RetailPulse #2
Hi, Happy Friday, everyone!
RetailPulse is a weekly digest focusing on the future of the retail industry. This weekly round-up provides a hand curated view of the press on the changing face of retail, which is currently going through rapid changes encompassing technology, business models, workforce, and customers expectations.

Quotes of the week:
“Amazon is in some ways more of a management story than a technology or a retail story.” Benedict Evans at Andreessen Horowitz
“[We] will put retailers back on the path to jobs and growth and back to competitiveness.” @VP Pence
Retail Week:
- Physical stores have been growing at 1% — 2%, although the constant media references to a “retail apocalypse” which lacks both accuracy and nuance. Physical retail is not going away, but digital disruption is transforming most sectors of retails profoundly. Physical Retail: Definitely Different, Far From Dead [Forbes]
- Sears has closed hundreds of stores, triggering anxiety about the once-dominant retailer’s future. Amazon has been on a building binge, is set to swallow Whole Foods and now, will sell Sears appliances online. See how their paths have crossed: — Sears vs. Amazon: A tale of two Retailers [WSJ Paywall]
- A good news for Grocery stores, with this new report highlighting the new generation habit and needs. Millennials spend significantly more on necessities like groceries and gas than older generations and less on travel. More groceries, less travel: Millennials spend more on necessities than older generations [USA Today]
- The logistical challenges of the meal kit delivery service to keep the meals affordable, convenient and tasty for their customers. The perspective of Daphne Carmeli, CEO of Deliv. The real cost of convenience [Retaildive]
About Retail Business Models:
- Grabbing items off shelves and packing them for shipping has been one of the most labor-intensive aspects of e-commerce. Robots developers are close to a breakthrough and retailers aim to automate this labour-intensive process. With the growth of e-commerce, labour shortage becoming more common and wages climbing companies are on the look out to solve rapidly these automation challenges. Next Leap for Robots: Picking Out and Boxing Your Online Order [WSJ Paywall]
- Change is constant and the consumer is driving everything nowadays. However, for a long time, the relationship between retailers and consumers has been asymmetrical where the retailers had all the knowledge about pricing, availability of products, controlled the messages. AI is at the centre of enabling a cognitive shopping experience where a continuous dialogue between the consumer, the brand or the store will enable the brands to consolidate its touch points and build a complete picture of what consumers want. AI Will Power The Next Wave Of Retail [ Lifehacker ]
- The industry is hitting a tipping point in the way consumers are purchasing for their food products and other basic household goods. The definition of convenience and conventional supermarket are being challenges and the most visible signal of this paradigm shift is the acquisition of the Whole Foods grocery by Amazon. As Amazon and Walmart are leveraging their scale and new digital grocery platform are emerging rapidly what are the option and opportunities available to conventional groceries chain owners. A Strategist’s Guide to the Digital Grocery [ Strategy + Business ]
Retail Tech:
UK research — Retailers are set to significantly accelerate their spending on Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Internet of Things (IoT) and other next-generation technologies Retailer technology spend to increase rapidly says research
Store side:
- Are the effort and the money that retails poured into the in-store “experiences”? Professors and research director at Wharton discussed the different side of in-store experiences, their impact and the need for real value and meaningfulness in an industry which is risk-averse and afraid of data. Finally, they touch on the future of physical and digital retail through a potential definition of omnichannel. — Can In-store ‘Experiences’ Save Retail? [ Knowledge @ Wharton ]
- The industry is gathering an enormous amount of data, but still one of the most challenging aspects of the retail industry is the lack of transparency across stores and teams and the ability to access actionable insights empowering store associates and store managers so they are able to deliver improved customers experiences. When 65% of consumers want to see, touch and feel products in person, the store associate empowerment is key! The human touch: Why mobile can’t replace in-store associates [Retail Customer Experience ]
- Store associated are busier and it’s becoming a real challenge to define properly the role of the store associate as they are facing more knowledgeable customers. New technologies are emerging which will help to guide and support the store associate with the emotional side of sales, and numerous benefits when they are well used. Is your sales staff keeping up with the changing face of retail? [ IQ Metrix — industry Dive ]
From the Trading Desk:
- Companies in the mid market are feeling exposed by the fast fashion brands and are looking for new paths to growth, focusing preferably on trends and style leaders and entering the high end of the luxury market. This week Michael Kors acquired Jimmy Choo for $1.2 Billion. Michael Kors to Buy Jimmy Choo in $1.2 Billion Deal [The New York Times ]
- As investors are pulling back from the retail real estate, one category is grabbing the attention of the small investors which are buying stand-alone retail stores, eyeing the stable revenue generated by largest U.S. grocer — Investors Buy Wal-Mart Neighborhood Grocery Sites in the South [ WSJ Paywall]
Conferences:
- Independent Retailer Conference — Las Vegas, Nevada, July, 30th to August, 2nd — “Pop up conference” dedicated to indie store owners with a focus on delivering in-store and e-commerce operational insights and expertise
- NRCE — Future-Proofing retail — Pasig City, Philippines, August, 10th -11th — The NRCE is the biggest and most important event in the Philippine retail industry, as it draws together over 800 retailers owners, top-level retail executives, and industry suppliers.
- Retail Delivery Connect — “Transforming Retail. Together. “ August 21-August 23, 2017 The Westin Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort, FL — Forum for senior level executives to come together and have detailed discussions with their peers, source solutions from the leading providers, and grow their bottom line, faster.
Until Next week!
- David
Looking to improve the next week edition, and would appreciate your feedback? Want more? Less? something different?
Any articles you want to share?
