BREAKING NEWS - The Retail Sleeping Giants Are Awakening !

BREAKING NEWS

The Retail Sleeping Giants Are Finally Awakening !

Giving Big Box Retailers The Chance Of A Lifetime To Leap-Frog Amazon.

National Retail Federation’s (STORES.org) May 2013 lead article published last week is appropriately entitled “Moving Fast” which is a powerful double entendre for Big Box retailers.  (see National Retail Federation (NRF) article here).

Principally, this article pertains to the opportunity that enables your team to take a commanding lead in your industry as well as Retail In General.  It says:

“Late last fall, USPS joined a crowded field of retailers and logistics experts, all attempting to find the Holy Grail: the right product, price point and customer for Same-Day delivery.”  (see Chart 1 below)

NOW CONFIRMED:  The Consumers #1 Choice = Instant Gratification

For years, Big Box retailers have heard from us that their solution to Amazon is to focus on the retail consumer’s #1 choice of “Convenience” = Rapid Delivery = Instant Gratification = The Retail Holy Grail (Chart 1).

This NRF article confirms our R&D results shown in Chart 1, which is what the Grocery & Restaurant industries with highly time-sensitive products have known for years, but have never achieved. (Other than Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, one of our founders.)

The consumer’s #2 choice is Price and their #3 choice is Widest Product Selection – as this article also confirms – and as Walmart has known for years.

It took Amazon 15 years in retail to help prove the point that Convenience (Rapid Delivery = Instant Gratification) is the consumer’s #1 choice.

Now that the roof on retail bricks & mortar stores has finally fallen in because they historically missed this strategic point, this article describes it as follows:

“Amazon has pushed the envelope on what’s possible and has gotten pretty successfully to two-day delivery on a lot of items,”  see Chart 2 for confirmation

Now The Sleeping Giants Are Beginning To Awaken To The New Consumer Reality.

The incredible opportunity for your company is:  These Giants Are Not YET Fully Awake as this article also attests.

This NRF lead article for their May 2013 issue details how Retail Giants are finally being FORCED by Amazon into giving the Consumers their #1 choice:  Rapid Delivery – at great cost and inconvenience and still missing the Holy Grail this article references.

However, this article only deals with “Same-DAY” delivery as Amazon is only doing Same-DAY in select markets, in limited time frame windows (not Same-HOUR 24 / 7 / 365) but this article correctly states:

“From my perspective, there’s a lot of inside-the-industry hype (about Same-Day), but it’s not the customer demanding it.”  Absolutely Correct.  They want Instant Gratification = Same-HOUR. See Chart 1

“only 4.2 percent of consumers use Same-DAY delivery frequently” Absolutely Correct.   83% want Same-Hour Fulfillment – see Chart  1. Offer it and discover the huge market you’ve been searching for – Chart 3 – and with ADDED profits most executives simply can’t conceive or believe – Chart 3.

This article confirms what we’ve been saying for years – Chart 1 – which is “The Retail Holy Grail”:  NOBODY “WANTS” SAME-DAY DELIVERY which means waiting for “something” to arrive “sometime” during the usual 4 to 8 hour time period, or 2 hour windows – same as “waiting for the cable-guy” and then at a huge cost that nobody wants to pay.

People Simply Hate To Wait

This NRF article also outlines why TheNowMall.com does the various things we uniquely do, that others have never done before, such as providing a huge, dedicated CyberValet® Shopper/Driver pool that is necessary to handle on-demand orders in 30 to 60 minutes during the various Peaks & Valleys 24 / 7 / 365 including Seasonal Peaks & Valleys as this article mentions, PLUS Free Delivery Etc.,  Etc. (see Charts 4 & 7 for more details)

Same-HOUR is less expensive than Same-DAY for myriad reasons that the retail industry can’t yet grasp simply because there are a lot of underlying factors that even this enlightened article is wrestling with.  However, we perfected how to deal with these issues years ago even before we did McDonald’s 30-minute fulfillment program or we couldn’t have succeeded beyond even McDonald’s wildest expectations (except we made it “look” too easy !). See Chart 5

But when the retail industry “finally sees the light at the end of the Amazon tunnel”, stand back and watch the stampede, to which this NRF article continuously alludes.

But for now, the Sleeping Giants are only thinking about “Same-DAY” not the consumer’s wish for Instant Gratification = Same-HOUR, simply because Amazon is now only doing Same-DAY, leading the parade again but in the wrong direction, as this article is very clear about.  Where are all the Industry leaders ?

While Same-Day is a huge step forward from their 3 to 10 day delivery position 9 months ago, it’s not the long term game-changer that is sorely needed – see Chart 2.

But the best is yet to come.

Your Chance Of A Lifetime To Offset Amazon & Walmart

As you have been reading our E-News Updates for some time now, you are probably already 90% convinced that only 30 to 60 minute Rapid Fulfillment can BEAT Amazon, while (as this article indicates), the rest of the retail industry is at least a year or two behind you in vision, INCLUDING AMAZON & WALMART !    

To support this:  Last year we were told by one of these still struggling Retail Giants as they started their Same-Day tests:

“Your concept is clearly different in its approach and perhaps one day, many people will shop this way. For now though, we are going to pass.  This is not to say "not ever", simply "not now." (due diligence officer, S. Jensen – August 2012)  Across the country, millions of people every year have been consistently ordering “this way” from our Co-founder, Tom Monaghan’s Domino’s Pizza, for well over 50 years !

In 2010, we were told by one of the largest Regional Mall owners:

“E-commerce will not affect us because 15% of nothing is still nothing” (due diligence officer, P. Flanagan – March 2010) now converting some of their malls to other rental uses.

This is Great News for your Big Box stores !

The MINUTE you open your first SuperCyberCenter Mall in Buffalo, NY,  for your industry competitive reasons against Amazon & Walmart; AS A BONUS, the other 25 top Big Box retailers & Major Regional Mall owners (who are also hurting because of Amazon) will immediately increase their due diligence.  Key media (including Neil Cavuto – Fox News) and most retail Industry Analysts will also immediately focus their attention on this newsworthy event.  They all religiously read our periodic E-Newsletters as Rapid Delivery is a trending topic.

This is because they all know:

“IF” Same-HOUR fulfillment can be done ECONOMICALLY, Profitably & Efficiently, without Interruption to their current store operations, which Same-Day delivery simply cannot ever do – a new world is upon them.

As nobody else on this planet has anywhere near our 50 years’ combined INSTANT GRATIFICATION knowledge and ability – it’s easy for us to prove that it’s practical with a major Marketing Partner.

When The Retail Holy Grail is conclusively proven via a simple test in Buffalo, NY –a small but well-defined test city, this will give you an enormous opportunity at relatively no cost to execute an Industry-Changing Business Method Worldwide that puts your stores light-years ahead of any and all competitors, including Amazon. 

This solution includes more than just Rapid Fulfillment; it brings you incremental in-store sales and ADDED industry profits as well as increased market cap/share value - as we have achieved before as per Charts 6 & 7.

Same-Day Delivery Failure Is Now Reported

Big Box retailers have been hit hard by Amazon and many are doing many great and positive things to offset this damage, but no strategy has yet risen to this extreme long-term game-changing challenge –including Same-DAY delivery.

Your current Same-Day delivery results have been costly and disappointing and have not met your expectations (as this NRF article clearly indicates is true for all retailers), nor has Same-Day delivery in the least offset Amazon’s nor Walmart’s growing threat to your E-commerce future - see Chart 2.

Your Once In A Lifetime Opportunity:

Before the Sleeping Giants wake up to the real future of E-commerce as the consumer is demanding (Chart 1) – now is your chance to Capture Dominance In Retail with a simple field trial of the Retail Holy Grail: 30 to 60 Minute, 24 / 7 / 365,  Instant Gratification, with FREE Delivery with us in Buffalo, NY; then Pittsburgh, PA; then Atlanta, GA, before your national roll-out of your SuperCyberCenter Network.

As Winston Churchill said:  “Americans always do the right thing . . . after they have tried everything else.” And Best Buy has tried everything else, as have most other retailers, and so far everything else has failed to offset Amazon – including Same-DAY delivery.

The obvious is upon you – Instant Gratification: 30 – 60 Minute Fulfillment – 24 / 7 / 365 = The Retail Holy Grail = Same-HOUR Fulfillment.

It’s almost here.  One major retailer is close to launching their first SuperCyberCenter Mall with us. 

Now is your chance to take the coveted Master Worldwide Marketing Partner Position and, in the least, take control of the future of your Industry – Chart 3.

We sure hope your stores join us in the Winner’s Circle.

Please call or email us ASAP.

Thanks,

Gail

 

So - Showrooming Is Dead ? Actually, It's Just Beginning to Heat Up !

Best Buy company spokesman MattFurman told Bloomberg:

Best Buy is confident that its latest policy change will kill "showrooming" in its stores for good.

Starting on March 3, the retailer will price match all local retail competitors, along with 19 "major online competitors" in all product categories, whenever a customer asks for it, 

“There is no doubt that this new policy ends showrooming for Best Buy customers,”  said Mr. Furman.

This statement assumes: “Amazon Is Dead”. Far From It.

For some time now, we’ve been highlighting our EVERGREEN Pricing Strategy. (Chart 1)  It’s similar to what Amazon and others use successfully.

In a nutshell: “Use higher profits from one product group, or service, to offset competitive pressure on a key product.”

Amazon uses their long time “EVERGREEN” pricing strategy most effectively, applying their “Evergreen Profits” from Sales Commissions from their 4 million Online Third Party Sellers to maintain overall growth and margins while lowering key product prices, long or short term, as need be.

Our EVERGREEN Pricing Strategy is similar, except you use “Evergreen Profits” from Sales Commissions from your 600,000 participating Physical Third Party Sellers (Local stores and restaurants) to lower your in-store and/or online product prices, as need be.

Amazon’s Siege Is On:

It’s not just Best Buy that hopes to keep Showrooming under control with price matching.  So are Target and RadioShack, amongst others.

However, price matching, declared or otherwise, without a long-term offsetting “EVERGREEN” profit source has always been a very risky and uncertain long term DEFENSIVE strategy,

AND it further encourages consumers to use their ever-increasing number of Smartphones in your stores against your ongoing best interests.

Particularly, it invites price wars by web-only retailers like Amazon who measures profits in free cash flow, not margins:

For example, see these excerpts from this Bloomberg article:

·        Amazon scares everyone. There are multiple reasons, but a big one was summarized by Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos in a Harvard Business Review interview posted lasted week, which ranked Bezos as one of the top executives in the world.

“Percentage margins are not one of the things we are seeking to optimize,” Bezos said, to make the counter-intuitive point that he does not particularly care about making money.

“It’s the absolute dollar free cash flow per share that you want to maximize. If you can do that by lowering margins, we would do that.

Free cash flow, that’s something investors can spend.”

·         Bezos has been reliably saying this sort of thing for years. To him, it’s still a land grab. So he’s prepared to cut prices to the bone and add all those freebies to cultivate customer loyalty and drive sales growth.

Then he reinvests it all in more low prices and further expansion, driving additional customer loyalty.

·         If you’re a competitor, it’s the Bermuda triangle of business.

·         And by the way, low margins to Bezos are a competitive advantage.

Jeff Bezos is a Past Master at using his “Evergreen Pricing” as a Sales & Marketing tool effectively.

You Need The Same OFFENSIVE Tool to survive and win.  Only your SuperCyberCenter^© with 600,000 Third Party Seller local merchants is that tool.  (see BEST BUY example in Chart 1 below)

Without such an aggressive long term OFFENSIVE tool to generate a ‘War Chest”, you will not be able to withstand Amazon’s siege against your margins using their “Evergreen Price-Tweaking” to the “Ouch No-Go” level.

And Amazon can do this for years until they win, as they did against Circuit City, Borders, Blockbuster and so many others. 

The Worst Part For You Is:

Your “price-matching” strategy backs you into a corner – it simply tells Jeff Bezos how weak and therefore vulnerable you really are,

You need a permanent Offensive pricing / marketing strategy instead of a Defensive position, expecting the consumer to do your pricing job for you.

AND Amazon will further encourage their Prime members with the convenience and cost savings of FREE Delivery  against you.

All Bezos has to do is concentrate on the obvious and weakest competitor(s) first to simply and inexpensively lessen his siege time and costs against you.

His first target is ALL the top 25 Bricks and Mortar retailers in America, including Walmart – Why Not ?

After all – time is on Bezos’ side - he has all the time in the world – he has nothing to lose, only you do !

The Only Long Term Permanent Solution In Sight:  Your SuperCyberCenter with 1-Hour Instant Gratification with Lower Prices and Wider Choices than Amazon.

Over the last several years, since E-commerce clearly emerged, (Chart 1) you’ve tried everything else, including price matching, and nothing has stopped Amazon’s phenomenal growth against you. In fact it continues to increase.

You’ve also resisted the only Game-Changing solution in sight (Your SuperCyberCenter –  see Chart 1 for Best Buy example) for all the standard reasons such powerful new innovative solutions have always had to overcome.  Trying to do something like this alone looks easy, but it is deceptively difficult – see the first line in Chart 6.

But when you finally see the riches of the promised land, as in all our other Industry-Changing successes, (Chart 5) you’ll never want to leave. (Charts 1, 2 & 3). We Promise.

To truly turn Showrooming in your favor, only a SuperCyberCenter can do it quickly, efficiently & profitably by meeting all three major consumer demands that collectively Amazon can never match:

(1)    Better LONG TERM Pricing than Amazon (supported by Evergreen profits to you);

(2)    Much Wider Product Choice (including time-sensitive groceries, restaurants & fast food – with profit from sales commissions to you (Chart 1) as Amazon does so successfully);

(3)    Super Convenience – 1-HOUR Fulfillment with Delivery (usually in 30 to 45 minutes); The Retail Holy Grail (Chart 4)

And, it’s not just Amazon & Showrooming to Fear.  Google, Microsoft and eBay arealso Gearing Up.

Having the ability to lower prices LONG TERM (while increasing your sales & profits – as Walmart did)  has always been  “The Retail Holy Grail”.

Your ONLY choices are:   Be “slowly eaten alive” by Amazon or do something powerful to “Change-The-Game” to the consumer’s obvious #1 choice: “One-Hour Instant Gratification with Lower Prices & much Wider Choices”.

In today’s retail world, Amazon is Goliath, but we are David – Chart 1 says it all.

All you need to do is:   Make That Call to us to schedule your initial trials.  Prepare to assuredly win this decisive battle.

We’ll answer ANY remaining questions you may have that are blocking you from achieving the Sales & Profits in Charts 1, 2 & 3.

As well as stopping Amazon’s “Showrooming Siege” against you, Dead In Its Tracks.

Respectfully,

Gail

Gail Nichols, Vice Chair

Why The Web Has Won

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

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