Anthropology is the study of how human societies interact. Anthropologie is a case study of how certain human societies shop for home products. What a difference a few letters make. Anthropologie, the upstairs neighbor in the Urban Outfitters hierarchy of […]
An Anthropology Study Read More »
Driving from the Jacksonville, Florida airport into downtown, you pass by one of Amazon’s new distribution centers: a mammoth building of more than a million square feet surrounded by a 5,000-place parking lot. It is a reminder that while e-commerce
Amazon and the Parking Problem Read More »
The Robin Report has written extensively about the many retail business models that are rooted in the 80s, mostly oblivious to the technological advances that could streamline inefficiencies, better allocate capital while also increasing customer satisfaction. Today, most retail C-suite
Startups with Big Retail Impacts Read More »
Amazon is continually finding ways to better implement Bezos’ “last mile” (the most costly and often the slowest delivery distance from final distribution point to one’s home or pick-up location) more efficiently and expediently. Secondly, through data analytics and machine
Amazon Brings It to You Read More »
This summer, Amazon celebrated its third annual “Prime Day” by offering 30 hours of sales on more than 100,000 products on its sites worldwide. It declared a brand day on the calendar as if it were a holiday, which is
Retail Meets Culture: How Product “Holidays” Can Be Leveraged Read More »
I ask retailers lot of questions and one of my favorites is, “What keeps you up at night?” One of the most telling answers came from a senior supermarket executive several years ago who replied: “Waking up in the morning
Surviving Merger Mania Read More »
When you’re in the retail business there’s no end to the way competitors and disruptors can derail you. Online competition has to be top of mind, but there are cultural disruptions as well, such as the decline of shopping malls
Discount Retailers Make a Move Read More »
The constant flurry of news emanating from Amazon about fashion and appliances, Prime Day results and the Whole Food acquisition triggers the concept and value of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Wharton’s marketing professor, Peter Fader, is an expert in this
Customer Lifetime Value Read More »
Let’s be clear once and for all—Jeff Bezos doesn’t care if he sells you broccoli or ball gowns. Therein lies Amazon’s greatest strength and the potential chink in its digital armor. This strategy of being the “everything store” will be
Amazon’s Acquisition Game Read More »
Costco may be crazy like a fox. Costco Wholesale is a huge and successful retailer. Yet there are a few recent signs that it might be increasingly difficult for Costco to maintain and grow revenue in the future as it
Costco’s Peculiar Online Strategy Read More »
