Mission Statement

We live in the Information Age. The challenge of our time is our daily journey across the dunes of endless news and information clutter to the oasis of relevant, timely and trustworthy information on the topics of our interest. Among several perils of our journeys is the loss of invaluable time due to distractions leading to frustration and build up of stress. The purpose of this blog is my humble attempt to help my readers to navigate through the vast informational horizon of Retail Landscape in search of relevant, interesting, actionable and insightful information, minimizing the stress factors of the journey for those who share my passion for everything retail.

Personal interest

I have been passionate about the retail industry for 5 years now. Presently, I am on a cusp to starting my career in the industry. I have an honorary diploma in Fashion Business Management and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Retail Management.

Why do I like retail? I like it because it is everywhere. I like it because it is complex. I like it because it holds countless opportunities for those people who are ready for its challenges. I like it because real people, consumers, play the key role shaping it to suit their changing lifestyles, tastes and inspirations. Sometimes the industry can influence the change in the consumer lifestyle as well, a refreshing news. I like it because I like new technologies, which are very important in the industry. I believe that retailing is a reflection of the Zeitgeist: a barometer of social and cultural mood in the society. Because it is big business, retail is subject to larger economic and political trends.

As you can see, the complexities of being a professional are vast. Staying ahead of the curve is absolutely paramount to being successful on either personal or organizational levels in retail. But at the same time it is exciting and challenging to be in the midst of the vortex called retail.

In this blog I attempt to stay abreast of current political, economic, social and technological climates in the global and local markets; share stories of industry leaders identifying what makes them who they are; shine the light on successful business strategies; examine the journey, success factors and strategic competitive advantages of successful retail organizations; follow the development of key trends that will have the impact on the future of the industry; find new information in best selling titles; examine the influence of recent trends on business.

Rubrics 

News: look at the major news that shape the industry
Leadership: get inspired by the leaders of the retail industry
Retail Strategy: strategic decisions often make or break companies; this rubric looks at successful and failed strategies to offer handy references for future business decisions
Notable Retailers: monthly rubric that looks at the major players on the domestic and international Retail Landscapes and answers such questions as "where it all started?", "what makes the company successful?", "what does the future hold?", etc.
Under the Microscope: this rubric follows the unfolding story of an noteworthy idea, technological innovation, individual or an organization
Books: review reading material to gain new perspective and new knowledge
Trends in Action: how recent trends are affecting the business 




Sources 

The Economist - www.economist.com
Bloomberg BusinessWeek - www.businessweek.com
The Globe and Mail - www.theglobeandmail.com
National Retail Federation - www.nrf.com
Retail Council of Canada - www.retailcouncil.org
Retailing Today - www.retailingtoday.com
Retail Prophet - www.retailprophet.com/blog
Harvard Business Review - www.hbr.org
Business Insider www.businessinsider.com/retail
Time Magazine topics.time.com/retailers
Internet Retailer www.internetretailer.com
Marketing Magic www.marketingmagic.ca
Planet Retail www1.planetretail.net

The new frontier for Twitter

On December 12, the Pope Benedict XVI is going to connect with the faithful around the globe on Twitter, according to Bloomberg Business Week (http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-11/the-popes-social-media-guru-on-at-pontifexs-first-tweet).

I think that this fact is inspirational for the business that still resist the online revolution. If Pope is entering the grey zone of social media to reach out to his 'followers' ('customers') where they are, in a way adapting to cater to the lifestyle of the people, there is no reason your business should follow the suit. 

So Twitter is a new place to preach.
It’s almost like the equivalent of the old marketplaces where Jesus went to engage people. That’s where we have to be, with all of its ambiguities and difficulties, because that’s where the people are.

E-Commerce in China

In the world's second biggest economic, online retailing is becoming the backbone of the retail industry, spurring growth and promoting innovation.

The big difference between the us and Chinese retail industries lie in proliferation of large and well managed retail chains. In the US the brick and mortar operations have great consumer reach, offer great shopping experience for customers and operate in an increasingly efficient ways. In contrast, Chinese brick and mortar retailers do not have the same clout. They have limited presence in the countrysides, where the majority of the population lives, and they are not efficient.
Presently,the e-commerce in both countries has an equal percentage, 5%, of the market share. However, it seems that China may become the frontier country in terms of the e-commerce in the near future. This outlook is in the plans of
China's largest on-line retailer Alibaba. The company sees a bright future for e-commerce in China. It plans to employ the big data strategy and turn such concepts as user-generated innovation and mass customization in reality.
Is it possible that in the near future, US retailers will be turning their gaze westwards to find innovation and inspiration?

Shoppers Drug Mart

Licensor of full-service retail drug stores

Founded in 1962 by Toronto pharmacist Murray Koffler, the Company has grown to a network of 1,237 Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix stores across Canada. 628 Stores in Ontario.

These conveniently located stores are owned and operated by the Company’s licensed Associate-owners who have helped build a brand that is synonymous with exceptional service, value and trust. The Company also licenses or owns 57 medical clinic pharmacies operating under the name Shoppers Simply Pharmacy^® (Pharmaprix Simplement Santé^® in Québec) and 6 luxury beauty destinations operating as Murale™.

With fiscal 2011 sales of approximately $10.5 billion, the Company is the leader in Canada’s retail drug store marketplace and is the number one provider of pharmacy products and services.

Shoppers Drug Mart has successfully leveraged its leadership position in pharmacy and its convenient store locations to capture a significant share of the market in front store merchandise, including over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, cosmetics and fragrances, seasonal products and everyday household essentials.

As well, the Company owns and operates 63 Shoppers Home Health Care^® stores, which are engaged in the sale and service of assisted-living devices, medical equipment, home-care products and durable mobility equipment to institutional and retail customers.

In addition to its retail store network, the Company owns Shoppers Drug Mart Specialty Health Network Inc., a provider of specialty drug distribution, pharmacy and comprehensive patient support services, and MediSystem Technologies Inc., a provider of pharmaceutical products and services to long-termcare facilities.

Shoppers optimum® program, one of the largest retail loyalty card programs in Canada

the Company also owns and operates 63 Shoppers home health Care® stores. these retail stores are engaged in the sale and service of assisted-living devices, medical equipment, home-care products and durable mobility equipment to institutional and retail customers.

Work in progress. Post 1

I am a true believer in continuous learning and self-improvement. I believe that each individual has a responsibility to work on identifying those aspects of his/her personality that they must improve on. Whether soft or hard skills, physical or mental abilities, a man can be better in any thing. That is to say, better than he currently is. Being better than yourself is key to being a better individual.
I have been working on figuring out what I need to improve on for some time now. I am the kind of person that gets easily excited about things and starts on something quite fast. However, I lose the interest as fast as I get it. One of my problems in the past was that I do not follow entirely through with my plans to improve a certain aspect of my personality, however excited i get about this in the beginning. This is one of my weaknesses. I recognize it and I want to change it. This rubric of the blog is my attempt to overcome this "weakness".

The purpose of this rubric is to document my progress in becoming a better reader and writer. The reason why I selected this area for improvement is because I noticed that I am not a good reader and/or writer. I should rephrase it, I could be a much better reader and writer.
I like reading. I think it is essential to being successful at work and personal life. Among many things it helps one keeping relevant. I read everyday. I read articles in magazines and newspapers, I read books, fiction and non-fiction. I read course-related materials like case studies and text book chapters.
I do read. But I am not satisfied with what I get out of reading. Being a hard-working person does not guarantee the best results. My shortcoming has been the low level of information retention and understanding of the text.
I discovered a course on how to be a better reader and writers.
I am going to record my progress in this rubric.

Analysis and Critique
Lecture 1.

 Great writers are great readers.
Active, engaged reader.

Layout of the course...

Piece of writing #1

Edward Bulwer-Lytton Competition


==========================================

Lecture 3 (using combination of writing genres to enhance work)

How literature can help

A piece of writing has 3 lives
1. When we read it for the first time and have no knowledge of the text
2. When we read past our initial reaction and try to interpret the information presented in the text (reflect on the text)
3. When we come back to the text, armed with both our initial reaction and the results of the analysis that we conducted 


 Re-reading.

Engaging writing: genre definition

Expectation of the audience.

Do not dash the expectations of the reader about the form/nature/genre of your writing (begin a mystery novel with sonnets)

 Make the most of utilizing the major genres

 Five major types of writing:

Prose (fiction - 3rd person, omniscient) - sub-genres
Poetry - the use of writing that uses language in unexpected or unconventional ways, rhythm, patters, rhyme
Drama - something that's performed in front of the audience. What the characters say and how they say it plays the cenral ... we have to suspend our disbelieve (4th wall)
Essay (formal tone, argumentative approach, making a claim and support it with the sentences to follow) - easy to define - piece of writing that seeks to persuade or informs and place in a particular position
Auto-biography - the story of a life told by the person who lived it

Historical fiction - combination of auto-biography and prose
Auto-biographic essay


Protest letter: 

Leash law for dogs

Dear City Council,

I am writing to ask that you consider establishing an off-leash area of the park (city) park for (the) local dogs, many other (areas of the) communities have designated (the) off-leash areas for (the) pets of the citizens and these are usually carefully monitored and have strict rules about (the) interactions between animals and cleaning after them. This would be a positive thing for both the dogs and their owners.

Thank you for considering this request.

Punch it up a bit to make a more persuasive request.

Use conventions of poetry to grab a reader's attention:



what is the letter about? about dogs and doing something nice for them
--> find more interesting choice of words to refer to these animals

Begin the letter with

It's not for nothing that dogs are often referred to as man's best friend. These furry four-legged friends provide companionship and love to their owners.

Then Essay

Auto-biography

As a dog owner for many years and having lived in many different communities, I've seen first hand how off-leash areas in parks are beneficial to dogs and provide members of the community even those who are not dog owners themselves a chance to enjoy watching these friendliest of animals of all play and interact with one another.

 Drama and Fiction

 ==========================================
Lecture 4

Bad boys out!

No one likes obnoxious people. They upset our day, they make us feel less of ourselves, they don't help up in any way.

Canadian Exports vs. Imports of consumer goods

September 2011	August 2012r	September 2012	August to September 2012	September 2011 to September 2012

Exports of consumer goods

4,293                     4,018                    3,902                        -2.9                                -9.1

Imports of consumer goods

7,579                      7,768                   7,534                       -3.0                                 -0.6

Total Exports

39,543                  37,252                     37,965                     1.9                               -4.0

Total Imports

38,453                      38,775                  38,791                   0.0                                0.9

Statistics Canada: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/121108/t121108a002-eng.htm

Retail strategies of B&M retailers against their Bricks and Clicks counterparts

The war between the mainstream brick and mortar retailers and the recent generation of on-line retailers is fought tooth and nail.

The next big battle is Thanksgiving.

This year, the traditional retailers in the U.S. are fighting for the share of the $586 billion dollar pie of consumer spending. According to National Retail Federation, 16% of this pie will be eaten by the online business.

What can retailers do to make sure they tap into this attractive slice of the market share?

One of the biggest challenges for traditional retailers is that it is so hard to fight with the online retailers on prices. Things like improving delivery and return options - same day delivery, free returns, free shipping - increasing on-line security and growing assortment of goods make shopping online so much easier for customers.

Here are the strategies that the bricks and mortar retailers have been using to combat their nemesis:

1. Exclusive merchandise (i.e. celebrity brands)
2. Lobbying for sales taxes on online purchases (WalMart against Amazon)
3. Unique bar codes on packaging to reduce "showrooming"
4. In-store pick up of online purchases / in-store returns for online purchases
5. Live events: concerts, cooking classes, etc.
6. Unique bonus content on DVDs and music CDs (Target and WalMart)
7. Rewards programs

Additionally, the retailers like WalMart, Target, Macy's, J.C. Penny, have been working hard at extending their online presence too. They figure that they can fight Amazon, Gilt Group and eBay on their turf. Price matching, same-day shipping, in-store kiosks, mobile checkouts, offering unique experiences and unique merchandise are the weapons in the arsenal of b&m retailers. They are fighting back and may very well succeed at this.

After all, maybe the pure online retailing is just a fad...

Consumer Republic by Bruce Philp

Recently I read Consumer Republic by Bruce Philp for the Retail Design course at school. The book selection was decided on the random draw basis, so I think that this was a lucky draw. I really enjoyed reading Consumer Republic because of the abundance of insightful information about marketing and branding, good structure, well developed and communicated topic, interesting examples and conversational tone of author's writing.

Memorable quotes:


"If one of us starves, we both starve"

"our definition of "needs" is fluid and contextual"

"what motivates the way we meet our needs evolves inevitably form being a matter of survival to something more to do with self-expression"
 

Insightful snippets of info about brands: 

People have a "strange combination of resentment and high expectations" about corporations

"What can we get away with" - attitude of some corporations toward their cusomers

The buying public "misperceives its power over corporations"

Consumerism can be an inclusive social force that can empower the consumers to influence the future and promote sustainability


Brands is the common ground because they "give ordinary people power over the behavior of industry"

Brands is a very big stick that is almost entirely in our hands

Consumers are not victims of marketing

Marketers' work is premised on the notion that the existence of demand is a constant. It is always there, their job is to recognize it and connect it with the supply end of the equation

People buy only what they need. However, the real needs of citizens of the developed world are getting harder to identify.


Opportunistic marketers: "relieve us of our money by meeting our "needs" and use urgency as their default too. They prescribe consumption as a "competitive sport in which whoever gets the most for the least wins". (this is not a path to self actualization)


Fundamental problem of the North American consumerism is that "too many people being sold too much stuff".

"Brands make corporations accountable and give us power"

"Now, as never before, marketers can be influenced to do what we want them to do, as a condition remaining in business"


Expressions of interest:

Neither of us can walk away from the game

"Let us cultivate our garden" - Voltaire

Why the book was written:

The economic turmoil of 2008 that revealed an 'ugly face' of capitalism. People accumulated enormous debts that they were not able to honor. Consumerism along with cynical Wall Street types were blamed for the recession. Buying cheap products of poor quality, throwing them out to only replace them with equally poor quality goods perpetuated the vicious cycle that eventually led to a collapse of the system.

The recession raised the questions about the morality of consumerism, i.e. how much is enough; about social meaning of material things, or whether the things we buy should have any social meaning at all; about personal accountability. 

As book suggests, the future of consumerism is uncertain due to the events of 2008.

What the big box retailers are betting on this holiday seson?

This year the Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, which will be observed on November 22 and 23 respectively, are looked upon by the major retailers as the important days for the profitable ending of the year. The Black Friday is so named because it is time of year when many big box retailers are said to cross the line between loosing and making money. The holiday season sales account for approximately a 1/4 of the annual sales of Walmart. This time of the year Santa goes around to bring bags of cash to the deserving retailers that served their clients well and made them happy.

This year, the major retailers like Walmart, Target, Sears, etc. are placing a much bigger bet on the Thanksgiving Day than before as they are sure that their shoppers want to start the holliday season earlier rather than later. Or maybe the bigger reason for this early push comes from the latest figures from the NRF that anticipate that the holiday spending will "rise to 4.1 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent growth in 2011".

Here are some of the deals and services that the shoppers can enjoy this Thanksgivign:

1. the Kmart, Sears, Walmart,  will be open on the Thanksgving Day
2. Walmart will kick off its sales at 8pm on this day
3. It guarantees that those in the line-up will be able to buy the trio of gadgets (it stocked up deep on the electronics)
4. Walmart is offering layaway options, which started in mid September
5. Walmart and Target have publshed toy catalogues
6. The deals will become available in rounds in order to avoid a tragedy that happened in 2008
7. Walmart will be selling iPad2 16G with Wi-Fi for $399 with $75 Walmart giftcard

Advertisment invasion in your banking account

Advertisements are a proven way to make money. In some cases it is the only stream of income for online companies that do not want to charge money for subscription to their websites. The banks are starting to explore this lucrative way of making money by mining data from their customer transactions and linking their shopping patterns with the marketing plans of certain retailers: supermarkets, restaurants and apparel stores.
A private American startup, Cardlytics, is a leader in this field. It works with the Bank of America on analyzing the transaction data from its credit card accounts to sell the targeted advertisement to retailers.
 Here is how the Economist describes the mechanism of this business mode:
"A supermarket might be interested in customers who spend $100 or more a month at rival grocers but who have not entered its own stores for six months. It might then offer these people a 20% discount on their next shopping trip at its stores.
Cardlytics would insert an adverstisement to this effect into these customers' online-bank statement".

Apparently, banks recently have been struggling to maintain profitability. Low interest rates and consumer legislation are blamed for this.

So there is an attractive opportunity for many financial institutions. So much so that the company is now working with 327 banks that reach 78 million households in America.

The fee for canny advertisement placement is 10% of the price of the purchase made by the customer. Half of it goes to the bank and the other half to Cardlytics.
The click through rates are more than impressive at 15% to 20%. Only 1/3 of all offers are redeemed.
Visa and Mastercard have joined the race in mining transaction data to increase their revenue.

In case you have not herd about Winners...

Here's some information that I've gathered on Winners in preparation for my job interview: 

1. It is a public company 
2. It is part of a parent company TJX Companies Inc. that also includes Home Sense, Marshalls, Stylesence in Canada and Marmaxx, and HomeGoods stores in the United States; T.K. Maxx - Europe's first and only off-price retailer
3. It has a free loyalty program that includes all three brands and offers special services for customers such as extended return period, shopping at early hours, email notifications about new arrivals, special offers, etc.
4. The company was founded in 1982 in Toronto
5. In 1990 (5 stores) it was acquired by TJX Companies Inc. - the world's leading off-orice retailer of home and apparel fashions
6. Winner's offering to customers: "winning combination of the latest brand name fashions for up to 60% less that arrive fresh daily so that the customers can experience the "Thrill of the find" or "high fashion for low prices"
7. Buyers use runway as an inspiration
8. The true value is identified through Winners "compare at" ticketing
9. In '95 the giftware and home goods categories are offered; 97 woman's footwear; 2001 Home Sense - unique accessories and designer home decore lines  2006 - expansion of the shoes and home goods departments; 2007 - launch of runway; 2009 Stylesense - shoes and accessories
10. 216 stores in Canada and 20 in the GTA
11. Winners stores average approximately 29,000 square feet in size
11. Stores have specialty and expanded departments and are all unique
12. TJX faces competition from various players in the sector, both domestically and internationally, local, regional and national: low-cost operators like American EagleOutfitters, discount retailers, wholesalers and distributors, catalog businesses, department stores, local retailers, online e-commerce retailers; super center stores, wholesale clubs.
13. Major competitive factors: members, employees, warehouse sites, product availability, customer service, product offerings, quality and price
14. SWOT analysis - http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/309534_GDRT33675FSA
15. Marshalls Canada arrived in downtown TO in 2011 and now has 6 stores with plans to open up to 100 new locations; in 2012, 15 new Marshall's stores are scheduled to open in Canada
16. TJX has plans for opening another 30 Winners and 15 HomeSense locations
17. Off price retailing - product availability - major concern 
18. TJX strategy that eliminates this concern: A. 25 key vendors comprise only 25% of all of the products purchased; overall the company has over 15k vendors B. good relationships with vendors C. can easily take advantage of market opportunities by shifting merchandise categories inside the stores ("no walls" between departments) D. "we are an attractive outlet for vendors": we buy less than full assortment of items, style and sizes and quantities ranging from small to very large; can disperse inventory across a wide geography; pay promptly; do not ask for return, markdown or advertising allowances; E. leaner inventories - means that retail environment is less promotional, which raises the pricing umbrella between TJX and traditional retailers; excess inventory in the vendor marketplace = lower cost of goods for the company
19. TJX has a vision to grow to be a $40 billion company 
20. Carol Meyrowitz, Chief Executive Officer of The TJX Companies, Inc
21. TJX has been increasing their dividends and paying them regularly
22. In September 2011, Doug Mizzi, 52, was promoted to President, TJX Canada. -  started with TJX in 1988 and rose through the ranks of store operations at Marmaxx. In 2004, Mr. Mizzi went to Canada as Senior Vice President, Store Operations and in 2006, became Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of TJX Canada. He has most recently served as a Managing Director for TJX Europe for two years and returned to Canada earlier this year to head TJX Canada. Mr. Mizzi will report to Nan Stutz, Senior Executive Vice President, Group President.

Will Best Buy Go Out of Business...Soon?

Will Best Buy, electronics superstore, go out of business in the near future? This question is raised due to a $1.7 billion dollar loss that the company posted in the first quarter of 2012.

What is happening with Best Buy?

We see a combination of internal and external influences in the recent unsatisfactory performance of the company. On the internal side, according to the newly appointed CEO, Mr. Joly, Best Buy "had continued to open new stores well into the recession and made some acquisitions that yielded low returns". The company went through a scandal involving the former CEO. This incident combined with the effort of the founder of the company to buy out Best Buy, might have driven the attention of the company management away from building a competitive on-line platform to address the increase in online shopping for electronics. A big external influence is Amazon with its lower prices on the same products. Many shoppers go to the Best Buy stores to physically examine the merchandise and then go to Amazon to buy this item at a substantially lower price (Jones, 2012).

Many retail publications suggest that the age of retail stores as we know it is nearing its dawn. Online becomes an increasingly more appealing option for shopping. When shopping online one can easily compare prices across competing brands, find the best deal available, place a purchase and have it delivered to his/her door within one day or even, remarkably, on the same day of the purchase. In other words, many retail analysts say, brick and mortar stores now become akin to showrooms where a customer can touch and feel the product, examine its quality from up-close and test its functionality. Unlike the traditional retail store, the showroom concept lacks the main element of commerce - a transaction.

In a few years the new and old retailers may not need to roll out dozens or hundreds of stores to capture or maintain the market share. I suspect that in the near future a new entrant in the market with ambitious plans to become a major play will only need a few key urban locations, most likely located in downtown with great visibility and high traffic, to ensure the realization of its plans. These scarce but really extraordinary retail locations or showrooms will be replete with the latest technological and design innovations as well as the trully professional staff and of course,  beautiful product. Spaciousness of the store can be attributed to the absence of the backroom: there is no need to have inventory. Each product will be displayed in a much better way allowing the customers appreciate the finer elements of its design and examine the product for possible flaws. Manufacturers will have to make things better so that they will pass the test of our heightened attention and end up in our homes.
In other words, the physical stores could steer away form being a place for making a business transaction to a place that will facilitate the occurrence of the transaction online. Lets face it, in the last couple of years, we have learned to combat the desire for instant gratifications. Value has take the center stage in our lives. We do not want to spend more than we absolutely have to and we will go out of our way to find the best deal. I can say that we are conditioned to look for a better deal.

Back to Best Buy. Amazon has started to erode the  ground beneath its nemesis' feet back in the early 2000s. Presently, e-commerce accounts for 20% of US consumer-electronics sales. Surprisingly, Best Buy did not do much to address the online threat. It did, however, set up the website in 2000 but did not emprove its functionality and so it was not popular among online shoppers. Online sales account for only 6% of Best Buy revenue.

To address these challenges, the company plans to transform the design of its online platform and physical stores in an effort to improve customer experience; it intends to offer benefits and membership programs to its customers in order to drive loyalty; it hopes to encourage its vendors to use Best Buy as a preferred distributor; It also plans to whittle expenses by re-allocating store space and cutting input costs (Jones, 2012).

Relevant facts:
25% of online consumer electronics shoppers visit bestbuy.com and 31% actually buy something
41% visit amazon.com and 81% end up buying
3% shop at apple.com and 76% buy

Best Buy holds the 11th spot on the list of top 11 E-commerce sites with $3 billions in sales in 2011. (I was surprised to learn that the second spot belongs to Staples.com)


Sources consulted:

Jones, K. (2012). Best Buy CEO Eyes Cost Cuts, Online Sales. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324556304578117110821129272.html?mod=dist_smartbrief