Grocery and the Digital Shopper

Great little read from the folks at FMI.

For the folks who don't know the Supermarket retail sector here is a quick note to help you.  "Grocery" is not the store you go to.  That is called a "Supermarket".  Grocery is all the stuff in boxes, bags, plastic or glass bottles, etc. in the center of the store.  Combine that with fresh produce, meats, deli and bakery and you get more than just a "Market" you get a "Supermarket".  Hard to order your fresh apples online, but easy to get that box of diapers.  Yes?  Yes.

Read the whole story here:

http://www.fmi.org/digital-shopper

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0246 - Artificial Intelligence - Computers Playing Poker (and winning)

Best Reading of the Day

AI is certainly a subject we'll be hearing a lot about, now, and very soon.

Like card games?  How about Poker?

That game has been a real barrier for computers over the years because of the uncertainty, and the "bluff" factor that coincides.  No more, thanks to Artificial Intelligence.

What you say?  This isn't relevant to me?  Yes it is.  AI will soon be fueling all kinds of things, such as automating jobs (eliminating jobs) around factories and warehouses, etc. If you are part of the public that thinks trade is eliminating jobs in this country you really need to look at AI.  It is and will continue to be the real job killer.  Only going to accelerate.

This is a good read:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-31/inside-the-20-year-quest-to-build-computers-that-play-poker

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Four of the best professional poker players in the world spent most of January holed up at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, losing. They’d show up before 11 am, wearing sweatpants and stylish sneakers, and sit down in front of computer screens. Each of them was supposed to play 1,500 hands of heads-up no limit Texas Hold ‘Em online before they could go back to the hotel for the night. This often meant working past 10 p.m. Over the course of the day, Starbucks cups and water bottles piled up next to the players's keyboards. Chipotle bags lay at their feet.

Every time one of the players made a move, the action was transmitted to a computer server sitting five miles away at Carnegie Mellon University.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** This headline caught my eye as a great supplement to the story I provided above:
A Mystery AI Just Crushed the Best Human Players at Poker
https://www.wired.com/2017/01/mystery-ai-just-crushed-best-human-players-poker/

Sears Utilizes IBM Watson and NOBODY CARES

Wow, talk about focusing on the wrong problem.

Pain in your neck?  Put your foot in a cast.  Right?

No.

http://risnews.edgl.com/retail-news/Sears-Utilizes-IBM-Watson-s-Artificial-Intelligence-108611

Dead company walking. The stores are falling apart with zombie employees and empty shelves and they are implementing Artificial Intelligence.  Okay.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PayPal has Strong Mobile Payments Showing

PayPay, the online payment company, is gaining in store.  This is pretty significant news, both for PayPal and for mobile payments.

Read more:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/paypals-strong-q4-precedes-an-increased-dedication-to-its-one-touch-platform

Here is a snippet from the piece:

PayPal Holdings Inc. Q4 results revealed a 17 percent increase in revenue and optimism for its One Touch platform, an outcome that might lead competitors to speed up rollout of frictionless payments.

During the PayPal earnings call, the company proposed a few of its priorities for the upcoming year, including expectations that its One Touch platform — PayPal’s fastest mobile checkout experience — will continue to experience strong adoption.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Reinventing Printed Publications

I recently subscribed, digitally, to the Washington Post and was struck by the mobile app experience on my iPad.  Had I known how good it was I probably would have subscribed sooner and that struck me.  Traditional media publications are reinventing themselves and some are having great success.  The Washington Post just posted a profitable quarter, hugely profitable, and announced the hiring of many dozens of journalists.

So maybe the traditional newspaper isn't dead yet. What I really love about this app is how it respected but updated the traditional newspaper browsing experience.  Just like reading a paper you merely continue "turning the page" to get deeper and deeper yet you have sections ready to grab as well.  Take a look:

Here is a little story on that mobile app:

http://www.talkingnewmedia.com/2015/07/14/first-look-at-the-new-the-washington-post-app-for-ios/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...the new iOS app for The Washington Post cannot be expected to radically change the formula. What it can do, however, is play around with design and navigation, rethinking the way it wants to present its content.

Here is a great story on how the New Yorker is reinventing itself:

https://www.poynter.org/2017/how-the-new-yorker-brought-the-soul-of-the-magazine-to-the-web/447007/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...The New Yorker has undergone a massive digital remaking. It's established a separate web operation that's unchained writers and editors from the time-intensive print edition. It's colonized platforms like podcasts, YouTube, mobile applications, Instagram and Snapchat. And it's built a digital staff of about 40 people, hiring several full-time journalists tasked with writing primarily for the website.

The north star for this transformation: Breathing the soul of the 92-year-old magazine onto the internet without compromising its essence.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Sears ...

Do I need to say anything?

Okay, I visited Sears this past weekend looking for a particular screwdriver. First time I've visited a Sears in a year or more.  What a mess.  Death knocking.  Felt like I was in a funeral home.  Am I alone in this?

Not even close.

Read on:

http://www.businessinsider.com/sears-failing-stores-closing-edward-lampert-bankruptcy-chances-2017-1

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Business Insider spoke with more than a dozen employees, ranging from store clerks to senior executives, about the unraveling of Sears. Many spoke on the condition that they not be identified for fear of legal retribution from Lampert and Sears, including one person who specified that she would only speak off the record upon the advice of an attorney. Some said they had signed nondisclosure forms barring them from sharing information about the company.

The content of this article was described in detail to two Sears spokesmen, both of whom declined to comment when asked.

Oh, and they are selling their Craftsman brand to help pay the bills shorter term. Selling Craftsman?!!?  What is left to care about there?

I do think Sears is interesting to watch for one key reason: their focus on digital. Clearly ONLY having a digital strategy to turn a retail company around isn't working.  If the stores are dirty and shabby looking, with irrelevant products that are poorly arranged and too often out of stock, and employees shambling around like they are waiting for the funeral to end, nothing else you do will matter.

Happy Reading, or Not,

J.W. Gant

Internet of Things (IoT) for Retail by Intel

Intel, the computer chip maker, wants to help retail with the shopping experience.

Read on:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/01/17/retail-to-get-internet-of-things-twist-with-100m.html

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Intel wants to take your shopping experience into the future by building a retail-focused Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform and investing $100 million in the retail sector.

The Santa Clara-based chip maker will create a common set of sensors, software kits and other components that will aid brick-and-mortar sellers with inventory tracking, shopping habit feedback and creating personalized shopping experiences. The technology will be a part of the company’s new Responsive Retail Platform...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Holiday 2016 Online Shopping Behaviors

Worth a read.

http://www.cmo.com/adobe-digital-insights/articles/2017/1/13/adi-holiday-2016-recap-report.html#gs.Yil4GAs

Here is a snippet from the piece:

The 2016 holiday season couldn’t have ended on a happier note, with retailers watching $91.7 billion in online revenue flow in, for an 11% increase year-over-year.

To no one’s surprise, three days that stood out among the rest were Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday each exceeding $3 billion in online sales. What was surprising, however, is that Black Friday online sales grew the most (21.6% YoY), while Cyber Monday’s sales grew just 12.1% YoY. At that rate of closure, Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) expects Black Friday to surpass Cyber Monday in online sales this year.

According to ADI, search boosted Black Friday performance.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Chase Pay and Level-Up

I've been following Level-Up for years, as a Boston startup in payments having great success in the QSR (quick service restaurant) space.  This is interesting news.

http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/6713

Here is a snippet from the piece:

When JPMorgan Chase & Co. decided to recruit order-ahead capability for its Chase Pay mobile wallet, it settled on a 6-year-old mobile payments startup whose technology could give Chase Pay a vital boost in a crucial merchant segment. Meanwhile, the alliance could also bring tens of millions of new customers to restaurants served by that startup, Boston-based LevelUp.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Charging Your Smart Phone

I've recently gone through a bit of a learning curve on the reliability of that battery indicator in our smartphones.  Turns out 100% may not be 100% all the time.  Seems completely ... false but I can't conclude otherwise after my recent experiences.

Cutting to the chase for those who don't want to read a bunch or dive in to the details: (1) make sure you have a good power cord for charging, plugged in to the wall, (2) ensure your battery charging port on your phone is clean.

Okay, so what brought this on?  I've noticed my aging iPhone 6 has been having battery issues.  Just doesn't seem to hold a charge well now, after more than 2 years of use (hey, its the 10 year anniversary of the iPhone and I'm holding out for this year's model!).  I've never put this phone in to a case so I don't have a protective cover for the battery port (bingo!).  Plus, my amazon generic charging cord was busting and barely working.  Regardless, if I left it plugged in long enough the reading achieved 100%.  Good to go right?  No.  Battery charging would collapse quickly after unplugging.  I figured the aging battery was going bad, at least, until I dropped it once more and the LCD quit working.

$100, a new LCD with a new scratch-free glass screen (bonus!), a free cleaning of the battery port, AND a new power cord suddenly changed everything.

Wow!  Not quite like a new phone but greatly improved.  When this phone reaches 100% it lasts most of the day, once again.  Wow!

So, 100% may not actually be 100%? Yeap.

Here is an article on cleaning your battery port:

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/use-a-toothpick-to-clean-out-your-iphone/

Here is a piece on the problems the iPhone 6 and 6S has been having with the battery indicator:

http://fortune.com/2016/01/19/battery-issues-iphone-6s-and-6s-plus/

Don't assume just because you don't own an iPhone 6 or 6S you won't have similar problems.  Follow the recommendations above to get the most out of your aging device.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Wow, just found this about an Apple battery replacement program for the 6S and maybe coming for the 6:
https://appadvice.com/post/iphone-6-battery/735269

CES 2017

That huge consumer electronics show wrapped up recently and I've been reading up on the stories to find the best.  I think the folks at Re/Code do excellent work so I'll go with this one.

Here is a snippet from their piece:

By now you’ve undoubtedly read or viewed several different CES stories across a wide range of publications and media sites. So there’s no need to rehash the details about all the cool, crazy or just plain interesting new products that were introduced at or around this year’s show in Las Vegas.

But it usually takes a few days to think through the potential impact of what these announcements mean from a big-picture perspective. Having spent time doing that, here are some of my thoughts:

The impact of technology on nearly all aspects of our lives continues to grow.

Check out that headline:

We’re on the cusp of some of the biggest changes in technology in years

Here is the full article:

http://www.recode.net/2017/1/11/14228470/ces-technology-overview-virtual-reality-trade-shows-trends

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

In-store Shopping Still a Thing for Mobile Shoppers

Interesting piece, though some argue broad generational definitions such as "Generation Z" are not useful or actionable.  As an amateur historian I think of broad generational changes that are useful when examining a people. For example, a person who's formative years occurred before the automobile was generally available would have formed certain habits around their lives that would be unrecognizable to the post-automobile generations.

This article certainly continues the thread of thought around the ongoing necessity for brick & mortar stores, just not for everyone all the time for all of their needs.  Some shopping will migrate to online, some will not.  Looking at a purely digital/mobile generation helps us see what the world is becoming as they have no pre-conceived notions around what they should or should not be doing.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

While the youngest generation of shoppers is the one most accustomed to life online, a report from IBM shows that shopping in-store is still important to them, with 98 percent making purchases at a physical store.

This piece of data will be helpful for retailers looking to target Generation Z as they grow into marketable consumers. While mobile will remain paramount to targeting them, it will have to work in tandem with physical shopping experiences.

Here is the full article:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/despite-mobile-savviness-98pc-of-gen-z-still-shop-in-store

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Macy's, Kohl's Lose as Amazon Wins

And the winner is?

Amazon.

Again and again and again.

Macy's just announced store closings and layoffs.  Sears is continuing to lose, huge, and Kohl's saw its stock drop as their holiday sales missed expectations (hopes).

Good piece by NBC News on this:

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/department-stores-are-paying-price-underestimating-amazon-n703596

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Industry observers blame online competition, as well as department store brands' own shortfalls in adapting to a fundamental shift in consumer behavior.

"For both retailers, the consistent themes of the shortfalls are weak traffic between Black Friday and Christmas," Goldman Sachs analyst Lindsay Drucker Mann wrote...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant