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Retail Paradox Weekly
Retail News Analysis by RSR Research
March 24, 2009
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Amazon Gets Retail Closer to the True Mobile Revolution
By Steve Rowen, Managing Partner
3/24/2009
This week, Amazon released its gen-two application for the iPhone, whereby users of the Apple gadget can access the online retailer’s storefront without the hassle of launching a Safari browser. And while this is something of an indicator as to how extraordinarily “right now” we’ve become as a society (is the “extra step” of launching a browser really that much work?), I must admit, as an avid user of the iPhone, I was as excited as any other right-now baby to see how it would perform.
Interestingly enough, when I visited the iTunes store to download my own copy of the application... More
Oh, Just Give that Margin Away
By Nikki Baird, Managing Partner
3/24/2009
Last week Deloitte Consulting gave a webinar on Price Execution. The archive wasn't available at this writing, but when it is it should be at this link. I have felt in the past that price execution gets short shrift in the overall pricing scheme of things, but the reality is a more precarious balance. I call it the “Pricing Catch-22”: it's no good having the best, most fantastic pricing strategy if you can't get those prices to the shelf, but on the other hand, it's no good getting prices to the shelf quickly and efficiently if you don't have the right pricing strategy.
So when you're building a pricing capability, which one should come first?... More
IT-to-Business Alignment? Time to Try Business-to-IT Alignment
By Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner
3/24/2009
Last week I spoke to a group of aspiring IT Managers at a meeting of the Northwestern chapter of the Society of Information Management (SIM) in San Francisco. The meeting is an annual workshop intended to help these managers grow as leaders, and as part of this year’s agenda I was asked to give a “career perspective” – kind of a “been there, done that” talk. To kick off the meeting, we did a little word association: “when I say ‘CIO’, you say….” Words I got back included an array of perspectives: “visionary,” “gatekeeper,” “challenged,” “political,” “tough,” etc. Another one was “punching bag” – and that was what I needed to launch into a discussion about the personal side of “IT alignment."
The alignment topic has been exhaustively covered for over 20 years, and yet it remains a significant issue for businesses in every sector, not just retail... More
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