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Scoop.it!
A blog about ecommerce marketing, running an online business and updates to Shopify's ecommerce community. 
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Scoop.it!
Domino's, which has had a history of smart tech innovation, has launched ordering through many different platforms, from smartphones to smartwatches to smart TVs. More than a third of its employees now work in tech and IT, the biggest department at the company's world HQ in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And just like a tech company, Domino's isn't afraid to fail. “We’re starting to think of ourselves as an e-commerce company that sells pizza. So we can take a few more risks and lean forward a little more
Farid Mheir's insight:
Not sure where I stand on whether this is for real or just fancy marketing. But reading that they have over 200 people focussed on technology innovation makes me think this is for real. So what does it mean for other fast food chains and retailers?...
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Farid Mheir's insight:
Auto replenishment sounds like a great idea. This data provides some isights on how people are actually using the service and its popularity - although it dates back to 2011. Grocers and CPC should take notice... Also see - Amazon subscribe & save auto replenishment solution http://sco.lt/7hBku1 - Amazon Dash button announcement
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Amazon's Dash Button is the first step in automating how, when and where you shop online.
Farid Mheir's insight:
Not sure this is the right thing - I can't imagine having 1500 of these buttons around the house - but would make sense say in a business environment for seldom ordered products that you are not sure needs to order them. I am thinking about printer ink cartridges or some lubricant in a machine shop. Fits perfectly with Amazon subscribe & save auto replenishment solution http://sco.lt/7hBku1
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Farid Mheir's insight:
amazon has been offering this service since 2011 with little fanfare. Why is this service not standard in every eCommerce website?
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Grocery may be B2C but it couldn’t be more different than retail, especially for online shopping. Grocers wanting their piece of the pie in this era of connected consumers need solutions. Unique solutions for very complex backend logistics.
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Farid Mheir's insight:
The article has little to offer in terms of "how" they did it other than state their use of OneCommerce which is a Hybris partner solution for in-store commerce and mobile. Interesting case study nevertheless. Worth mentioning that Canadian Tire also has acquired One Commerce.
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Around 25% of millennials said they would pay a premium for same-day delivery.
Farid Mheir's insight:
Grocery eCommerce is small but may be in line to disrupt a huge industry?
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The new year kicked off with over $525 million pouring into the food tech and media sector through four acquisitions and twelve capital raises
Farid Mheir's insight:
Innovation landscape in the "traditional, slow paced" food industry may be about to change... no?
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15 food accelerators and incubators launched in 2014, including FOOD-X and The Good Food Business Accelerator, as well as incubators from Marriot and Coca-Cola.
Farid Mheir's insight:
I had never heard of "crowdfooding" before... ;-)
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From
gigaom
Cambridge Consultants, a product development group based in the U.K., is showing off a connected shopping cart that can tell a retailer where you are in a store within three feet. The smart carts are equipped with Bluetooth radios and sensors to track the cart’s location so store owners can offer promotions and eliminate checkout…
Farid Mheir's insight:
Not everyone has a mobile phone when they shop groceries but everyone pushes a cart. So having a connected cart - especially if it costs only 7.60$ to retrofit - makes perfect sense, no?
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Retailers are catching on to the 'reverse showrooming' trend.
Farid Mheir's insight:
a new buzzword, reverse showrooming....
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Stuart Armstrong is pushing the boundaries of using digital screens to communicate with shoppers inside stores at ComQi. I think he has important things to say about where we’re going with the technology-enhanced shopping experience, which changes in the retail environment are most transformative, and how retailers and brands are using interactive screens to build customer relationships.
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Farid Mheir's insight:
(in french) eCommerce is picking up speed in Quebec. Les Affaires journal has just released a special issue on the topic, urging retailers to get going with eCommerce. And if you look closely you may find a few quotes from yours truly in some of the articles... ;-) Direct link to the PDF : http://bit.ly/1tyT78z
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Most people are familiar with the way that hotel and airline pricing models work, in that during times of higher travel the costs increase due to demand. This is one type of variable payment model, known as time-based pricing, which has been successfully used for years. But with so much success in the travel industry, why hasn’t this variable pricing model been applied to other industries like technology? The answer is that is has, but you may have not even noticed it because it is used in a number of different ways. Dropbox is known for their leading edge pricing models that have propelled their success, but are these variable pricing models the new norm for technology companies?
Farid Mheir's insight:
We know what variable pricing is when we fill our car with gasoline: the price is never the same and varies hour by hour. What triggers that change? Often we don't know. This article gives a good overview of the variable pricing with a striking example for a GE microwave where it tracks the price across amazon, best buy, and sears during a single day, and observes as many as 9 price changes. Variable pricing is difficult to implement manually but with digital the opportunities are endless. It requires your costs to be well understood and advance algorithms that make decisions automatically based on parameters you determine (time of day, interest for a product, inventory or prices are competitor's site, etc.). The transformation it requires may be profound, but can deliver amazing results.
Jean-Marie Grange's comment,
October 20, 2014 9:56 AM
Dynamic pricing will also follow the personalization trend... In the digital world, when you know your customer, what usage he is doing of your service (like the Dropbox example) what he has bought in the past, and at what price, you can tailor a personalized offer and price that will be appealing.
Jean-Marie Grange's curator insight,
October 20, 2014 10:06 AM
Dynamic pricing will also follow the personalization trend... In the digital world, when you know your customer, what usage he is doing of your service (like the Dropbox example) what he has bought in the past, and at what price, you can tailor a personalized offer and price that will be appealing.
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Walmart began testing Walmart Pickup – Grocery, a new same-day pick up concept, September 29. The retailer continues to explore new ways to make shopping faster and more convenient by integrating its digital and physical assets.
Farid Mheir's insight:
The 2min video shows how the pickup service works. Very popular in France already with 2500+ locations, the jury is still out to see whether this will work in North America... http://sco.lt/7u16nJ
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It's the most wonderful time of the year — for consumers and tech companies alike.
Farid Mheir's insight:
The trend is clear and the growth appears stable at about 16% YoY means sales will double to 200B$ by 2019.
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L’entreprise montréalaise BonLook se targue d’être la première à vendre des lunettes de prescription en ligne de façon légale au Québec. Or, le syndic de l’Ordre des optométristes du Québec (OOQ) est en train d’enquêter sur ses activités afin de déterminer si cette prétention est exacte, a a&hel
Farid Mheir's insight:
In french. Very good article to demonstrate how industries blind themselves to digital transformation. In this case the professional board of optometrists prevents the sale of prescription glasses online, stating that certain measurements are very specific and must be done by an optometrist. And the regulation was perfect in the age of physical stores, where competitors were across the street or across town. With Internet, this rule does not apply anymore. Competitors may be anywhere, in the US, Europe or India. And they are not subject to the same rules. This makes the regulation that was once created to protect the public and level the competitive playing field, is now hurting the local optometrists. And the same is true with other professional boards, pharmacists for example (it is not easy to sell prescription drugs online in Quebec, but very easy to buy prescriptions online from US or elsewhere). We need the professional boards to adapt their regulations to the new reality or face falling off the digital cliff.
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Technology is getting smarter, faster. Are you? Experts including the authors of The Second Machine Age, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, examine the impact that “thinking” machines may have on top-management roles. A McKinsey Quarterly article.
Farid Mheir's insight:
A bit long winded for those that follow the topic, this article nevertheless brings forward essential strategic thinking the C-suite executives should ask themselves today. Most important thinking comes at the end, so stick through it. Think of banking, which essentially a data-driven business, and ask yourself if their leaders have read papers like this one... Or retailers, which often sit on millions of transaction data from their POS and websites without using it to drive their business decisions.
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Tracking customers through today’s data-driven shopping journey provides retailers a fresh take on doing business and the chance to deliver the best customer experience and build loyalty.
Farid Mheir's insight:
Most overused these days, omni-channel is often a concept that is difficult to understand. This paper sheds some lights onto the concept as well as provides very useful concrete examples that describe how companies put omni-channel through its paces. Moreover, the paper delivers the concept with a focus on data, which indeed appears to be the glue that ties omni-channel together very well. Even though the focus is on retail, I believe this may also apply to banks and other physical locations where customers interact with businesses.
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Wearable devices made for the enterprise will offer more immediate value than BYOD programs. Here's why. Via TechinBiz
Farid Mheir's insight:
Finally the media seems to have shifted their attention from personal wearables to business-led applications of those wearables - except for yesterday's coverage of Apple iWatch. This article raises a good question : will you bring you wearable to work - your NFC smartphone can replace you company badge (or badges in case of consultant like me) - or will corporation issue you a company approved Google Glass or some other device? Anyone considering the introduction of wearable technology should consider this point carefully. Say you want to introduce Google Glasses for all your field service employees so that they have access to the repair manuals and seamless hands-free communication to head-office experts for on-site support. Or you want to introduce an in-store order picking Glass solution to improve your eCommerce efficiency. Or maybe you have a use case for employee heart rate monitoring that drives a business case to reduce your insurance premiums. Short-term benefits will require you provide company issued devices - no one will buy a 1500$ Google glass today. But in the mid-term, 2 or 3 years down the road, similar or competing devices may start to appear on the consumer market. Will you design your original solution to support BYOD or mandate the use of company devices, at the risk of alienating your employees with sub-par devices or multiple devices that are incompatible with one another? Think about it, define a strategy and set a clear path towards it.
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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc has begun using the U.S. Postal Service to deliver groceries ona trial basis in the San Francisco area, in a potential boostfor
Farid Mheir's insight:
This article confirms 2 things: 1- delivery is an essential component of eCommerce success but it is very difficult to execute. It requires expertise, is capital intensive and takes time to build out. Leveraging an existing service that is looking for ways to improve its balance sheet means USPS may be more flexible to accommodate Amazon than it was a few years ago.. 2- Amazon for now favours improving its delivery service - lower cost, faster turnaround - over opening physical stores. Makes perfect sense for Amazon: cracking the low-cost same-day delivery code is much more effective than opening stores (that requires real estate, employees, inventory, etc.) because it fits with Amazon online retailer pure play model. However, we can expect to see Amazon showrooms open in the future. Also see
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In this year’s Future of Retail Report, PSFK Labs’ fourth annual production of the report, we’ve brought together two interconnected themes that provide a foun…
Farid Mheir's insight:
Very strong overview of digital retail innovations. The presentation is peppered with youTube videos of presentations that are, for the most part, informative and easy to listen to.
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Taxi and private car hire service Uber has launched a grocery delivery service in the US. The Corner Store facility is available as an option via its main smartphone app and covers more than 100 items. The products are competitively priced against high street stores, and there is no delivery fee. The service is an "experiment" limited to Washington DC at this time, but it makes them the latest in a series of tech firms to move into the sector.
Farid Mheir's insight:
Weird concept (see my other posts on same day delivery). But with the right kind of SKUs and proper relationship with retailers (they prepare the orders and the Uber driver delivers during slow periods of the day), it may make sense. The trial may help figure this out. But is grocery the right SKU to target first? Shouldn't pharmacy, HABA, alcohol, make more sense? See also: - A review of same-day delivery by Google, Amazon, Instacart fails to show how it makes money via @delray http://sco.lt/7Z6OLx - Amazon’s now shipping on Sundays - will rescue US Postal Service + disrupt shipping industry? via @washingtonpost http://sco.lt/8g1601 - Same-Day Delivery not important, next-day delivery/pickup may be traditional retailer edge via @stratandbiz http://sco.lt/4wpmQT - and others on same-day delivery http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-transformation-of-businesses?q=same+day+delivery
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Peapod, FreshDirect and Winder Farms examples of companies who’ve found the right formula for online grocery
Farid Mheir's insight:
This article has some interesting data about the size of some e-grocers (Peapod = 550M$, FreshDirect = 25000 orders per week). It claims that the return of the milkman routes, delivering pre-defined orders weekly to its customers, will provide a business model that makes the e-grocery business realistic and profitable. I mostly agree. Grocery is a regular (weekly, bi-weekly) shopping experience for most households, with repeatable products, brands and quantities. It is not an impulse buying experience, at least not for the staple products that fill our pantries and most of our fridge. For the rest, go to the store and hand-pick your vegetables, fruits, meat and bakery for that special Saturday night meal. At some point, one retailer will figure it out and make replenishment of staple products its core e-grocery offering, blowing all its competitors out of the market. Winder farms does bring an interesting spin to the e-grocery experience but Amazon Fresh appears to be the only company to have truly cracked the model at scale (ie. with many thousands of SKUs delivered on a membership with price cuts on replenishment orders).
Olivier Laborne's comment,
July 30, 2014 3:29 AM
I have always been surprised that even with the digital and the web, each continues to look only what happens on the continent. And you know that too. ;-)
So much going on in Europe and Australia for a long time on food online with different modes of operation and testing. The online food is necessarily specific to each country because of what we eat and our way of life but it is also just a commonality between all peoples. I do not agree on some points like : make impulse purchases is also possible on the online food and already working. I have many other things to say but what is written is interesting, |
Curated by Farid Mheir
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I don't report on news items, as they tend not to age gracefully. However I report on news announcements that can have a profound impact and this is one: shopify allows you to sell your products on pinterest.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
Pinterest becomes your own crowdsourced catalogue where millions of people assemble products into meaningful visual browsable curated categories. Your catalog then becomes a repository of products: pinterest becomes your marketing social network. HUGE.