In our September 18th podcast we discussed six major issues that retailers and brands are wrestling with going into the 2021 Holiday season. At the top of the list, and the one that significantly affects how to deal with the other five, is what will consumer behavior look like now that the more virulent Delta variant has emerged and is wreaking havoc...all over again. Disruption Accelerated Even prior to the first wave of Covid-19, the industry was living in a world of major disruption, triggered by the internet and ecommerce. Digital …
Don’t Sell the Return of Malls Short
Of the roughly 1,000 malls in the U.S., more than a third are rated C or D, which are grades that indicate low sales productivity, high vacancy rates, poor tenant quality, and other weaknesses. Once the retail apocalypse gained steam around 2015, it quickly became clear that most of these properties wouldn’t be viable as malls by 2030. The Covid-19 pandemic dealt malls another blow last year. Public health orders forced most U.S. malls to close for months and ratcheted up the financial pressure on many of their tenants. Moreover, during 2020 …
ZZ Driggs: Furniture Where and When You Want It
When Whitney Frances Falk started ZZ Driggs in 2015, she not only invented a memorable name for the company, but she also invented an entirely new business model that really didn’t exist before in the home furnishings retail business. Equal parts furniture rental, design service, antiques resource, selling platform and showcase for maker, designers and emerging artists, ZZ Driggs seems to have found a niche in the bigger home goods market – and it is now running with it. In its short existence it has become a go-to resource for commercial …
Bloomie’s Breathes New Life into Tired, Predictable Retail
What’s in a nickname? Nearly everyone has one or knows someone who does. Some are a shorthand version of a longer name. Others are more descriptive, but whatever form they take, nicknames are affectionately used by close friends and family. A Rose by Any Other Name Some brands are christened with a nickname, like MickeyD’s, Tarjay and Chevy. These nicknames are considered the highest form of flattery in branding circles. A recent study in the Journal of Marketing found when people use a brand nickname, it implies the individual has a “real” …
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Primark’s Now Questionable Value Proposition
When Primark, the next-gen’s fast-fashion retailer of choice, opened its first U.S. store in Boston’s Downtown Crossing in October of 2015, I said, “Primark’s value proposition sets the pricing bar so low that it will be almost impossible for competitors to crawl under it. And they’ve set the experience and trendy merchandise bar so high, relative to their pricing, that competitors will find it an enormous challenge to simply match it, much less beat it. They own this space.” And indeed, Primark’s value proposition did own its space as it …
Marketplaces Make Money
With growing consumer dependence on sites like Amazon, Uber and Airbnb, we are squarely in a platform economy. This means that a significant amount of buying and selling today takes place via an online platform or technology framework. Savvy retailers are shifting to digital-first transactions – and benefit from engagement and sales – by incorporating a marketplace strategy into their roadmap. What is a Marketplace? Online marketplaces offer almost every product and service category from travel and retail to household services. A marketplace …
The Power of Story
We live in a commercial culture increasingly transforming itself into an endless series of stories. Disneyland/World. Universal. Woof Meow. Harry Potter World. Those are the real-world entertainment stories. And then there’s the virtual: Roblox, Minecraft, Mortal Kombat. And the social: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Match.com. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a story to empower, engage, aspire and, unfortunately, enrage. We are wired to tell and listen to stories. We’ve progressed from circling the campfire to startlingly realistic …
Using Unbiased Metrics to Measure Loyalty
The Holy Grail for any brand or retailer is customer loyalty. In the Arthurian legend, search for the mythical grail promises its finder divinity – even immortality. Customer loyalty as retail grail is magic for a company. It extends the lifetime value of the customer, builds a steady stream of repeat purchases and can turn the customer into a brand evangelist who spreads the word. But just like the mythical grail, loyalty is hard to find – it exists in the hearts and minds of its beholders. Identifying the Ephemeral Because loyalty is so …