of losing their job – their focus is not their customers, company or market cap – so nothing original or daring is done – except by Wal-Mart and Amazon; who now have an open field to play in – virtually uncontested. Without immediate, innovative and aggressive competitive leadership, the future growth engine of retail will be permanently lost to these two Titans.

SUMMARY: The Only Proven Solution Against The Titans is ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment – 24 / 7 / 365 – In-Store Shopping & Delivery usually in less than 1-Hour)

The only risk you have is in doing nothing.

The fact is: improving your e-commerce service level (and surpassing theirs) is easy, cost effective and clearly the future. ROOF is also 100% turnkey. However, as ROOF is relatively new, its implementation will take leadership from the top of your corporation.

Our brief, but comprehensive, online slide presentation including options and FAQs can be viewed here. (NOTE: Our ROOF website is ‘live’ in zip 33180 for demonstration purposes and can be reconfigured to meet your requirements.)

P.S. For even greater increased revenue and sales, ask about creating, or joining, a ROOF Branded SuperCyberCenter^© to out-distance Walmart and Amazon’s Online “Marketplaces”.

Thank You,

Gail

Walmart Just Beat Everyone Out Of The Gate AGAIN

2011-04-25T14:03:00.009-04:00

IMPORTANT E-COMMERCE NEWS UPDATE

In our last blog post dated April 19 (below), Wal-Mart said their Next-Day Delivery Program was not yet approved, so we felt you had a 90+ day window to become prepared. Well, thanks to their purposeful misinformation, we were wrong !

On Saturday, April 24, Wal-Mart opened “Walmart To Go” (see Article) starting with NEXT-DAY delivery of groceries in San Jose, California as part of their “Project Titan” (see Article); same as they have been doing in the UK, Mexico and Japan.

This is Super Bad News for Amazon, Safeway, Peapod and your local grocers. BUT THAT’S JUST THE START OF THIS E-COMMERCE RETAIL REVOLUTION. After all, Wal-Mart now needs to grow $14 BILLION every year just to stay relevant. And their new market share has to come from someone else…. like you.

Can you foresee when everything is delivered by Walmart from their local retail complex with no other local competing stores existing ? Well, they can.

Wal-Mart has repeatedly stated that “Project Titan” is the beginning of Wal-Mart’s push to become the lead e-commerce retailer worldwide (see Article). But when you look at the retail landscape objectively, Wal-Mart’s “Pick Up Today” and “Walmart To Go” offer high consumer convenience that not only increases Wal-Mart’s ONLINE business but takes customers away from competing local stores with Wal-Mart’s significantly lower prices and much higher service levels.

Wal-Mart just eliminated the consumer’s need to navigate traffic, long cashier line-ups and miles of walking in stores: when they could be golfing, at the ball game or enjoying their family ! Smart People – Wal-Mart recognized and acted upon the obvious consumer needs and wants as well as offset the various problems people experience in shopping at Walmart stores. And, Wal-Mart’s low in-store prices apply for delivery – approximately 27% less than regular supermarket prices.

NOW THAT’S TOUGH TO BEAT – And of course they planned it this way and are looking for as much lead time as they can get by telling you it’s only a test and only groceries. BUT THEY ARE ALREADY DELIVERING THEIR ENTIRE RETAIL PRODUCT RANGE IN THE UK, MEXICO AND JAPAN. So, Walmart To Go is no test and it’s not just groceries in the long run.

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS – While we had hoped you might beat Wal-Mart “Out-Of-The-Gate” and take the lead position with our patented Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) program; Wal-Mart has demonstrated the future of retail clearly is in Rapid Home Delivery as they did in the UK, Mexico, Japan and now the U.S.

This Leads You To Two New Opportunities:

1. Visionary retail leaders will seize the opportunity to improve on Project Titan’s initiatives and become the industry leaders by eclipsing Walmart’s Same-Day Pick Up and Next-Day Delivery with ROOF 1-Hour In-Store Shopping and Delivery, which even Wal-Mart cannot beat. And Wal-Mart probably won’t try to match ROOF for some time to come, thus allowing you to grasp the lead time they were counting on to establish market dominance.

Before Wal-mart opened the Rapid Home Delivery program door thus trouncing the current 3 – 10 day e-commerce common practice, retailers were content with the status quo. And, as Wal-Mart hopes and expects, these retailers will ignore Walmart To-Go and Wal-Mart's Project Titan initiatives once again, until it is too late.

2. Implement a ROOF SuperCyberCenter^© (i.e. Virtual SuperCenter = Walmart and Virtual Marketplaces = Amazon and others). This is a huge new way to leverage ALL your current assets – tangible and intangible - and earn additional profit from participating stores.

For example, most local and regional grocery stores have completely ignored Home Delivery as Wal-Mart Supercenters began significantly stealing their in-store sales in the late 90’s. Now, with “Walmart To Go”, they have a major incentive to join your ROOF SuperCyberCenter© – a competitive Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) local area consortium in a SuperCyberCenter format, thereby further increasing your sales and profits both in your stores and through their online sales in your ROOF SuperCyberCenters, which are greater in consumer scope than Walmart’s Project Titan.

Due to the now proven importance to Wal-Mart’s future growth of their “Project Titan”, we hope we can start ROOF with you ASAP so as to steal Project Titan’s thunder in the Media.

Thank you,

Gail

Internet Titans Are Changing E-Commerce Rules

2011-04-19T12:18:00.002-04:00

Wal-Mart, in order to become the world’s largest ONLINE retailer has started The Internet “Battle Of The Titans” against Amazon, eBay, Target and others. (See Article)

To do this quickly, Wal-Mart is changing the rules of the e-commerce industry by stepping up speed of delivery from 3 to 10 business days to “Same-Day and Next-Day” that none of Amazon, eBay nor Target (nor anyone else) can realistically match in order to gain overall market share.

This leaves Bricks-N-Clicks retailers in a fight they can’t win if they continue to use their current, more expensive, e-commerce 3 to 10 Business-Day delivery, thus creating a new wave of “The Living Dead” similar to Borders, Circuit City, Blockbuster, Linens-n-Things and Office Depot.

Wal-Mart plans to have their online “Pick Up Today” program in all their Supercenters nationwide within 90 days. (See Article) Next, they “are considering” entering the “ONLINE Next-Day Delivery” arena with their “Project Titan” as they are already doing in the U.K., Mexico and Japan, (See Article) thus setting new industry standards everyone else must follow (if they can) or die.

Competing with “Project Titan’s” massive number of local Wal-Mart stores, huge local inventories and purchasing power will require Bricks-N-Clicks retailers to immediately adopt a new Space Age strategy.

Unfortunately, their current e-commerce distribution systems cannot help Bricks-N-Clicks retailers in the “Same-Day and Next-Day” Battle of the Titans for control of the now powerful retail e-commerce industry, leaving them as the net loser, as these Titans have done many times before.

Smaller players need to beware. This is a new industry, with new rules of pricing and customer convenience, way outside the scope and experience of in-house experts or normal retail consultants.

Single-line Bricks-N-Clicks retailers competing against these multi-line Supercenters and “Marketplace” Titans will no longer attract the traffic needed for significant future growth when consumer demands for further improved selection and convenience are considered.

Inevitably, the ranks of “The Living Dead” will increase for those who cannot adapt quickly.

BUT…There Is A Solution These Titans Cannot Match

ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment): In-Store shopping and delivery usually in less than 1-Hour, 24 / 7 / 365 AT DELIVERED PRICES LESS THAN IN-STORE PRICES. And, it’s 100% turnkey. ROOF provides a much higher level of service than FedEx, UPS and USPS and is easier to use and at less cost WITH A FULL ARRAY OF TOP LOCAL RETAIL STORES, RESTAURANTS, PHARMACIES & GROCERS, thus outmaneuvering any Supercenter or Marketplace.

ROOF implementation is less costly, easier and more profitable than regular e-commerce methods. PLUS, ROOF drives more retail sales through your local stores’ cash registers while increasing customer loyalty with Space Age Delivered In A Flash^® service.

Simply stated: As in-store sales across the board continue to falter and online sales sky-rocket, doing the “Same-Old-Thing” against “Project Titan” will lead to further decreasing online sales, more store closings and significant job losses.

There can be no question what the consumer wants and where “Project Titan” is trying to go. (See chart below)

None of these Titans have ROOF’s powerful and patented system and marketing tools. Be there first to capture the consumers’ hearts and minds – install your ROOF system now to prevent the Internet Titans from luring away your In-Store and Online customers with “Same-Day and Next-Day” service as they intend to do within the next few months.

The only risk you have is in doing nothing.

Our brief online slide presentation can be viewed here. (NOTE: Our ROOF website is ‘live’ in zip 33180 for demonstration purposes and can be reconfigured to meet your requirements.)

Please let me know a convenient time to discuss your participation.

P.S. For even greater increased revenue and sales, ask about joining our SuperCyberCenters^©.

Thank you,

Gail

Gail W. Nichols - Vice Chair

The ONLY Way Retailers Can Compete With Amazon and EBay

2011-02-06T14:32:00.002-05:00

As Jack Welch once said: “If You Don’t Have A Competitive Edge, Don’t Compete.”

Amazon’s phenomenal web-only growth could exceed $80 billion by 2020..…exceeding Sears’ current sales by 2013, Target’s by 2017 and Kroger’s by 2020.

You don’t stop juggernauts like this by playing their game.

Rather, you need to change the playing field to your game, with your rules, that they simply can’t match.

HERE’S HOW:

The Achilles Heel of all web-only retailers, no matter how big they are, is TIME – that translates into consumer convenience.

3 to 10 day order fulfillment is simply not convenient when compared to 1-Hour fulfillment from stores.

Store-based 1-Hour fulfillment with effectively 0% returns is less costly than web-only programs with 30% return rates.

The truly amazing thing about this is: It’s very easy for retailers to change these rules of competition and impossible for web-only retailers to get into this new game.

Amazon’s game started with the Internet’s new e-commerce facility starting in 1999 that caused the biggest retailing change of the last decade.

Retailers can change that game to Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) in 2011 and direct new online orders to their stores while using their web facilities to round out their retail sales channel.

Implementation is easy: Retailers already have the key assets in play – their local stores and their e-commerce program.

Our Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) program provides 100% turnkey 1-Hour personal shopping and delivery – store staff doesn’t do anything other than ring orders through their cash registers.

Retailers can be operational as quickly as they like.

We invite you to call us to take the lead now while it is still available.

Thank You,

Gail

Retailers count on gift cards to shore up their January sales

2011-01-21T10:55:00.001-05:00

Did you buy or receive a gift card recently?

In a post-holiday survey by ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) consumers said 14.5% of their total holiday gift purchases were in the form of gift cards or certificates, up from 13.1% in 2009. That was the highest since 2007, when the reported average share was 14.7%.

ICSC predicts only 36.3% of gift cards will be redeemed this month, down from 45% last year and 46.4% in 2009.

Tolu Babalola, spokesman for GiftCardRescue.com, which buys unwanted gift cards and lets people exchange them for others, believes more consumers are putting off redemption because of new federal gift card rules. The rules limit expiration dates to five years after purchase and prohibit dormancy fees for non-use until after the first year. As of Feb. 1, the dates and fees also must be disclosed right on the cards.

You can read more at USATODAY.com article:

Happy Shopping !

Gail

Why The Web Has Won

2011-01-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

Rachel Ryan, Director of Finance at the National Retail Federation (NRF) has a terrific posting on Retail's BIG Blog. Here is an excerpt:

"In the past decade there have been two winners in the retail space -- warehouse clubs and Web-based stores, according to Patti Freeman Evans, research director at Forrester Research. Why has the Web superseded other channels? Evans shares three reasons for the success of the Web, as well as what changes retailers need to make to compete.

So, why has the web won?

The web has created a new competitive market in which geography is no longer the driving force. Companies cite Amazon, eBay, and small online shops as their competition, in addition to traditional players. The web has created a border-less world in which much broader and global markets exist. Successful retailers must have conversations about how best to manage that marketplace.

The web has empowered brands allowing companies to enforce their brand image and message. 57% of U.S. respondents agreed with the statement, “When I find a brand I like, I stick to it.” It is therefore up to retailers to ensure that the consumer experience with their brand is consistent. For example, store associates should have access to the web to educate themselves and sell product – thereby having access to the same information that the consumer has access to.

Channel sales are getting blurred. In the next two years, over half of U.S. retail sales will be influenced or impacted by the web. Nike refers to this new world as “bricks and mobile” and internally stresses the importance of watching what is happening online, both at digital interfaces such as Facebook and competitors’ websites."

TheNowMall.com provides "bricks and mortar" retailers another channel to sell locally via our 1-Hour Personal Shopping & Delivery program. This 100% turnkey Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) program increases customer loyalty and store sales while reducing the usual e-commerce return rates (normally 30%) by getting products into the customer's hands within the hour rather than in days.

The ROOF program is currently offered at Aventura Mall, FL with over 300 retailers and restaurants. Customers browse and order online (or by phone) via TheNowMall.com Network whose CyberValet Shoppers go to the store, purchase the items and deliver them to the customer usually within the hour.

National rollout of the ROOF program is in conjunction with other regional malls.

Happy Shopping !

Gail

2011-01-15T11:15:00.001-05:00

The National Retail Federation (NRF) publishes great articles.

Here is an excerpt from Retail's BIG Blog January 12/11 posting "Not on Facebook? Here’s why you should be" by Margaret Case Little, Communication Manager.

Margaret interviewed Bernie Brennan to get his views on social media and mobility as a retail game changer. With a recently published best-selling book on the significant opportunities that retailers have to build market share by amplifying their culture and strategy through these new digital channels, Bernie’s insights into this component of the evolving industry are worth a read.

"In your book, “Branded!: How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social Media and Mobility”, you write about retailers who are successfully implementing social media and mobility strategies. What made you want to write the book?

We believe that the rapid emergence of the “digital era” represents the most dynamic change in the relationship between retailers and consumers in the history of retail. Because this paradigm change is so dramatic, the degree of implementation on the part of retailers varies substantially. We were encouraged by industry leaders as well as executives of NRF to write a book directed to the executive leadership of retailers, as opposed to a technical book.
What are the three most innovative social media tactics you’ve seen utilized recently?

Frankly, there are many, and new initiatives are being implemented almost daily. To answer your question specifically, here are three compelling initiatives:

1. Commerce on Facebook. This enables customers to be interactive, discussing planned purchases, while they shop online. There are three proactive retailers: 1-800-Flowers.com was the pioneer, Best Buy, and JCPenney, who are executing this strategy and are featured in Branded!

2. Localization is a compelling strategy that relates to dealing with customer needs on a local level. Now with the use of social media networks and location-based mobility, the retailer can truly serve individual stores’ local needs. Macy’s and Best Buy are leaders in this initiative.

3. Effective use of Twitter. Success of Twitter is based on a company’s open culture, and hiring, empowering, and inspiriting associates to be ambassadors of the company. Zappos is the industry leader in the social media channel."

We invite you to read the balance of Margaret's NRF blog posting.

TheNowMall.com is a locally-focused sales, marketing and distribution network enabling retailers and restaurants to offer 1-Hour Personal Shopping & Delivery as an additional channel for consumers to purchase their favorite products online.

Please let us know if you'd like us to publish more of similar retail-oriented articles on TheNowMall.com blog.

Happy Shopping !

Gail

Aspirational Shoppers

2011-01-14T12:12:00.000-05:00

Are you "Aspirational" ?! "Aspirational" shoppers -- consumers who have fancy tastes but cannot afford the most expensive items -- are feeling more confident.

"Rich shoppers have recovered far more quickly from the recession than middle and lower income consumers, and are hitting stores in droves to snap up cashmere sweaters, designer dresses and diamond necklaces at stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus" according to this Reuters article

"Upscale retailers have had the extra benefit of catering to a clientele willing and able to pay full price, unlike middle-of-the-road chains like J.C. Penney Co and Liz Claiborne's Lucky Brands stores, which still have to watch their prices."

Whether you're Aspirational or just feel inspired to shop but find it hard to get out, if you live in Aventura, FL, you can shop online for retail, groceries and restaurant meals (including Food Court yummies) and get 1-Hour personal shopping and delivery via http://aventuranowmall.com/

TheNowMall: The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®

The White Paper On The Future Of Retail Stores

When All Around You Fails – Sometimes Common Sense Is Hidden In Plain Sight

The Importance Of Innovation In The Future Of Retailing

Google has just confirmed everything we’ve ever told you – the future of e-commerce is CONVENIENCE.

NEWS ALERT The Retail Battle Of The Decade - With Retail Stores As Collateral Damage

Have Walmart, Amazon & eBay Made You & Your Industry Irrelevant ? Here's A Glimpse Of The Future.

The Four Horsemen Driving The AMAZON Retail Apocalypse

Get Amazon Out Of Your Stores – While You Still Can

Who Wins? Juggernauts, Innovators, Caretakers or Undertakers: A Surprising Conclusion

Adapt Or Die - The Big Box K-T Extinction Event - Who Survives ?

Marketplaces: Holy Grail of Retail E-Commerce - Your Silver Bullet for Rapid Growth

The largest REMs are:

Amazon, one of the fastest growing retailers today with 40% of sales ($16 Billion annually) through its REM;

eBay with its announced $2.4 billion purchase of GSI Commerce (one of the first and largest REMs); and

Walmart, through the recent creation of its “Project Titan” REM.

Delivery is by FedEx, UPS and USPS usually within 3 to 10 days. However, both Walmart and Amazon are trying to speed up delivery with Next Day service.

Like all new sales and marketing channels, the early visionaries have the best chance of success in this powerful but highly selective new arena.

Pros Of REMs:

REMs can increase owner/manager’s sales 35% to 50% (see Amazon above) and profits 50% to 100%REMs instantly broaden owner/manager’s products and marketplace

REMs increase traffic to owner/manager’s e-commerce websites and Bricks & Mortar locations that could not be done without a REM

REMs enable cross-marketing online and in-store with Third Party Sellers

Cons Of REMs:

REM owner/managers must have sufficient initial traffic to attract enough Third Party Sellers

REM owner/managers need specialized experience to run and succeed with a REM

REM owner/managers need strong branded national presence for rapid consumer acceptance

REM owner/managers need a unique marketing differentiator to attract sufficient Third Party Sellers

Branded REM SuperCyberCenters© – Your “Silver Bullet” For Rapid Growth

As the main function of retail e-commerce is DELIVERY Of Products, major differentiators include: speed of delivery, efficiency, hours of service, payment & collection and quality control features of delivery.

Major Differentiators of Your Branded REM SuperCyberCenter versus Walmart, Amazon & eBay REMs:

· Rapid Online Order Fulfillment (ROOF) Program – 100% Turnkey, Patented

o 1-Hour, 24 / 7 / 365 order assembly and local delivery from your stores and your Third Party Sellers’ instead of 3 to 10 Days delivery by FedEx, UPS & USPS

o Product payment to store cashier by ROOF CyberValet Shoppers before leaving

o Personal Customer service at-their-door with product inspection prior to transfer and payment

o Returns processing to store where product purchased

· Virtual contact center for consumer inquiries, order processing oversight, tech support

· National sales team that recruits, coordinates and manages your SuperCyberCenter’s Third Party Sellers

· National transport team experts recruit, train and supervise CyberValet Shoppers

Why Partner With Us:

As there is room for only a limited number of major REM retailers in local communities, please call us now while your preferred areas remain available. We look forward to working with you.

The Retail Market Is SHIFTING Again - Who Is Winning, Who Is Losing ?

The Battle Of The E-Commerce Titans (Wal-Mart & Amazon) Heats Up Fast - LOOK AT THIS

Walmart Just Beat Everyone Out Of The Gate AGAIN

Internet Titans Are Changing E-Commerce Rules

The ONLY Way Retailers Can Compete With Amazon and EBay

Retailers count on gift cards to shore up their January sales

Why The Web Has Won

Aspirational Shoppers

Branded REM SuperCyberCenters^© – Your “Silver Bullet” For Rapid Growth