The Retail Odyssey - An Amazing But True Epic Modern Day Journey

Like the original story by Homer, the ending of The Retail Odyssey is filled with intrigue and power.

This modern journey reflects the influence on events resulting from choices made by various retail executives while fighting the economy, rapidly growing e-commerce and each other for the hand of the consumer – The Amazing Retail Odyssey – a truly epic journey.

The Retail Odyssey begins with retail executives who know their company inside and out; what makes them tick, and what doesn’t, and are therefore great warriors.


But the majority of these warriors are struggling to keep up with what the desires are today of prized, ever-changing consumers, and what they don’t want any longer.

The graphs below show the effect on their companies by these beleaguered retail executives who have tried to make the consumer fit their company’s policies and products rather than making their company and products fit today’s consumer – resulting in The Retail Odyssey being similar to Homer’s Odyssey.

Using Amazon as the “Gold Standard”, these graphs show each of the 22 retail combatants and their individual epic journeys – a 15 year journey in time similar to the original Odyssey. Each is a unique retailer with different results - but only one appears poised to ultimately win the hand of the consumer.

There is only one retailer so far that has beaten the Gold Standard. We show their amazing and, to some, a shocking Odyssey.

Take a minute to reflect on each of these actual and truly epic battles being fought in each frame below: consider what they should have done, and must now do to change the future outcome and see the result of their strengths and weaknesses in this rapidly changing and dangerous journey. How close is your conclusion for each of these combatants to the conclusion of this Retail Odyssey?

You will find this epic journey factual and highly interesting – one frame at a time: collectively revealing and explosive.

The Winner beat the Gold Standard and Won The Consumer

The 21 Combatants – The Suitors, who are not yet winning against the Gold Standard (In Alphabetical Order)

The Retail Odyssey Conclusion – Part 2

So far there has only been one winner against the Gold Standard – very few of the others have shown any sign of real innovation over the last 15 years, and specifically over the last 3 years when it was needed the most.


The likelihood of any of these 21 Suitors exceeding the Gold Standard is highly unlikely without employing true innovation.


Eventually, one of these 21 will see and think outside the conventional box and recognize that the sheer size of the victory outlined in the charts below requires a Ulysses’ type endeavor not found in conventional marketing boxes.


Our solution to winning the hand of the consumer (chart 3 below) is easy to apply and it’s 100% turnkey.


Similar to Ulysses, we developed it at enormous up-front time and cost to us while overcoming adversity. After being shipwrecked after an ambush (chart 5 below), like Ulysses, we are the only surviving entrepreneurs capable of helping any Suitor win the contest, albeit appearing as beggars – same as in the original Odyssey.


We have proven conclusively that consumers want and need our solution and will reward the retailers who work with us to provide it.


Please contact us when you are ready to win.


Thanks.
Gail Nichols, Vice Chair
The Now Mall
The Ultimate Shopping Convenience®

The Importance Of Innovation In The Future Of Retailing

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:

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).

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.

The ONLY Way Retailers Can Compete With Amazon and EBay

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

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