A SAMPLING of my recent commentary on RetailWire:
What does it take to develop top retail store managers?
This is a fine list of "human factors" that can lead to store manager success. Thanks, Bob for sharing it today. Store managers have very challenging jobs -- especially those who lead supermarkets and super centers which may employ 100 - 250 people or more and have tens of millions in r...
Has Prime Day become America’s cue to shop for back-to-school?
Yes Prime Day seems to have become a BTS trigger, but not all by itself. In a visit to Walmart over the weekend I encountered large displays of school merchandise. (Timing is not unusual here in Arizona, where the new school year begins in mid-August.)...
Alexa – Are Americans ready to shop by voice?
Wow it took some time for me to scroll and digest all the great interactions in this thread. If only my smart speaker could have just read it to me.... Kudos to Ryan for calling out "the whole digital speaker sorority" in his comments. My favorite phrase in the whole thread. I agr...
Does blockchain face scalability limitations?
The blockchain is a world-wide ledger that relies on massive redundancy as its core method of data security. This is why it gobbles up so many computer resources and draws so much electricity. This seems like the very definition of a scalability challenge to me....
Is Walmart at an online crossroads?
Well-stated, Herb. Retail is indeed a fundamental human activity and an engine for prosperity. Its methods will always be in flux and its competitors will never stop jockeying for positioning in the marketplace. So what if Walmart is continuing to make strategic adjustments to its approach to ...
NRF study says customers dig retail tech
Digital retail technology focuses an electron microscope on inventory availability issues. Retailers must now finally get control over this discipline -- especially at the store level to support search-ahead and click & carry shopping. Shoppers like mobile apps, and they are becoming m...
Are ‘veggie burgers’ and ‘oat milk’ confusing to consumers?
Oy! Sounds like the animal products industry is trying to pour chilled milk over the red-hot vegetable protein industry. Public legal shaming over nomenclature is a great way to instill FUD in the public and deter the investor community that has been going bananas over meat-like food products. ...