5 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS FOR THE RETAIL MARKETER

   EMBRACE THE OMNICHANNEL SHOPPER.  People gather information from more sources than ever and want to survey the virtual landscape from their phone, tablet, laptop, desktop – and through the unalloyed advice of others.  It’s a brave, multi-dimensional world, retailers and brands.  Stop obsessing over showrooming and start obsessing over connecting with your shopper.

   IMPROVE YOUR ANTENNAE.  Consumers aren’t the only ones employing technology; so are your competitors.  Big Data is a big competitive advantage to more than the NSA.  Are you winning at understanding the big picture?  If you’re unsure, you’re losing.

   DON’T FEAR CHANGE.  The Ron Johnson and JCP debacle notwithstanding, marketing at retail is an inherently experimental, experiential realm.  If you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind.  Test.  Analyze.  Repeat. 

   BE AUTHENTIC.  Don’t stuff the ballot box and use black hat techniques to influence purchase decisions based on trumped up input.  Instead, find ways to genuinely engage shoppers, understand their needs beyond a survey or focus group.  You’ll be rewarded with greater loyalty – and results.

   SHOP.  I’m continually amazed at marketers who spend so little time in the marketplace.  Are you in stores every week?  If you’re not, no matter what your job is, you’re not doing your job.  There’s no substitute for spending time in stores, soaking up the experience, seeing what works and what doesn’t, observing behaviors firsthand.

   Do these things and 2014 can be your best year yet.

MORE EVOLUTION THAN REVOLUTION

   As the year draws to a close, many of us focus on family, festive gatherings and food.  As we wrap up Christmas shopping and the presents we buy, retailers and manufacturers are wrapping up 2013 and looking to the future.

   Amazon recently announced plans to use drones to swiftly deliver some goods to their metropolitan clients within the next five years and are expanding their reach into grocery delivery too.  Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, announced the purchase of 127 European malls.  Many of North America’s larger retailers have only modest plans for growth in 2014.  Consumer packaged goods companies, retailers and those that serve them continue to evolve as they seek profitable means of delivering value.

   Drones notwithstanding, selling through store environments continues to be the primary means of moving products from manufacturers to consumers.   Stores engage consumers’ senses, meet their desires for immediacy, provide social stimulation and represent the most economical means of delivering products to homes.  

   Not too many years ago, cellphones and overnight package delivery were the things of science fiction.  Today, 80% of 18-to-34-year-old Americans own a smartphone.  There are more cellphones than toothbrushes in the world.  Technology keeps getting better, faster and cheaper; retailers and consumer goods manufacturers are using it all to serve their customers.  Technologies may change quickly but human nature won’t change so radically in our lifetimes.  

   So, calm down, Jane and George Jetson: groceries and most Christmas gifts are still coming home in your trunk for the foreseeable future.  

AMAZON MEETS THE JETSONS

On 60 Minutes last night, Amazon's tireless founder, Jeff Bezos, introduced an R&D project that could reshape the delivery of their products:  Amazon Prime Air.  Though some years off and still in early-stage development, Amazon is clearly trying to attack one of their challenges: how to get products to shoppers sooner and cheaper.

Using "octocopters" - I suppose "drones" sounds too militaristic and menacing - Amazon envisions moving products to shoppers within a ten-mile radius of an Amazon fulfillment center within 30 minutes of order placement.  Here's their video promoting the idea:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98BIu9dpwHU.  Pretty cool idea, eh?

Such a solution would theoretically allow Amazon to dramatically reduce logistical costs, one of their largest cost drivers.  It's visionary and just a little bit crazy.  Of course, people said the same thing of Fred Smith when he birthed Federal Express.  And, like FedEx that had government contracts moving checks for the banking system to underwrite the cost of rolling out a delivery system to business and individual customers, Amazon has their existing book of business that they can use to support this move.

One of my consistent beliefs has been that Amazon won't kill retail in part because their logistics model requires someone bearing the last-mile cost of delivery.  Today, YOU the shopper are the final mile delivery agent and you largely ignore your cost of cartage.  If Amazon overcomes that hurdle, they become even more formidable.  It still doesn't eliminate some of the other advantages that retailers have, e.g., touch/smell/taste before committing to a purchase, social aspect of shopping, selection curation, but it's a fascinating move.

Amazon has prided itself on experimenting and disrupting markets in the service of superior customer value.  Octocopters may or may not "fly" at the end of the day but you have to love their chutzpah and envelope-pushing behavior.  George Jetson would be right at home at Amazon.