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

 

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

The Misconceptions, Myths & Fallacies of Instant Gratification: The Retail Holy Grail

Today, virtually every senior retail executive is talking about “Instant Gratification – The Retail Holy Grail” and how they can exploit it to the fullest.


The only problem is: a huge Misconception has emerged as to what really constitutes Instant Gratification !

Internet Retailers, including Amazon (Huffington Post) and Walmart (24/7 Wall St) as well as USPS (Boston Globe) and virtually every retail executive seem to think Same-Day Delivery is Instant Gratification – except the Consumer seriously disagrees. (Chart 1)

Until retailers accept the fact that very few, if any, consumers actually want Same-Day delivery for myriad straightforward reasons, this Misconception “Red-Herring” will persist in leading retailers in the wrong direction. (Internet Retailer)

For years, most major retailers have tried to achieve The Retail Holy Grail of Instant Gratification, but with many fatal flaws and thus failed with colossal losses (Chart 6) simply because they were searching for the wrong thing in the wrong place with virtually no experience or knowledgeable help to achieve it.

Sadly, these retailers continue the same ‘square peg in a round hole’ approach today, including: Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens, Macy’s, Target, JCPenney, Sears and Best Buy, (Internet Retailer) joined by a host of misguided service providers such as UPS, FedEx and USPS; all laboring under the same Misconceptions, Myths & Fallacies outlined below.

All will therefore end up with the same results – costly failure, short and long term, not to mention frustration from wasted effort. Kudos to the eBay Now Same-Hour Delivery beta program. (Forbes) eBay will make a great future competitor IF they can figure out the profit model with a scalable workforce and the secrets to providing their retailer Charter Members the significant profits shown in Chart 2.

Interestingly, the Same-Day Delivery TEST results of the 2012 Holiday Shopping Season are now in for the retailers who were testing Same-Day delivery. Not surprisingly, their results were disappointing: Ho Hum. The consumer’s choice is clear: Same-HOUR: 83% versus Same-DAY: 33% as consumers forcefully stated as documented in Chart 1 (Internet Retailer),

The Same-Day Delivery euphoria is now conclusively over – and the new powerful era of e-commerce One-Hour Instant Gratification (the consumer’s #1 choice) begins with virtually no risk and huge rewards for those with superior vision and the commitment to implement our proven solution (see below).

Unfortunately, most retail senior executives will continue to gripe and complain about Amazon instead of doing anything truly creative, effective and powerful about it.

Nonetheless, the new powerful era of The Retail Holy Grail is disarmingly easy to exploit if you can successfully get past the following Misconceptions, Myths & Fallacies, and all the associated “Red-Herrings and Fatal Flaws” on the path to success.

MISCONCEPTIONS:

A. Same-Day Delivery Will Increase Our Sales And Profits !

REALITY:

1. To the consumer, there is nothing convenient about Same-Day delivery, so they simply won’t use it to the extent you need to justify its costs to implement and continue. (Internet Retailer)

2. It’s like waiting for the cable guy, or watching a pot boil; consumers hate to wait: it’s easier, faster AND CHEAPER to just go to the store and get it than waiting 3 to 5 hours. (Charts 1 & 3)

3. FREE Delivery in 30 to 60 minutes is something consumers simply cannot replace by themselves. Not only does FREE One-Hour Delivery save them time and money but it truly improves their life, particularly the 50% of people who are Mobility Challenged. Ask Them. We Did. (Chart 1)

B. Instant Gratification (FREE 30 to 60 Minute Fulfillment) Can’t Be Done Profitably or Efficiently on a Long Term Basis !

REALITY:

1. The Pizza Industry has been doing 30 to 60 minute delivery for the last 40 years. Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, is one of our founders.

2. We did it successfully for McDonald’s, raising their profits 58.6% and raising their annual sales 14.89%. (Chart 4)

3. FREE One-Hour Instant Gratification costs retailers substantially less than either Same-Day or 3 to 10 days because it results in: (1) far fewer returns; (2) larger orders; (3) more orders; and (4) many more new customers (just to name a few).

4. For our Charter Member Retailers; the profits outlined in Chart 2 are AFTER all Network costs, including all service fees.

5. Many retailers have failed in their quest for The Retail Holy Grail simply because of lack of long term experience in learning where The Real Profits are and are not – the basis of all successful businesses. (Chart 6)

6. NOTE: To succeed Long Term, it takes years of dedicated rapid fulfillment experience (we have 35+) plus a Consortium with symbiotic relationships similar to what we had in place at McDonald’s (and elsewhere), which is what this blog post is all about. (Chart 4)

7. The opportunity now exists for true industry leaders to at least test Instant Gratification’s SuperCyberCenter© Consortium Network to win the coming e-commerce battle for The Retail Holy Grail.

MYTHS:

A. INSTANT GRATIFICATION Will Cannibalize Our In-Store Sales.

REALITY:

1. A significant number of MOBILITY CHALLENGED people simply CAN’T get to your stores which is why they order elsewhere. (Charts 1, 3 & 4)

2. Most consumers in your stores’ trading areas have at least one of your competitors closer to their home that they use the most – only Instant Gratification (30 to 60 minute fulfillment) can attract their dollars to you. (Chart 3)

3. Instant Gratification will INCREASE your in-store sales by an average of 15% which is therefore NOT cannibalization. (Chart 4)

4. Only Instant Gratification allows our Charter Member Retailers to further increase sales and profits to unheard of levels using our SuperCyberCenter Consortium Network. (Chart 2)

5. The only thing cannibalizing your stores is Amazon, enabled by your lack of an effective alternative solution.

B. We Don’t Believe You Can Do It Nationwide !

REALITY:

1. Chart 4 says we can. It also says we did it.

2. Our 35 years experience and myriad statistical analyses from various major companies with whom we collaborated, are available.

3. Our shared workforce of 60,000 professional, independent contractor, “Level 1” CyberValet® Shoppers, are available to our Charter Member Retailers, starting with 127 in Buffalo, NY.

4. Chart 6 should also give you a glimpse into our experiences.

5. Nobody else on this planet has any such experience, abilities or proof of years of costly field trials in various cities nationwide.

FALLACIES:

A. FREE One-Hour Instant Gratification Is Too Expensive For Bricks & Mortar Retailers To Offer !

REALITY:

1. 83% of consumers want One-Hour Instant Gratification, including the Mobility Challenged (50% of the population comprising seniors, people with disabilities, busy families, caregivers, etc.) (Chart 1)

2. Our One-Hour fulfillment cost (order assembly, packaging and payment before we leave your store, delivery) is significantly less than your current Same-Day and 3 to 10 day internal e-commerce fulfillment costs (assembly, packaging, added inventory, warehousing, delivery).

3. You also save your 20% to 30% returns cost that we 100% eliminate.

4. FREE delivery via our Network is 100% sponsored by us as our contribution to the overall Consortium Network marketing costs.

5. Only real Instant Gratification (30 to 60 minute fulfillment) can beat BOTH Amazon’s new Same-Day service as well as their Prime service.

B. Chart 2 Sales And Profits From Third Party Sellers Are Not Realistic And Therefore Cannot Be Achieved !

REALITY:

1. Amazon’s Third Party Seller Marketplace generates 40% of their overall revenue.

2. The profits shown on Chart 2 are sales commissions to which you have no added costs.

3. 600,000 Third Party Sellers nationwide, starting with an average of $126 sales each daily from their physical stores via our SuperCyberCenter Network, enable you to reach this target (easily achievable, less for smaller stores, more for larger). These local retailers need the same thing you do – more sales to survive against Amazon.

4. 600,000 Third Party Sellers comprise an average of 500 per SuperCyberCenter including retailers, restaurants, grocers, services (doctors, dentists, and lawyers), other business advertisers, etc.

5. Only by realistically gaining these Third Party Seller profits can you compete on a level playing field with Amazon and others.

6. Our unique “Secret Sauce” and patent-protected SuperCyberCenters (Chart 6) provide you these new sales opportunities.

C. We’ll Do It Ourselves, Our Store Staff Knows Our Products Better Than You !

REALITY:

1. Walmart and Amazon can’t do it alone – how can you?

2. Thousands have tried and all failed. (Chart 6)

3. No matter how big your stores and well-trained and equipped your staff, your Peak & Valley delivery times will alternately overwhelm and underwhelm your in-store and delivery teams (i.e. the same dynamic as in a call center). The solution is Third Party Seller participants generating sufficient orders in off-setting time periods that are all processed by our shared workforce of professional CyberValet Shoppers (i.e. the same solution we pioneered in our industry-changing virtual call center – Willow CSN – now Arise.com) (Chart 5)

4. Liability Insurance does not cover your Brand Name losses in major traffic accidents involving your staff.

5. Alone, you will never reach enough sales or profits to offset either Amazon or the profits shown in Chart 2.

6. Same-HOUR service is not possible without a full Consortium of mutually benefiting symbiotic participants.

7. Quality Control is of the highest importance. Historically, busy store staffs inevitably prepare packages for delivery with wrong or missing items. Then, at the door the customer is upset. It’s important for the CyberValet Shoppers to personally assemble orders and pay for them, taking responsibility for correct fulfillment. Our team already has the UPC codes, product description, the customer’s phone number and your staff’s help as needed. Let us do it seamlessly, end to end. (Chart 6, item 8).

8. Our experience and knowledge from years of Instant Gratification trials, trump everything in this new powerful era of Instant Gratification e-commerce retailing.

D. I’ll Wait Until Everyone Else Is Doing It – Then I’ll Consider It !

REALITY:

1. Fortunately, so will most other executives, thus leaving The Real Profits in Chart 2 for the retail industry-changing thinkers and innovative retail leaders like Jeff Bezos, Sam Walton, Dick Schulze, just to name a few.

2. If you wait until everyone else is doing it, the best e-commerce locations and opportunities will already be taken.

3. Unless your store sales are increasing over 3% annually AND your e-commerce sales are increasing over 30% annually (chart 2), your current business method is stagnant and needs a strong boost.

Call or email us your remaining concerns that are blocking you from achieving The Retail Holy Grail sales & profits shown in Chart 2. Let’s get together NOW to provide your customers with REAL Instant Gratification – One Hour Fulfillment.

Respectfully,

 

Gail Nichols

Vice Chair, The NOW Mall

2013: The Year Of 1-Hour Instant Gratification – Consumers Finally Get Their #1 Choice – And A New Retail World Leader

It took 10 years, and a lot of patience, but consumers finally get their #1 Choice in 2013.

In 2003, we asked consumers what they wanted the most in retail services.

They overwhelmingly said: Rapid 1-Hour Delivery – Instant Gratification with Online Ordering (chart 1 below) – today we know this as E-commerce.

After years of testing every conceivable way to PROFITABLY achieve the consumer’s #1 Choice – The Holy Grail Of Retail, a One Trillion Dollar Market (charts 2 and 3 below);

And after myriad others failed; with persistence, we finally discovered the Secret Ingredients of the “Golden Goose Formula” to achieve this Trillion Dollar Market.

However, unlike Indiana Jones, to win the day this Golden Goose Formula requires A Team of Expert Players, each doing their part in harmony and excellence.

This Team also requires WIDER PRODUCT CHOICE and HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICING plus UNIQUE QUALITY CONTROL: no easy task.

As Steve Jobs said: “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Who Will The New Retail World Leader Be ? 

No player could achieve this goal on their own, no matter how big or powerful they are – several tried and all failed because they all missed one or more of the “Secret Ingredients”.

In 2009, after we invested an entrepreneurial fortune in Development, Testing & Field Trials in various U.S. cities:

We began searching for the right expert players to build the necessary Consortium Network Team, including The Leading Consortium Member.

But putting together such a team of excellence has not been an easy task, especially overcoming their innate Inertia, Fear, Myopia, Greed & Apathy (The 5 Horsemen of the Retail Apocalypse).

However, this has been Exactly The Same process as in all our other entrepreneurial achievements (see "Our Credentials" chart 4 below) – so we were prepared for it, but as this is our biggest endeavor, it is also the most difficult, has taken longer and cost us more to achieve.

As Jeff Bezos said: “We are willing to invent. We are willing to think long-term. We start with the customer and work backwards. And, very importantly, we are willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time.”

The Candidates For The New Retail World Leader: 

Finally in mid 2012, the most aggressive and innovative retailers, Amazon & Walmart, began offering The Next Best Thing to The Holy Grail Of Retail – Same Day Delivery instead of Instant Gratification.

Then in late 2012, based on information we sent them, eBay offered consumers a BETA copy of our Golden Goose Formula, minus: (1) our patented portion, and (2) our “Secret Sauce”; ultimately moving eBay to the top of the list of failures in this space (see "Rules Of The Game" below). Fair to say, several candidates who want to know confidential components of our Golden Goose Formula will be eliminated from our list of finalists and thus the Trillion Dollar Holy Grail Of Retail.

Today, very early in 2013, news articles abound discussing Instant Gratification, Rapid Delivery and how the retail world of Bricks & Mortar and E-commerce are converging in the consumer’s favor.

As well, FedEx, UPS, USPS, and even Google are all joining the Rapid Delivery stampede – the world of Speedy Retail Delivery is now permanently here – with eBay leading the Rapid Delivery charge into 2013 but without the key ingredients of our Golden Goose Formula – so the 2013 race is now on for the world’s future retail leader and the lion’s share of The New Trillion Dollar Market.

The trouble is that 98% of all retailers are “Specialty” retailers that, by their design, are eliminated in the race for The Holy Grail Of Retail because Wider Product Choice is a key ingredient – unless they join our Consortium Network Team.

Smaller local retailers with less purchasing power are also eliminated because of another key ingredient: Price – unless they also join our Consortium Network Team.

As Steve Jobs said: “Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.”

The 12 Finalists For The New Retail World Leader: 

The consumer’s #1 Choice, The Holy Grail Of Retail and The Resulting Trillion Dollar Market, await one of these 12 qualifying retailers:Who will be The Leading Consortium Member of this New Trillion Dollar Market: Walmart; Target; Sears; Macy’s; JCPenney; Home Depot; Lowe’s; CVS; Walgreens; Staples; Barnes & Noble; Best Buy, or perhaps one of TWO surprising and powerful “Dark Horses” ?

As Winston Churchill said: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.”

Stay posted and we’ll keep you informed who The New Retail World Leader will be.

Best Wishes for the Finalists in this fascinating & exciting New Retail Year: 2013, The Consumer’s Year Of 1-Hour Instant Gratification.

Sincerely,

Gail Nichols

Vice Chair, The Now Mall

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 White Paper On The Future Of Retail Stores

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