Attempting to check in at one of the world's most crowded/high-profile airports, how bizarre that having had shoes, belt, jacket, laptop, watch, aerosols, sharp instruments and all liquids removed and x-rayed, been virtually 'strip-searched' via a full body-scan sensitive enough to detect metal teeth-fillings, the passengers are then encouraged to buy (at a discount!) a couple of litres of highly inflammable liquid in glass (not plastic!) bottles, to be hand-stored for easy access under the seat in front, or in the overhead locker ("where they can possibly fall out and injure someone") and are then presented with a pair of flight-socks fine enough to fit through the neck of each bottle, allowing the passenger to spend the remainder of the flight, under cover of semi-darkness, quietly assembling and even deploying a couple of DIY Molotov cocktails…
(Alternatively, why not simply be issued with a receipt in Duty Free, for collection of purchases on arrival at the destination?)
Have a safe journey…..!
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Monday, 14 December 2009
Asda Buying or Selling signal?
An article in Saturday's Times repeats details of joint product sourcing with parent Walmart…
However, remembering that Walmart have recently restructured Adsa's financial status, could be coupled with fact that the final paragraph of the Times article announces that Asda is now removing the reference to Walmart on its facia, perhaps leaving room to place a 'For Sale' sign…?
Watch this space….
However, remembering that Walmart have recently restructured Adsa's financial status, could be coupled with fact that the final paragraph of the Times article announces that Asda is now removing the reference to Walmart on its facia, perhaps leaving room to place a 'For Sale' sign…?
Watch this space….
Tesco Cinemas?
A North London Cinema conversion to a Tesco store
Using this as a creative springboard, how about if Tesco opened a chain of cinemas (say upstairs in existing stores) as a stand-alone business unit, a place for shoppers' families to spend an hour while the serious shopping is undertaken by the decision-maker?
Could also serve as an entertainment hub, an additional revenue stream?
Every little helps!
Using this as a creative springboard, how about if Tesco opened a chain of cinemas (say upstairs in existing stores) as a stand-alone business unit, a place for shoppers' families to spend an hour while the serious shopping is undertaken by the decision-maker?
Could also serve as an entertainment hub, an additional revenue stream?
Every little helps!
Friday, 11 December 2009
Looking for a way of adding ooomph! to your latest customer strategy?
Reports that scientists at Stanford University in California have successfully turned paper coated with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials into a "paper battery" that holds promise for new types of lightweight, high-performance energy storage, may possibly help you make your reports electrifying….
Ironically, ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news. This type of battery could be useful in powering electric or hybrid vehicles, would make electronics lighter weight and longer lasting, and might even lead someday to paper electronics, the scientists said. Battery weight and life have been an obstacle to commercial viability of electric-powered cars and trucks.
A supercharged weekend from the NamNews Team!
Ironically, ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news. This type of battery could be useful in powering electric or hybrid vehicles, would make electronics lighter weight and longer lasting, and might even lead someday to paper electronics, the scientists said. Battery weight and life have been an obstacle to commercial viability of electric-powered cars and trucks.
A supercharged weekend from the NamNews Team!
Thursday, 10 December 2009
"People want that ease of purchase."
Immediacy is what the business is all about. "Nowadays people want to get everything done as soon as possible."
"Take the other day: we had this guy from Tennessee that wanted to buy some Irish crystal. He told us how he looked up the site, rang us, paid for the present and ordered it to be sent gift-wrapped all over his iPhone while walking down the street. People want that ease of purchase."
Reported in the Cork Examiner, in the past 10 months Liz and Jim O’Flynn, from Cork, have set up claddaghlane.com , a one-stop-shop gift site for people wishing to buy top Irish and international brands, including Waterford Crystal, Belleek and Border Fine Arts. It is a truly global venture and the O’Flynns plan to have the site translated into French, German, Italian and Russian, providing quality brands at lesser cost.
"We have prices negotiated with the various brands. We then operate at tight margins by selling them as competitively as we can and offering free shipping. We can afford to do this as we don’t hold stock. Your order comes to us and immediately our computer system sends an order to the brand. They supply to order and are paid immediately and so neither of us deal with credit. We have no debtors. We all get paid immediately. This is how the next generation of business will be done. No business can afford to keep inventories any more."
A way forward for brands seeking an alternative, cost-effective route to consumer?
"Take the other day: we had this guy from Tennessee that wanted to buy some Irish crystal. He told us how he looked up the site, rang us, paid for the present and ordered it to be sent gift-wrapped all over his iPhone while walking down the street. People want that ease of purchase."
Reported in the Cork Examiner, in the past 10 months Liz and Jim O’Flynn, from Cork, have set up claddaghlane.com , a one-stop-shop gift site for people wishing to buy top Irish and international brands, including Waterford Crystal, Belleek and Border Fine Arts. It is a truly global venture and the O’Flynns plan to have the site translated into French, German, Italian and Russian, providing quality brands at lesser cost.
"We have prices negotiated with the various brands. We then operate at tight margins by selling them as competitively as we can and offering free shipping. We can afford to do this as we don’t hold stock. Your order comes to us and immediately our computer system sends an order to the brand. They supply to order and are paid immediately and so neither of us deal with credit. We have no debtors. We all get paid immediately. This is how the next generation of business will be done. No business can afford to keep inventories any more."
A way forward for brands seeking an alternative, cost-effective route to consumer?
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
New Tesco 'dark stores' in Practice?
The Telegraph's report of Tesco's decision to open customer-free stores (called Dark Stores) is a major indicator of the growing success of their online home-delivery operation. Remember when they and JS decided to enter online retailing, JS made the 'fatal' error of attempting to set up a parallel virtual store network to serve online demand, thus making it difficult/impossible for the new venture to cover the additional overheads fast enough for the City. Meanwhile, Tesco decided to 'make do' with their existing store network, allowing their online-pickers to share store access with real shoppers. As a result the project broke-even early. Given that Tesco currently gets 475,000 orders online per week and 3.4 million visitors to Tesco.com, the company are now obviously at a stage where bespoke stores will allow them to optimise space and customer service.
However the new 'dark stores' raise a couple of issues for suppliers:
1. (Tesco spokesman: '…not the same point-of-sale advertising…' This means there could be some other form of product-prompts in the aisle, (in cases of Out-Of-Stocks?) and how might it differ from normal store POS? One idea might be to colour code shelf-edge price labels to reflect (darkness permitting!) gross margin or favoured suppliers…?
2. Role of Brand: if the brand is meant to attract the customer into the store, there to be confronted by the private label equivalent (better/cheaper than brand) and the possibility of a switch-sale, the supplier's use of shopper-marketing in the aisle can help to reduce the odds on losing a sale to a private label. The dark-store environment removes that facility…
This suggests that suppliers need to find a way of opening a 'dark-store dialogue' with Tesco in order to attempt to maintain the status quo as the business shifts online... This means gathering evidence via store visits.
One way might be to sneak into the store under cover of darkness?
However the new 'dark stores' raise a couple of issues for suppliers:
1. (Tesco spokesman: '…not the same point-of-sale advertising…' This means there could be some other form of product-prompts in the aisle, (in cases of Out-Of-Stocks?) and how might it differ from normal store POS? One idea might be to colour code shelf-edge price labels to reflect (darkness permitting!) gross margin or favoured suppliers…?
2. Role of Brand: if the brand is meant to attract the customer into the store, there to be confronted by the private label equivalent (better/cheaper than brand) and the possibility of a switch-sale, the supplier's use of shopper-marketing in the aisle can help to reduce the odds on losing a sale to a private label. The dark-store environment removes that facility…
This suggests that suppliers need to find a way of opening a 'dark-store dialogue' with Tesco in order to attempt to maintain the status quo as the business shifts online... This means gathering evidence via store visits.
One way might be to sneak into the store under cover of darkness?
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Retail sector facing ‘another bloodbath’
Insolvency trade group R3 are expecting 23 more high-street names to disappear in the new year, adding to the 22 retailers that went into liquidation last Christmas.
"Rising unemployment and decreased spending in the lead-up to Christmas coupled with heightened creditor aggression in the new year leaves the retail sector facing another bloodbath."
Last year retailers deliberately delayed starting insolvency proceedings until the New Year, hoping they would regain money over the festive period, creditors also held back, hoping they would receive higher returns because of increased takings over Christmas. This year it is expected that increased unemployment and the January rise in VAT will prove to be the final straw for an additional retailers.
Apart from the obvious need to conduct a what if on your customers going bust (If a customer goes bust owing you £150k and you make a net profit of 5%, you will need incremental sales of £3m to recover lost profit), it is not difficult to spot the warning signs:
- ROCE below 10% and falling
- Net Margin below 2% and falling
- Credit period creep (taking longer to pay)
- Reguests for cash-based trade funding
- Lack of compliance
- Your own gut feeling….
The key is to recognise the obvious, and then get in ahead of the liquidator. Otherwise you come last in the list of favoured creditors (ie ahead of suppliers will be claims for VAT, Utilities, Corporation Tax, Council Tax, Banks, Liquidator Fee, Pension Fund, Employees, Landlords….)
"Rising unemployment and decreased spending in the lead-up to Christmas coupled with heightened creditor aggression in the new year leaves the retail sector facing another bloodbath."
Last year retailers deliberately delayed starting insolvency proceedings until the New Year, hoping they would regain money over the festive period, creditors also held back, hoping they would receive higher returns because of increased takings over Christmas. This year it is expected that increased unemployment and the January rise in VAT will prove to be the final straw for an additional retailers.
Apart from the obvious need to conduct a what if on your customers going bust (If a customer goes bust owing you £150k and you make a net profit of 5%, you will need incremental sales of £3m to recover lost profit), it is not difficult to spot the warning signs:
- ROCE below 10% and falling
- Net Margin below 2% and falling
- Credit period creep (taking longer to pay)
- Reguests for cash-based trade funding
- Lack of compliance
- Your own gut feeling….
The key is to recognise the obvious, and then get in ahead of the liquidator. Otherwise you come last in the list of favoured creditors (ie ahead of suppliers will be claims for VAT, Utilities, Corporation Tax, Council Tax, Banks, Liquidator Fee, Pension Fund, Employees, Landlords….)
Friday, 27 November 2009
A pro-active use for empty prime retail space?
EA Sports Active, a Wii Sports type game with a variation on high impact work-outs, can be a win-win way of repopulating empty prime retail space. EA Sports Active launched in the spring and has sold over a million units in North America. An add-on (More Workouts) was launched last week.
EA Sports Active have opened stores in San Francisco and Boston where people can book a session with an "ambassador" or just walk in and have a play. Their breakthrough initiative is based on the idea that encouraging people to try the product via 'workout' would capitalise on their research showing that 80% of their consumers were recommending EA Sports Active to their friends. They knew that they had a good product but their challenge was getting the word further out there and really differentiating it from the other products. They point out that the stores are "like living billboards" in some of the world's most desirable shopping locations…..
Apart from extending the marketing reach of suppliers in appropriate categories, this idea could reach beyond the weekend and provide a 24/7 proactive shop-window for your brand.
Have a thoughtful work-out weekend from the Namnews Team!
EA Sports Active have opened stores in San Francisco and Boston where people can book a session with an "ambassador" or just walk in and have a play. Their breakthrough initiative is based on the idea that encouraging people to try the product via 'workout' would capitalise on their research showing that 80% of their consumers were recommending EA Sports Active to their friends. They knew that they had a good product but their challenge was getting the word further out there and really differentiating it from the other products. They point out that the stores are "like living billboards" in some of the world's most desirable shopping locations…..
Apart from extending the marketing reach of suppliers in appropriate categories, this idea could reach beyond the weekend and provide a 24/7 proactive shop-window for your brand.
Have a thoughtful work-out weekend from the Namnews Team!
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