“The one thing that ceases to exist the moment it is shared.” Many retailers see “private label” as their competitive advantage protecting their consumables margin, but what about broader categories of general merchandise?  Brick-and-mortar retailers need proprietary innovation in all categories and lots of it. This is no secret. All retailers and CPGs realize that […]

We began this series with the assumption that “perceptions of risk matter”. We noted that risk is complex. When you wish to change someone else’s behavior (essential for sales), you try to affect their situation as YOU see it. But this is not enough. You must also influence how THEY “see” the situation. After all, […]

Retail is about selling products, right? Well… sure but maintaining a healthy market is a bit more complicated and requires that exchange to remain balanced. Once that balance is disrupted, one party will eventually terminate the relationship. Peter Drucker said, “the purpose of a business is to create customers, profit simply validates the business model.” There’s no […]

Many people consider innovation and invention to be synonymous.  Strategic discussions between retailers and suppliers of “consumer packaged goods” (CPGs) often include conversations about the importance of product innovation. While these companies realize they must innovate to remain relevant, their management may hesitate to implement the necessary change, especially if they have been conditioned to […]

I always start my lectures on TRUST by asking this question, “If everybody wants it, why then do we have so little of it?” I then get a lot of blank stares from students, wondering, “Is this a trick question?” No. It’s not a trick question but it certainly is a fascinating one and it speaks […]

“Sam Walton and the Hula,” is the story of the most humorously-iconic moments in Walmart history, if not the entire retail industry…  Two years ago I met a young lady named Kiersten Sundberg and she showed me an iPhone image of a portrait she had painted of her little sister. Kiersten is clearly very talented. The […]