DANGER AHEAD - Jeff The Retail Giant Killer Strikes Again, But Did He Finally Make A Fatal Error ?

DANGER AHEAD:

Jeff The Giant Killer Strikes Again,

Outmaneuvering The Retail Giants. . Again.

BUT – DID HE FINALLY MAKE A FATAL ERROR ?

For years, Jeff Bezos has single-handedly led retailers away from the hidden realities (Chart 1) of the $4 Trillion Online V-Commerce Market he intends to dominate. (Chart 2)

He skillfully led them to a place of failure (Same-DAY delivery) to Jeff’s significant benefit,

Exactly as in the Fairy Tale:  Jack The Giant Killer.

As farfetched as this may seem to some of you,

Even this Fairy Tale pales in comparison to Jeff’s astonishing success, as most retailers already know the hard way.

It’s mostly due to his continuing and clever deceptions that have already led to the death of myriad retail Giants (e.g. Border Books, Circuit City, Blockbuster, etc.)  – just like in the Fairy Tale.

For years, we’ve been warning retailers that “The Key to The Giant’s Castle” is 30 to 45 minute (Same-HOUR) fulfillment and delivery (Chart 1),

But Bezos convinced them Same-DAY was the Secret to Success, instead of the Consumer’s #1 Choice:  Same-HOUR Fulfillment  (Chart 1),

And everyone quickly endorsed that erroneous conclusion,

Ignoring The Obvious Reality: 

Same-HOUR is less costly than Same-DAY when done right,

AND Same-DAY offers far less Consumer Convenience (33% want Same-DAY),

Than the Consumer’s #1 Choice: 30 to 45 Minute (1-HOUR) fulfillment (83% prefer Same-HOUR). See Chart 1

Then, To Everyone’s Complete Surprise:

Last week, Jeff announced his new 30 Minute Prime-Air “OctoCopter” DRONE Fulfillment Service,

Delivering from his huge new nationwide automated local area warehouses.

Secretly, he’s been quietly developing his Same-HOUR service for some time now,

While letting you believe Same-DAY was his sole objective !

Brilliant Deception – AND IT WORKED – AGAIN – (here’s the U-Tube Prime Air Video if you haven’t already seen it)

NO QUESTION ABOUT IT:  Jeff’s “OctoCopter” DRONES absolutely trump his Same-DAY Service for 80% of his inventory units,

Given the FAA finalizes its new rules governing use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Jeff’s favor,

This will happen when all the objections and difficulties are overcome (especially with someone like Jeff behind it).

All while most retailers are still trying to duplicate his Same-DAY service that he will eventually mostly phase out for all the right reasons.

IN THE MEANWHILE:  This huge Same-DAY Red Herring,

Just gave Jeff a clear and unobstructed pathway to the $4 Trillion Online V-Commerce Market,

Including time-sensitive items like groceries and restaurants and fast food’s “Hamburgers, Fries & A Coke”

Which collectively comprise over 60% of the $4 Trillion Online V-Commerce World Market.

All because major retailers bought into Jeff’s deception,

Ignoring: 

(1)   The Consumer’s #1 preference of 30 to 45 Minute (1-HOUR) fulfillment (Chart1)

(2)   Increased V-Commerce “Networking” Profits

(3)   The opportunity to finally offset Amazon

30 to 45 Minute (Same-HOUR) Rapid Fulfillment always has been the Consumer’s #1 demand,

Which we’ve been trying to tell Bricks and Mortar retailers for the last 7 years, with amazing difficulty,

Until J. P. Morgan came to our rescue in July, 2013 – Chart 2.

And that Jeff’s “OctoCopter” now confirms.

Then, as if that isn’t bad enough;

The Same-DAY Bridge everyone was crossing just collapsed mid-stream,

With the 2013 Cyber Monday’s 19% growth rate triple-trumping Bricks & Mortar store’s Black Friday sales, which, for thefirst time fell 2.9%.

Reality Check:

Things like “Beam-Me-Up-Scotty” and Jeff’s “OctoCopter”  (that Domino’s Pizza and others were testing months ago),

Are things that are Certainly Going To Happen sometime in the future.

But today’s Consumers want FREE 30 to 45 Minute 24 / 7 / 365 Rapid Fulfillment OF EVERYTHING – Delivered In A Flash® . . . . TODAY

Not just a few, small, light-weight items sometime in the future  . . . . . Maybe.

And remember The 4 V-Commerce Pillars which are essential to any successful 30 to 45 Minute FREE 24 / 7 / 365 Rapid Fulfillment V-Commerce Network:

1.      The RIGHT SIZE Professional WELL PAID “Shared” Workforce Pool of Drivers and Customer Service Reps.

2.      A full Consortium of local participating retailers is critical to supporting this huge workforce pool needed for V-Commerce Critical Mass,

That one retailer alone could never achieve – even Walmart.

AND Amazon is proportionately a bigger threat to local bricks & mortar “Mom and Pop” retailers than Amazon is to you.

3.      To attract the order volume needed for items 1 and 2 to achieve Critical Mass,

The right Major Anchor Tenant (Marketing Partner) is absolutely essential:

Same as Anchor Tenants are absolutely essential to every successful Major Regional Mall – NO EXCEPTIONS – NO DIFFERENCE.

And such Anchor Tenants, online & offline, get numerous added benefits for participating – such as:

a.      A low, to no cost prime location in the Consortium Network’s Online “Mall”.

b.      Net-Net 30 to 45 Minute (1-HOUR) FREE Fulfillment and Delivery 24 / 7 / 365 ON EVERY ORDER

At no cost to you as a Major Anchor Tenant

c.       Increased In-Store sales from Cross-Marketing with the other participating local area retailers (similar to any Regional Mall).

d.      Significant ROYALTIES as the Major Anchor Tenant from the added sales of the participating local area retailers

who ALSO have Amazon as their main competitor with no other effective method of competing.

e.      BONUS:  This Patented V-Commerce Network Is 100% Turnkey;

You and Your Staff Do Absolutely NOTHING Extra – EVER.

4.      A “Network Operating Partner” with our 35+ years of experience is needed to support items 1, 2 and 3 above, knowing exactly what to do and more importantly, what NOT to do.

a)      Operating liabilities such as third party product liabilities, traffic delivery accident liabilities and staffing liabilities, etc., are all the responsibility of the Network Operating Partner (similar to any Major Regional Mall and/or FedEx, UPS and USPS).

NOTE:

As you haven’t yet tried V-Commerce, possibly you still don’t believe the above is possible, or even necessary,

Same as you originally didn’t think Amazon and E-Commerce were possible, let alone necessary to most Consumers 15 years ago,

                        And more today than ever before.

And now comes the Amazon 30 Minute Fulfillment “OctoCopter” – Impossible You Say ???

Well Maybe for Domino’s Pizza.

Of course, you could simply continue giving your 30 – 45 minute orders to eBay or Google who are trying hard to copy our Network,

But without Anchor Tenant benefits equivalent, or even close to the above (one of The 4 Pillars to V-Commerce success),

Your order level will be less than optimal, with far more in-store assembly work, and less profitability in-store and virtually no Third Party Royalties (the biggest factor of all).

And eBay and Google are just as much your competitors as Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

“Cyber Monday sales surged, sending online shopping toward a single-day record siphoning consumers from brick-and-mortar stores

The results deliver another blow to physical stores, which just suffered the first spending decline on a Black Friday weekend since 2009.

Web sales this holiday season are projected to climb as much as 15 percent to $82 billion, more than three times faster than total retail growth of 3.9 percent to $602.1 billion”

HOWEVER;  To get your share of the $4 Trillion Online Market J. P. Morgan recently identified (Chart 2),

You need to step out of Amazon’s Fairy Tale into the online reality of V-Commerce starting with Charts 1 and 2

The sooner the better.

BUT WAIT – What Do We Suddenly See When We Look More Carefully ?

Jeff just made a fatal error, as he was eventually bound to do:

Jeff Just Admitted His Achilles’ Heel – 30 Minute Fulfillment Terrifies Him,

Which is why he now is abandoning his Same-Day Red-Herring and touting 30 minute fulfillment – which he can’t yet offer.

Regardless, he is now professing he is way ahead on his 30 Minute Fulfillment.

When The Truth Is: 

Jeff is light years behind on what “most” (but not all) retailers now know is the future of retail – 30 Minute Rapid Fulfillment.

But for those few remaining Doubting Thomases, Jeff’s “OctoCopter” just confirmed our above statements, once and for all.

YES – drones are a great idea – but realistically not any time soon – and further away for large bulky orders (where the real profits are).

But, for sure 30 Minute Fulfillment Drones are coming,

And for sure they are less expensive (well maybe) and more reliable (well maybe not).

But for absolutely sure it’s safe to say V-Commerce is here today, and has a clear 5 to 15 year window before our enhanced version of the drone (or any other “OctoCopter” or Beam-Me-Up-Scotty version) realistically appears.

Jeff is a really bright guy and knows this all too well, including all the pros & cons,

But Jeff had no other choice,

He had to announce his claim to 30 minute fulfillment while he still had the credibility to do so.

Your Chance To Capitalize . . . But The Reality Is:

Jeff needs more time to get his 30 Minute Fulfillment Prime Air Drone into long term profitable operating realities.

And the Bricks & Mortar retailers are probably going to give him the time he needs – before competing in the 30 Minute area.

Thus missing:

(1)   The largest new $4 Trillion World Retail Market of all time, ($2 Trillion U.S.) – Chart 2,

(2)   Their stockholders’ largest market cap gain of all time,

(3)   And their new online customers’ demands.

(4)   Probably the last real chance to offset Amazon.

All in the name of:

(1)   Waiting for other Bricks & Mortar retailers to go first,

(2)   Doing everything “in-house” regardless of the realities,

(3)   Doing nothing “risky” regardless of the higher risks of actually doing nothing,

(4)   Only dealing with Fortune 500 Companies, instead of with accomplished, financially vested, entrepreneurs (Charts 3 and 4).

No wonder Jeff’s deceptions are so successful.

But his competitors (and yours) eBay and Google are not being so “generous”,

Because they grew up in this new online retail generation,

Same as Jeff did, not caring about conventional Bricks & Mortar retailing guidelines.

EBay & Google understand this new generation Consumer and their demand for the Highest Convenience, Widest Choice & Best Price.

And are determined to prevent Jeff from dominating V-Commerce as he now does E-Commerce.

However, while eBay & Google are far closer to 30 Minute Fulfillment success than Jeff is with his “OctoCopter” (and who knows what else),

They are light years away from winning the $4 Trillion World V-Commerce Market without The 4 V-Commerce Pillars.

So you can just imagine;

Jeff is working at warp speed to offset this threat to his goal to dominate the $4 Trillion V-Commerce Worldwide Retail Market.

Someone will win this huge V-Commerce market J. P. Morgan detailed a few months ago,

That we have been detailing for major retailers for the last 7 years – Charts 1 and 2,

We have the Keys To The Giant’s Castle,

But we have always realistically known we can’t do it alone,

AND We Certainly Tried,

But it was bigger than we were, and is even bigger today.

Therefore, Jeff is assured of winning . . . at your expense,

As long as you are willing to let Jeff play his already successful game uncontested.

BUT IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE THAT WAY.

Are you that rare retail exception that is willing to try something powerful, proven and new ?

IF SO, Call us;

We Can Get You There.

Starting with a simple inexpensive TEST City to conclusively prove all the above to you and all your Doubting Thomases.

Most Respectfully,

 

Gail Nichols

www.TheNowMall.com

 

 

Forget The Living Room: Amazon Is Fighting For Your Whole Damn House ! (Including The Kitchen)

Further to “The Unbelievable” portion of our recent E-News (see Chart 1 below) for Big Box retailers:

To further help “connect the dots” to the “Now Believable” and the soon-to-be “Necessity” (see Chart 2 - example for Best Buy), we believe this new article quoting Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Mosaic and Netscape, will be of interest.  (See Article Here)

“These two initiatives could allow Amazon to topple (or at least maim) traditional retail.

“Retail guys are going to go out of business and ecommerce will become the place everyone buys. You are not going to have a choice,” Marc Andreessen told PandoDaily in January.

“We’re still pre-death of retail, and we’re already seeing a huge wave of growth. The best in class are going to get better and better. We view this as a long term opportunity.”

“If Amazon will sell you the same groceries as Walmart and deliver them straight to your doorstep the same day you order them, why make the trip to the labyrinthine monument to capitalism at all?”

We look forward to discussing this with you when you and your executive team are ready for the Unbelievable to become your Necessity.

Thanks,

 

Gail

 

The New TRILLION Dollar Retail Market – Instant Gratification

The New TRILLION Dollar Retail Market – Instant Gratification

A brand new space age Trillion Dollar Retail Market is upon us.

It’s a new way of living – EVERYTHING – Delivered In a Flash®.

Instant Gratification: The Holy Grail of Retail

Virtually everyone wants Instant Gratification, and always has.

In addition to those who want Instant Gratification, many people need it (e.g. Mobility-Challenged: Seniors 50+, People with Disabilities (temporary or permanent), Caregivers, Busy Families and Office Workers – collectively 50% of the population).

And some desperately require it (e.g. those with serious short or longer term illnesses).

A few Big Box retailers will lead the way in capturing a large portion of this new Trillion Dollar Market based on their unique market presence and their need for new sales, new markets and much higher incremental profits.

These visionary Big Box leaders will become the dominant retailer in their industry, the same as Walmart did 30 years ago with their unique store presence and Amazon did 15 years ago with their unique online presence. Both have continued to dominate these markets with their innovative vision ever since.

Other less visionary Big Box retailers who were innovators initially (which is why they grew so well then) are now becoming virtually irrelevant because of inertia or myopia. They will continue to fade away, while denying the reality of each part of this new market with every excuse in the book – until it’s too late, because Amazon and Walmart – their arch enemies – are already aggressively trying to own this ENTIRE new TRILLION dollar market before any retail executive even acknowledges its existence and/or importance.

The first step in gaining access to this huge new market is to understand it – which, by their own admission (shown below), only a few retail executives currently do, other than Walmart and, of course, Jeff Bezos (CEO Amazon).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Let us walk you through this Trillion Dollar Market, exploring the beginning stages, long term effects and its various constituents including the consumer.

Chart 1 (below) is the U.S. Government’s look at Amazon’s e-commerce “Killing Field” that, over the last 15 years, has caused Bricks & Mortar retailers’ sales to falter and, in many cases, to fail.

And the worst is yet to come.

Over the next 15 years, if left unchecked, Amazon’s Killing Field will decimate Bricks & Mortar stores as we know them today – putting thousands of your local area neighbors out of work. It’s that serious.

The reason is simple: As the price for gas, groceries and other commodities continues to rise exponentially, including school tuitions, health care costs and taxes, more and more people need a second job just to stay even, leaving less time for in-store shopping, hence the compounding convenience of e-commerce and its continuing explosive growth as shown in the next 3 charts below.

Let’s look carefully at this NEW Trillion Dollar Market.

And a typical Big Box retailer’s potential to become a dominant player in it.

BUT FAIR WARNING – This is not for the faint of heart – very few retail executives will have the vision or the courage to tackle something this large – other than Jeff Bezos.

I’m sure you’ve noticed what he’s doing lately – Same-Day Delivery (not 2 to 10 day UPS/FedEx) in certain major cities where, at a cost of MULTI-BILLIONS, he’s building fully automated fulfillment centers – like the 150 others he’s now building nationwide – you see, he’s determined to OWN this huge new market – before most retail executives even realize or acknowledge it’s there !

The Amazon juggernaut is just picking up steam – it will take Bricks & Mortar retailers a lot more than conventional retail strategies to entice people into their stores or regular marketing tools to offset Amazon, let alone beat them. Instant Gratification (i.e. “one-hour” order fulfillment) easily beats more expensive “same-day” order fulfillment with lots of room to spare. And, with orders being fulfilled within an hour from store inventory rather than remote distribution centers, stores are effectively generating more traffic and sales to local customers. Then add our SuperCyberCenter© Network featuring local stores and lower prices and wider choices and the competitive scene is reversed on Amazon and Walmart. Here’s how.

The New Retail Trillion Dollar Market

That Amazon Is Spending $Billions To Own – Virtually Unchallenged – Even By Walmart.

In chart 4 below, compare the tiny green stats for the Trillion Dollar Instant Gratification Market in the 2012 column (red outlined). Then look at the tiny blue stats for e-Commerce in 1999 – 14 years ago, when Jeff Bezos was just getting started. Surprise – initially they are the same size. Very few foresaw the meteoric rise of e-Commerce then – and the same thing is happening now with a wide open opportunity in the Trillion Dollar Instant Gratification Market for farsighted retailers – while Amazon and Walmart are struggling to dominate this market.

This new “Instant Gratification” market has always been “The Holy Grail of Retail”; strong enough to save the very existence of visionary Bricks & Mortar retailers – look at year 2026 (but they can’t wait until then to act).

This Elusive Dream comprises:

(1) 1-Hour Online Order Fulfillment – usually in 30 – 45 minutes;

(2) Same or Lower Prices Than In-Store;

(3) Free Delivery;

(4) Payment At Your Door by Cash or Credit Card (Note: We pay the store before leaving with the order);

(5) PRE-PAYMENT ORDER INSPECTION;

(6) Consumers Choose Their Favorite Shoppers / Drivers;

(7) Advantage Member Discounts.

However, this Dream is Reality, as we’ve been doing it for years.

Here’s a Look at a Big Box Retailer’s Portion of This Market

CAUTION – Big Thinking Zone – very few retail executives will have the vision or the courage to tackle something this huge – other than Jeff Bezos.

HERE’S WHY WE CAN SAY THIS SO BOLDLY:

Recently, we were once again told by a Big Box retailer:

“Your concept is clearly different in its approach and perhaps one day, many people will shop this way. I have discussed this with my leaders. For now though, we are going to pass.”

This is somewhat surprising based on:

(1) The financial mess this Big Box retailer is in stemming from Amazon and Walmart, that everyone else seems to know about,

(2) Over the last 2 years since Amazon first emerged as a serious threat, they used every marketing weapon conceivable to no avail.

(3) The huge number of people already “shopping this way” as shown in charts 1, 2 & 3 above,

(4) Amazon’s continuing growth as shown in chart 2 above – nothing “perhaps” about it;

(5) The fact that we offer Big Box retailers an opportunity to test the program against our prior results (similar to chart 5 below) in 3 progressively larger cities with a 3 month ROI before rolling out nationwide !

NOTE: The person saying this to us – after several one-hour phone meetings (and months of emailed information) asked our team to attend a 4 hour meeting in their headquarters with him and 2 of his team members, after which he stated their company needed to at least try our program and that he was going directly to his “leader” with this recommendation. He was very knowledgeable, dedicated and open about the seriousness of their current needs. We believe he was sincere in everything he said to us and to everyone else in the meeting.

Although this long term, battlefield-tested team knew what was needed, they couldn’t convince their leaders to proceed with the program. This was partly because their executives were focused on getting customers to visit their stores by using free delivery for in-store pickup as a tactic to increase traffic, which does not offset Amazon (or Walmart) in the slightest. AND this was despite the significant new profits the SuperCyberCenter program provided, which they acknowledged were realistic (albeit seemingly preposterous…..similar to chart 5 below). Our experience is the average online “Instant Gratification” orders we bring are double the value of average regular in-store orders!

Therefore, these “leaders” lost their final battle against Amazon (and Walmart), without even knowing it – regardless of their reason(s). (see “Options” below.)

But this not-uncommon attitude by retail executives clearly shows that once again a major market (as shown in detail in charts 4 & 5) will slip from their grasp simply because of inertia, fear, myopia and/or apathy (i.e. The Four Horsemen of the Retail Apocalypse) that we’ve been fighting for years.

Instant Gratification, like all new major “game-changers” that change the status quo, meets with strong resistance from executives. As accomplished entrepreneurs, we’ve seen this repeatedly before (see chart 8 below).

We’ve often heard the old phrase “It’s Too Good To Be True – So It Must Not Be True”. However, to think that 30 to 60 minute “Instant Gratification” that 83% of consumers either want or need, will not arrive in due course is, well, ridiculous. It’s just a matter of vision and leadership and a very small amount of time.

To gain their portion of this Trillion Dollar “Instant Gratification” Market, there are FOUR major Tasks that Big Box retailers must first accomplish – all essentially at the same time.

Task 1 – Win The Fight Against: Inertia, Fear, Myopia and Apathy.

Retail leaders need internal Champions to overcome the usual “can’t do” reaction of those who are already scoffing at all the above, as many others will do and have done… it’s what always happens with any new game-changing innovation. Otherwise, they will miss their significant portion of this new Trillion Dollar “Instant Gratification” Market. It’s a defining moment with far-reaching consequences.

Task 2 – Offer CONVENIENCE: The Number One Consumer Choice.

By now, any retail executive worth their salt knows Jeff Bezos is doing Same Day fulfillment based on the numerous articles published recently. Sometimes common sense is revolutionary.

A few retail executives are doing some make-shift form of same-day service (e.g. store staff assembles orders for local same-day courier to deliver). Many retailers have tried this and all have failed for myriad reasons they never understood (see “Rules Of The Game” below). eBay NOW is currently trying this in San Francisco but, without radical adjustments, it faces the same dismal results as both Simon Malls and General Growth Property Malls experienced while they were attempting to provide a similar service, resulting in $50+ million loss each.

However – offering Same-Day service to compete with Jeff Bezos is simply being a copy-cat and he has all the other power weapons (price & choice) to continue his slaughter – Unabated.

Copy-cats won’t match, let alone beat, Amazon. True Instant Gratification will.

Instant Gratification (The Holy Grail of Retail) includes 1-Hour Order Fulfillment as an integral component of SuperCyberCenters© – locally focused online marketplaces featuring physical neighborhood stores rather than web-only e-retailers. While it may seem impossible, outrageous or even inconceivable, this facility will soon be a household reality when even one senior retail Big Box executive starts to listen to their customers’ wishes (as we did – see chart 6 below – there have been numerous similar studies with similar results), thus fulfilling the consumer’s number one choice of “Convenience”.

The Good News: We can help retailers achieve this elusive Holy Grail of Retail. We uniquely have the experience, technology, ability and proven track record doing exactly that: Our patented system is 100% turnkey – Retailers and their staff need do nothing extra. Even their e-commerce website will not need any changes.

 

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Task 3 – Provide Low PRICE: Consumer’s Number Two Choice – in a Very Close Second Place


Warning: Retailers must not attempt Task 3 until they are 100% comfortable with Task 2, because Task 3 is entirely dependent on Task 2 – the critical parts of Task 2 are patent protected.

OK – the first thing to REALLY understand is: WE ARE NOT A DELIVERY SERVICE. Task 2 is Rapid Delivery but that is the store front – not the store.

We Are Amazon’s Equivalent – Working With The Retail Sector – Not Against It. A COMPETITIVE BUSINESS DECISION.

Our website describes all this: www.TheNOWmall.com (use zip code 33180 for our demo site – look around it, you’ll be amazed). It’s a SuperCyberCenter© offering ROOF (Rapid Online Order Fulfillment©). You will notice numerous top retailers listed as participating Third Party Sellers with their stores ALL located in close physical proximity to each featured Big Box store.

The Now Mall partners with major Big Box retailers to offer consumers Instant Gratification. The Now Mall is the Operating Partner and the Big Box retailer is the Marketing Partner.

Each participating Big Box site, in each local area nationwide, has their own respective SuperCyberCenter and is called, by example: “ABC SuperCyberCenter©”.

These Big Box stores’ sales will individually increase a minimum of 15% due to cross-marketing with their local “Third Party Stores” (TPS) all as per our detailed records.

TPS also form a critical role in the overall success of every SuperCyberCenter – see item 6 in “Rules of The Game” below.

THEN – the Big Box retailer (as Amazon has done for years) attracts even more consumers away from Amazon (and others), by using their new TPS “EVERGREEN” profits to further discount their products, thereby fulfilling the consumer’s number two choice of “Price”.

Look to the green stars in chart 5 to see the effect on both the Big Box significant sales and profits increase from this new Trillion Dollar “Instant Gratification” Market.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The Third Party Stores, mostly local “Mom & Pop” independent retailers, have also been hurt by Amazon and Walmart even more than the Big Boxes. Instant Gratification is also their salvation thanks to the leadership of their SuperCyberCenter Big Box marketing partner.

Task 4 – Offer Widest Possible Product CHOICE: Consumer’s Final Deciding Factor When Choosing Products & Stores

“The Enemies Of My Enemies Are My Friends”.

With other Big Box retailers similar to those in chart 3 above (with exceptions, but including major malls, grocers, pharmacies, restaurants, sporting goods outlets, pet supplies stores, etc), operating as non-competing, co-operating SuperCyberCenters, this gives the consumer a vastly wider choice than Amazon or Walmart COMBINED could ever offer. This fulfills the consumer’s fondest dreams of the highest form of Convenience, the best Price and the widest Choice. PLUS it provides a service level that will exceed their wildest dreams.

 

Remarkably, we are the only people in the world today with the necessary years of widely varied experience in all aspects of rapid fulfillment, technology and ability to beat Jeff Bezos at his own game, with a much improved e-commerce version as an Industry Game Changing Solution. Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, is also one of our founders.

We developed these unique assets and strengths through years of providing Rapid Fulfillment of time-sensitive commodities with major companies like Price Club/Costco; Staples; McDonald’s, and others. Then, by conducting our own extensive field trials in numerous cities as entrepreneurs, we learned the importance of a joint venture team including both a Marketing Partner and the Operating Partner.

Now here is the Big Box retailers’ chance to get back in the ever expanding online game they’ve all been classically losing to date.

The Big Box Retailer Risk Taker’s Options are:

1. Let Amazon and Walmart take this market and hope they can get enough leftovers to survive chart 1.

2. Let another Big Box retailer go first and try to copy them later – OK so they’ll have a big head start.

3. Do it themselves because their team is much smarter than: Webvan; Borders; Kozmo.com; PublixDirect; Sears’ “MyGofer.com”; Simon Malls’ “YourSherpa.com”; GGP Malls’ “Mallibu.com” and, of course, McDonald's, and more recently you can add eBay NOW to the list – just to name a few in the long list of North American rapid delivery do-it-yourself failures.

4. Team up with a really smart courier company over whom the Big Box retailer has complete operating and profit control.

5. Use the Doubting Thomas approach – because they still don’t believe such a Trillion Dollar “Instant Gratification” Market exists (same as our example retailer) but to be sure, simply have their store staff do it with a local same-day courier and if it fails, so what ! And if there actually is a Trillion Dollar market, great - they’ll be ready. (Problem is using a same-day model, even if they could get it to work, will never show them the size of the real Instant Gratification market – and their cost per order will skyrocket as happened at McDonald’s.)

6. Team up with eBay NOW in San Francisco – OK so they don’t get any Third Party profits or the EVERGREEN plan to lower their prices against Amazon (see above).

7. Pay nothing to start, and get a lot of other freebees – join eBay NOW or become an Anchor Tenant in somebody else’s SuperCyberCenter.

The Big Box Retailer's Non Risk Taker’s Options are:

1. Work out a Risk Free Joint Venture Agreement with us.

2. Work out a Risk Free Charter Member Agreement with us if they are the first visionary Big Box retail executive – doubling the profits we show in chart 5.

We would be pleased to show the following to any objective Big Box retail executive:

1. Where all the numbers come from and how they get there based on our 35 years of detailed statistics and documented successes.

2. A detailed profit and loss including 5 ways to look at everything – then a look at the next 5 years based on actuals and confirmed by a prior major retail client.

3. A detailed Ramp-up of EACH store, order by order, dollar by dollar, month by month, showing every detail of exactly how it all happens and the costs based on our past statistical information.

4. A detailed Overview showing how the first SuperCyberCenters will achieve the results shown in chart 5 over the next 5 years (as impossible as this may appear).

OUR PREDICTION: this market leader will emerge in time for this Holiday Shopping Season and will permanently reap the highest rewards as did Walmart and Amazon in similar circumstances years ago.

We invite your participation in our venture and/or introduction to Big Box retailer executives as a possible fit for our program.

Sincerely,

Gail Nichols, Vice Chair



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

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