Wal-Mart faces a daunting business challenge. When Wal-Mart started its high growth strategy in 1969, it followed the movement of American middle class families from declining cities to new suburbs. Wal-Mart built thousands of stores to service this massive migration of growing household income, along with distribution centers to link these suburban and exurban stores into the largest retail chain [read more]
Chinese consumers can buy fresh Washington State Sweet Bing Cherries on Alibaba’s consumer website Tail.com for $6.56 a pound. It costs an American eComerce consumer $14.42 a pound on Packitrite.com. Unbelievable, but it is happening and here is how it works. For a small deposit, Chinese consumer can place a TMail order at a place marker price. Depending on the volume of [read more]
Psychologists at Dartmouth and elsewhere are finding evidence that of brain change in adults, as long as adults keep learning. So you can teach old dogs new tricks! Wrighley’s There is no old dog than chewing gum that goes back 5,000 years when Neolithic people chewed bark tar for its antiseptic properties and other medicinal advantages. The Greeks and Roman [read more]
The worst innovation can destroy a brand. JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson has unsuccessfully tried to remake a 110 year old department store discounter in a “chic” everyday low price designer mall. The result of this retail innovation has been is customer confusion and horrendous sales and share decline. Drawing on his successful experience at Target and Apple stores, Johnson [read more]
more to come!