I have sat in forums surrounded by independent and regional retailers and listened to their disdain for Amazon—even though they probably frequent the site for their own family. Recently, my office manager was kicked off of Amazon. Yes, you read that right. How can you live without using Amazon? Guess what, she survived. There is life without Amazon. This blog explores 4 ways … [Read more...]
Retargeting (stalker) advertising: Does it work?
The white leather tennis shoes that stalked me. I wanted to write this blog based on the experience of shopping for some white leather tennis shoes. Of course, when I did a search for the item, advertising from Amazon came up first. I give them enough of my business so I started looking at prices. I noticed that Macy's was having a sale. I found a pair of Sperry white leather … [Read more...]
4 Obstacles Preventing You From Succeeding Online and In-Store
I have been researching what obstacles brands face when trying to succeed online and in-store through my contacts on LinkedIn. It has been very enlightening and has confirmed some of what I already suspected and opened my eyes to other barriers. Most of the conversations started out with my contact saying either, "how long do you have to talk" or "you sure have opened a can of … [Read more...]
4 Obstacles to Succeeding Online and In-Store
I have been researching what obstacles brands face when trying to succeed online and in-store through my contacts on LinkedIn. It has been very enlightening and has confirmed some of what I already suspected and opened my eyes to other barriers. Most of the conversations started out with my contact saying either, "how long do you have to talk" or "you sure have opened a can of … [Read more...]
What is Hindering Your Product’s Success in Retail Outlets?
I asked many of my LinkedIn connections in the CE industry what is hurting the success of consumer technology products at retail outlets. I received several insights and I thought they are worth sharing to a larger audience. High Costs, Low Margins, Counterfeit Products, and Amazon are Major Obstacles at Retail Outlets An EVP of Sales & Marketing and Operations at a … [Read more...]
The Independent Dealer Can Prosper in the Age of Amazon
There is a place for independent dealers (regional and local) in the consumer technology world. Some chains have failed or are trying to restructure such as HHGregg and Radio Shack. Best Buy is making a comeback and doing battle with Amazon and Walmart. Can the independent dealer claim their place in the evolving retail world? I think they can and in fact, they may be able to … [Read more...]
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality and the Future of Retail
If you haven’t lived in the woods for the past couple of years you know that these days Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are all the rage in Silicon Valley. The potential implications of these two technologies can’t be overstated as they might transform many facets of modern society from how we browse the web to how we will work in the future. For the purpose of this … [Read more...]
Everlane’s Retail Transparency
What is Retail Transparency? Everlane, at least for me, was the first company I saw fully embrace the concept of retail transparency. I'm not even sure how I first became acquainted with the their online retail store, but I do remember why I signed up for their emails and website access. They were transparent about their costs to produce high quality merchandise. Part of … [Read more...]