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Retail Paradox Weekly
Retail News Analysis by RSR Research
October 16, 2007
Wal-Mart and Retail Maturity
By Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner
10/16/2007
Over the past few weeks, IT and the general press have written a spate of articles on Wal-Mart - its RFID experiment, its customer service decisions and its sales shortfalls and rising operational costs. CIO Magazine pondered how Wal-Mart lost its IT Mojo. Baseline Magazine summarized the results (or lack thereof) of Wal-Mart's RFID initiative. Then the New York Times jumped all over the company's decision to eliminate any customer service phone numbers from its web site. Lee Scott is probably starting to feel like Britney Spears by now - he can't make a move without some comment from the media. But in truth, when one looks at some of the decisions made over the past two years, Wal-Mart management has made decisions that seem logical, but that also can be characterized as "rookie mistakes." More...
Has Digital Video Arrived?
By Steve Rowen, Partner
10/16/2007
Retailers have parted with their dollars via revamped store designs that employ multiple crow’s nests of one-way mirrors, via store "detective" and secret shopper programs, and most recently, via analog CCTV systems - all hoping to get a glimpse of the bad behavior that permeates all corners and players on the retail battlefield.
Therefore, when digital video technologies began to emerge in the past few years, it is understandable why many remained skeptical of the high-cost/low-proof solution: the sentiment of "let me know when it really arrives" was pervasive. More...
Move Over John Cabot - There's a New Northern Sea Route (Almost)
By Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner
10/16/2007
In 1497, the King of England dispatched John Cabot to find a direct trade route to the Orient. This was the first recorded attempt at what has turned out to be a 500 year quest for a commercial route between Asia Pacific suppliers and European consumers through or over
Canada's "Great White North."
Now it turns out that the fabled passage might be real, and we have global warming to thank (making lemonade from lemons?). In 1985, the U.S. Coast Guard sent an icebreaker through Canada' s polar region without permission, and this caused enough of a stir that a treaty was subsequently signed in 1988 between the two North American neighbors, where the U.S. agreed always to ask for permission and
Canada agreed always to give it. More...
Evaluating Consumer-facing Store Technologies
By Nikki Baird, Managing Partner
10/16/2007
Last week I spoke at the Digital Out-of-Home Media Investors Conference. It was an interesting conference - a bizarre mix of hard core advertising people, new media people, investment bankers, and a sprinkling of West coast venture capitalists. And then there was me and Laura Davis-Taylor from Retail Media Consulting, the only two people in the room who brought a retail perspective to the table. We were asked to speak about emerging technologies in the retail environment. And it was tempting to put together a presentation that detailed things like mobile-to-screen interactivity, RFID, or dressing room technologies, but what we opted to do instead is lay out a framework for evaluating whether a new technology is ready for prime time. More...
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Copyright © 2007 RSR Research LLC. RSR is a tradename of Retail Systems Research LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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