Comments on: Defending the status quo kills companies

By: Predicting the Future of Retail | Retail: Shaken Not Stirred

Predicting the Future of Retail | Retail: Shaken Not Stirred — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:59:05 +0000

[...] our business models don’t keep pace, we’ll quickly be left behind. Since I believe that defending the status quo is what kills companies, thriving and surviving requires somewhat accurately predicting the future. So I thought I’d [...]

By: The Hidden Cost of Change | Retail: Shaken Not Stirred

The Hidden Cost of Change | Retail: Shaken Not Stirred — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:54:06 +0000

[...] alike. But that doesn’t mean revolutionary change isn’t necessary at times. After all, defending the status quo kills companies. We just have to be careful how often we revolt and make sure revolution is truly the smartest long [...]

By: Kevin Ertell

Kevin Ertell — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:33:32 +0000

Hi Sara,
Thank you very much for your comment. I am in complete agreement that it’s best to use all available marketing vehicles to attract customers to the brand and not bias them to any particular channel.

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:42:15 +0000

Hi Kevin,
I agree with Francesco comments. Retailers are not only challenged to understand the future potential of their different sales channels, but the marketplace has become – and will continue to become – more behaviorally driven. Most retailers still tend to focus on past purchase behavior and the status quo in direct marketing tactics to push their own company agendas to the company preferred channel. Instead, I believe companies that focus on utilizing the many tools available to leverage current web behavior and to let consumer-choice drive decisions will come out on top.
Companies are also less willing to focus on these smaller groups and pockets of individuals for fear of lost revenue and traffic to their channels – even though the percent return is typically higher and they will be positioning themselves for the future increase in e-commerce and social networking channels.

By: Kevin Ertell

Kevin Ertell — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:55:53 +0000

Thanks a lot for your comments, Francesco. I agree that retailers are starting to increase their cross-channel integration efforts, and that’s good.
I think you’ve captured accurately the primary differences between physical retail locations and e-commerce. Some might also include the ability to shop socially in physical stores with other people. It seems that all of these gaps are beginning to close, though. With products that have been digitized, instant gratification is now possible (even more than physical stores, for that matter). In harder goods, supply chain systems in certain metro areas are making same day delivery a possibility. Given those advances will continue, I wonder how many people will shift their behavior away from physical stores. If and when they do, at least some of today’s physical store models will likely break. How should those models change to remain profitable? Are some models more capable of adaptation than others? I’m curious to know your thoughts.