by Ted RubinRubin and John Andrews Andrews
Amazon goes Brick and Mortar to connect… it’s own bookstores, Kohl’s integration, Whole Foods, Pickup centers – they are creating a high consumer touch.
AND realize a vast majority of retail sales (especially holiday shopping) starts at Amazon… they have become the go-to search engine for retail (1.2 BB in add revenue in Q3).
Toys”R”Us and other retail woes are a perfect opening for Amazon and new brands to be even more relevant than before. Mattel, Hasbro and even Lego are challenged as they can’t rely on just store shelves that they own.
Hottest toy of the year isn’t from a big manufacturer – just like fidget spinners. And guess who is making that happen… NOT Walmart.
Both Walmart and Target, after years of chasing Amazon in ecommerce, are trying to drive consumers back to the stores for two reasons…
#1 – their efforts in ecomm and mobile have not only been anemic, but they don’t know how to drive profitability there (re: Jet, delivery, CX).
#2 – they now see Amazon making the Brick and Mortar connection and they are terrified.
And what happens after Black Friday, everyone goes home and logs onto Amazon to research what they didn’t get at other retailers, and THEN Cyber Monday is basically hours later creating a double whammy for them and against those whose online experience doesn’t come close to matching Amazon.
Black Friday is not dead… it is simply being extended and owned by Amazon.
SO… GET ON THE AMAZON TRAIN, OR Learn from them fast and start executing, or fall further behind.
#FollowThePath… #RetailRelevancy
Previously posted at TedRubin.com