If emotions are getting the better of you while dealing with the buyer, The Rationalizer may be just the thing to tell you when it's time to take a break. The prototype unveiled by Netherlands-based Philips Electronics and ABN AMRO aims at sensing traders' stress levels so they can, given the buyer's consent, "time-out, wind down and re-consider their actions."
If your face and bodylanguage are a bit sluggish in transmitting the message, or the buyer is a little less than sensitive to your inner turmoil, then wearing a device called the EmoBracelet that senses stress and makes an accompanying lighted bowl, or EmoBowl, change colour and flicker from yellow to red as emotions become more intense, may help. If not, why not let rip once and for all…….
Researchers at Philips, Europe's biggest consumer electronics maker, say online traders often do not act purely rationally. "Their behaviour is influenced by emotions, most notably fear and greed, which can compromise their ability to take an objective, factual stance," they said.
Although not in production, Geert Christiaansen, chief of business development at Philips Design, says the prototype is part of a broader effort by Philips to help people cope with stress and the technology could be used in an array of other products.
Have a really emotive weekend from the Namnews Team!
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
IGD Convention - The hardest hitting IGD event in my experience
Yesterday, celebrating their 100 year anniversary, the IGD Convention fielded a hard-hitting line-up of industry speakers, encouraging a 750-delegate audience to face up to the realities of the global economic crisis, and emphasised the need for Leadership in Adversity.
Joanne Denny-Finch set the tone of the day by punching home some key economic facts as a basis for 'realistic optimism', echoed and built upon by other speakers adding to the impact, as evidenced by the extensive mainstream and business media coverage this morning.
Some key points below, but nothing beats hearing it first hand, on the day.
Joanne started with the following:
- Institute of Fiscal Studies … the time it will take to bring public debt back down to the level before the Credit Crunch … is 20 years.
- They estimate by 2018 reducing this debt will cost the average household almost £3,000 a year.
- The public sector pension deficit … around £19,000 per UK citizen.
- Moody’s credit rating agency … has said the banks have written off less than half of their bad debts.
- Government Chief Scientist... Over twenty years, world food demand will rise by 50%, energy by 45% and water by 30%.
Full speech on IGD site
Paul Polman outlined Unilever's recession-beating strategy:
- Closer to Consumer
- More investment in R&D
- Sharpen the Value Equation
- Cover all price points
- Work with all partners to optimise cost
- Doing what is right long-term
Terry Leahy summarised lessons from previous recessions that are guiding Tesco through the current crisis:
- Follow the customer
- Change demands innovation (innovation never an excuse for complexity)
- Don't lose sight of the long term trends
- Making process better and cheaper = simpler
Andy Clarke made a passionate and moving plea for equal opportunities in youth employment on behalf of Asda.
If the IGD's second 100 years continues in this vein, we have an interesting future ahead….
Monday, 5 October 2009
Retail Political Power…a Force for Change?
As we are currently undergoing great political change worldwide, including a significant step forward in the development of the EU following the ‘yes’ result in the Irish Lisbon Referendum, a return to Mr Blair's care and attention, and radical repercussions as economies everywhere attempt to pull out of the global financial crisis, it is perhaps useful to explore the growing political influence of major retailers on the provision of consumer choice in their markets.
Given their sensitivity and ability to respond rapidly and cost-effectively to consumer-shopper needs, based upon their intimate knowledge of their target audience in terms of name, address, income, shopping behaviour, hobbies, family circumstances, financial exposure, and state-of-health it is obvious that they are accumulating a powerful marketing tool. Moreover, Tesco’s Clubcard penetration of over 50% of UK households, measuring 45 pieces of data on each product, and with an additional 12m members in Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Thailand, China, Malaysia and South Korea means that the retailers are moving way beyond the collection of basic numbers to deep insight on consumer behaviour as a basis for focused need-satisfaction. This constant attention to the meeting of consumer need, coupled with a determination to encourage repeat purchase as a test of need-satisfaction can build a degree of consumer loyalty that can only be envied by those hanging onto political power.
Anyone doubting the potential power of retailers should bear in mind their ability to exercise real political power in two ways, direct influence on the consumer-shopper-voter in-store, and via direct impact upon the economy.
In the current economic climate, major retailers can use price, the ultimate persuader, to modify the entire value-set of individuals, whilst they can directly affect the economy via their leverage in terms of influencing/controlling inflation, the balance of payments, direct employment of significant numbers of wage-earners, and especially their ability to control access to in-store traffic-flow. Their impact on shopper behaviour can be seen in the way shoppers have traded down in their purchase of top-end toiletries, and embraced quality private label as household budgets have come under increasing pressure.
Specifically, doubters should reflect upon retailers’ track record in unilaterally dismantling restrictive and out-of-date legislation in the EU and UK relating to limited shopping hours, Sunday trading, Resale-Price-Maintenance, and the Net-Book-Agreement, in recent years.
On balance it could therefore be said that major retailers have more political power than the politicians…
Given their sensitivity and ability to respond rapidly and cost-effectively to consumer-shopper needs, based upon their intimate knowledge of their target audience in terms of name, address, income, shopping behaviour, hobbies, family circumstances, financial exposure, and state-of-health it is obvious that they are accumulating a powerful marketing tool. Moreover, Tesco’s Clubcard penetration of over 50% of UK households, measuring 45 pieces of data on each product, and with an additional 12m members in Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Thailand, China, Malaysia and South Korea means that the retailers are moving way beyond the collection of basic numbers to deep insight on consumer behaviour as a basis for focused need-satisfaction. This constant attention to the meeting of consumer need, coupled with a determination to encourage repeat purchase as a test of need-satisfaction can build a degree of consumer loyalty that can only be envied by those hanging onto political power.
Anyone doubting the potential power of retailers should bear in mind their ability to exercise real political power in two ways, direct influence on the consumer-shopper-voter in-store, and via direct impact upon the economy.
In the current economic climate, major retailers can use price, the ultimate persuader, to modify the entire value-set of individuals, whilst they can directly affect the economy via their leverage in terms of influencing/controlling inflation, the balance of payments, direct employment of significant numbers of wage-earners, and especially their ability to control access to in-store traffic-flow. Their impact on shopper behaviour can be seen in the way shoppers have traded down in their purchase of top-end toiletries, and embraced quality private label as household budgets have come under increasing pressure.
Specifically, doubters should reflect upon retailers’ track record in unilaterally dismantling restrictive and out-of-date legislation in the EU and UK relating to limited shopping hours, Sunday trading, Resale-Price-Maintenance, and the Net-Book-Agreement, in recent years.
On balance it could therefore be said that major retailers have more political power than the politicians…
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Money Machines That Happen To Sell Groceries, (and Financial Services)…
Given the succession of own-goals scored by traditional bankers over the years, it is surprising that the grocery multiples have taken so long to enter the financial services arena.
These ‘unsophisticated money-shopkeepers’ will make a major impact on the sector by simplifying finance for the layman-shopper, removing the mystique and over time they will educate their public in the appreciation of financial value-for-money, in a refreshingly transparent environment.
The grocery multiples have the capability of becoming money-shops where speed-of-transaction drives efficiency and cost reduction, reflected in competition-based lower prices. Apart from reaping the benefits of anti-banking media coverage, the multiples’ efficiencies and their ability to negotiate good wholesale terms will ensure that they can always compete on price with traditional banks.
This will be in marked contrast with traditional banking, with their opaque business offerings, where ‘slowness’ is regarded as a virtue, deadlines are measured in weeks rather than minutes, where secrecy prevails over openness and transparency, all at the customer’s expense, in a cosy club of like-minded practitioners, all intent on maintaining parity in the provision of financial services.
Thankfully, this year’s virtual collapse of the banking system coupled with unprecedented economic turmoil has violently de-stabilised the status quo, creating in the process one of the largest windows of opportunity ever made available to good money-shopkeepers…
Apart from the distraction of competing in an exciting new category with little real opposition, the multiples’ development of the financial services category will bring with it a fundamental change in their corporate culture. The renewed focus upon money and financial performance will not only help in presenting a competitive offer on shelf, but it will also cause the retailer to reassess all aspects of the supplier-retailer relationship in financial terms, to an unprecedented degree of detail. In practice, all members of the decision-making-unit will become more financially aware, measuring input-output in financial terms, constantly.
In other words, suppliers will need to become adept at demonstrating the financial impact of the brands on the customer's profitability…
More of this in September edition of Namnews
These ‘unsophisticated money-shopkeepers’ will make a major impact on the sector by simplifying finance for the layman-shopper, removing the mystique and over time they will educate their public in the appreciation of financial value-for-money, in a refreshingly transparent environment.
The grocery multiples have the capability of becoming money-shops where speed-of-transaction drives efficiency and cost reduction, reflected in competition-based lower prices. Apart from reaping the benefits of anti-banking media coverage, the multiples’ efficiencies and their ability to negotiate good wholesale terms will ensure that they can always compete on price with traditional banks.
This will be in marked contrast with traditional banking, with their opaque business offerings, where ‘slowness’ is regarded as a virtue, deadlines are measured in weeks rather than minutes, where secrecy prevails over openness and transparency, all at the customer’s expense, in a cosy club of like-minded practitioners, all intent on maintaining parity in the provision of financial services.
Thankfully, this year’s virtual collapse of the banking system coupled with unprecedented economic turmoil has violently de-stabilised the status quo, creating in the process one of the largest windows of opportunity ever made available to good money-shopkeepers…
Apart from the distraction of competing in an exciting new category with little real opposition, the multiples’ development of the financial services category will bring with it a fundamental change in their corporate culture. The renewed focus upon money and financial performance will not only help in presenting a competitive offer on shelf, but it will also cause the retailer to reassess all aspects of the supplier-retailer relationship in financial terms, to an unprecedented degree of detail. In practice, all members of the decision-making-unit will become more financially aware, measuring input-output in financial terms, constantly.
In other words, suppliers will need to become adept at demonstrating the financial impact of the brands on the customer's profitability…
More of this in September edition of Namnews
Friday, 4 September 2009
Cash-Cows, a whole new meaning?
Running the numbers on investment in cattle, indicates that yields of 4-5% can be expected on a £1000 investment per animal, based on the sale of the herd's calves.
The cows are rented out for milk production, helping dairy farmers to cut their initial outlays and freeing up cash for buildings or high-tech machinery, a practice going back to Richard the Lionheart….
Be warned that the only anti-environmental issue is with their excessive production of Methane, but then no gain without pain…
Have an upwind weekend from the Namnews Team!
The cows are rented out for milk production, helping dairy farmers to cut their initial outlays and freeing up cash for buildings or high-tech machinery, a practice going back to Richard the Lionheart….
Be warned that the only anti-environmental issue is with their excessive production of Methane, but then no gain without pain…
Have an upwind weekend from the Namnews Team!
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Grocers' range extension to include legal services..
This is not about a race between Tesco and the Co-op for legal customers, but more about the multiples constant search for categories that can give them an edge over traditional providers.
In other words, all grocers eventually need to provide anything that can be legally sold to existing and new shoppers, or suffer share-loss.
Vested interests will present many arguments as to why including legal requirements in a weekly shop is 'inappropriate' (legal language!)
However, this misses the essential point that in the absence of alternative suppliers, the public having had to settle for the only level-of-service available, are now in the market for a provider that is focused on shopper-need, is passionate about efficiency, thinks and acts in seconds rather than 'working weeks', reflects the result in demonstrable value-for-money, and aims for up to 25% shares of categories.
Traditional lawyers should instead try to adapt (not copy) grocery business process and KPIs to the provision of legal services.
They might also keep in mind the fact that having cherry-picked the key parts of the legal range, Tesco, JS, Asda, Morrisons and the Coop will probably want to outsource the more complicated legal services to appropriate trade partners…
In which case, lawyers should perhaps seek advice from key FMCG suppliers on how to optimise trade partnerships with some of the best negotiators in the world…perhaps even bartering advice on the Law of Supplier-Retailer Contract, the next 'Big Thing'….
In other words, all grocers eventually need to provide anything that can be legally sold to existing and new shoppers, or suffer share-loss.
Vested interests will present many arguments as to why including legal requirements in a weekly shop is 'inappropriate' (legal language!)
However, this misses the essential point that in the absence of alternative suppliers, the public having had to settle for the only level-of-service available, are now in the market for a provider that is focused on shopper-need, is passionate about efficiency, thinks and acts in seconds rather than 'working weeks', reflects the result in demonstrable value-for-money, and aims for up to 25% shares of categories.
Traditional lawyers should instead try to adapt (not copy) grocery business process and KPIs to the provision of legal services.
They might also keep in mind the fact that having cherry-picked the key parts of the legal range, Tesco, JS, Asda, Morrisons and the Coop will probably want to outsource the more complicated legal services to appropriate trade partners…
In which case, lawyers should perhaps seek advice from key FMCG suppliers on how to optimise trade partnerships with some of the best negotiators in the world…perhaps even bartering advice on the Law of Supplier-Retailer Contract, the next 'Big Thing'….
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)