Digital Transformation of Businesses

Nothing new here but a reminder that the digital world offers new ways of improving processes to be leaner and more attractive. New twist on old ideas? Probably, but the interest that venture capital firms are putting on this field makes me think that something's happening.

That being said, building a new brand name is difficult as is highlighted in the article.

The Walgreens case study is a sign of the times because most brick-n-mortar retailer ar embarking in an omni-channel transformation to stay relevant in the face of online pure-plays like Amazon as they break down the barriers of eCommerce sales without a physical presence. BestBuy is doing it, Walmart is doing it and I assume most other retailers are thinking about it given the evel of interest around the topic at the recent NRf show in NYC.

What we can learn from Walgreen is that physical presence should not be a bad thing if you embrace digital technologies - mobile, eCommerce, showrooming, store pickup of internet orders, etc. - to differentiate your offering from pure plays by leveraging your physical presence to offer improved customer service (that's the omni-channel part). If you don't and try to compete on price, as is mostly the case now, pure plays will win because they do not have to support a network of stores with employees and cash registers.

Not charging for sales tax is a major price "advantage" that online pure plays have over brick and mortar retailers. By charging sales tax, Amazon sees this price advantage shrink but with warehouses that are closer to customers, it can reduce shipping costs and offer next day and even soon same day delivery.

I attended this panel and the Marketvine discussion related here was most interesting. It offered a diffrent way to approach eCommerce where retailers can make their products available for others to showcase. What called curated commerce forces retailers to think about their eCommerce website not onnly as a shopping environment but also as a platform for others to build on top a possibly different shopping experience.

Few if any technologies exist today to easilly enable retail storefronts with solutions to expose their products but also support curators in displaying, promoting and converting viewers into buyers - and recognizing the curators with a piece of the sale. Amazon offers a similar service via its affiliate program but the solution is dedicated to its store and its members.  This is not sufficient and retailers need new tools to facilitate the curated commerce trend.

Interesting when you compare this with the Boston Consulting survey on same-day delivery which basically says that retailers are embracing same-day delivery but that customers really don't care about it.

Not sure that I agree that the curated shopping approaches are right but they do raise an interesting question: can the shopping model be "flipped" using digital means?

The current online shopping model is pretty much the same as the paper-based catalog or in-store shopping experience of the old days: browse a catalog, add items to a cart and then pay. The digitized experience can be more efficient (with searching, reviews, additional information, live help, etc.) but optimized does not mean transformed.

Can curated shopping transform the experience by having you pay first (for a curator's help), then receive products and return what you don't need or want? May not apply for apparel but maybe that grocery shopping would benefit from that flipped approach? Have an expert (diet guru, coach, famous chef) prepare recipes and a meal plan and automatically send you the appropriate items, along with the other things you need to run a house (cleaners, pet food, etc.).

What do you think?

This is so true and I believe Brian present a convincing case for rethinking the technology selection process. Then again, in certain cases, heis approach falls short but overall it is much better than the traditional RPF process.