More on the Future of Retail

End of year articles can be a bit lazy.

Fill in the blank, this is what happened last year and this is what might happen next year.

Still, it is a good time to assess the current state of things.

This USA Today article on tech in retail is another good one.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/12/27/amazon-shopping-experience-makes-retailers-up-their-tech-game/2350988002/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry - 0256 Future of Retail

... is digital.

Best Reading of the Day

This is a great little article over at Forbes.com.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/12/27/four-keys-to-the-future-of-retail-in-2019/#5c1ed11b4d54

Here is a snippet from the piece:

There have always been two retail seasons in my mind: the holiday season and everything else. In fact, nearly 20% of all retail sales happen during the holiday season. That condensed period of sales is unique and often sheds some light on much larger consumer trends.

Taking into consideration this year’s holiday shopping data collected by my company, Salesforce, here’s a look at some of the major trends we might see play out in 2019.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Nike is Digital First

Need a new athletic shoe? 

Fan of Nikes?

Get connected.

They've become trailblazers really in their overall approach.  Digital first, mobile first, and leading brands toward the new engagement era.

For many customers the new funnel for the customer journey starts with the mobile app.  However, a potential sale can enter anywhere on the path and that is all enabled by a digital-first mindset.

Read more here:

https://www.retaildive.com/news/nike-execs-see-digital-as-the-majority-of-future-business/544975/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Not eCommerce but Experience Commerce

Every now and then someone coins a phrase that really captures something.

Bricks & Mobile really works well from my perspective.  A play on the traditional retail store enhanced with mobile.

Now its not eCommerce but Experience Commerce.

Experiences win customers and retain them.

I agree.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Recently, I went on a health kick and stopped going to the [donut] shop entirely. When I finally returned, the woman who runs the shop said, “We thought you moved! It’s good to see you.” I made the decision right then to reinstate my once-a-week doughnut splurges. They were so happy to see me, they gave me my doughnut free, and I was utterly charmed by the interaction. It’s nice to feel seen, and if my business means that much to a sweet couple, then I want to make sure I spend my extra calories on them.

In the world of ecommerce, it can be a bit daunting to make sure customers feel as welcome as I do in that doughnut shop, but focusing on experiences, rather than sales, can mean more personal, and longer-lasting, relationships with customers.

Here is the full story:

https://www.clickz.com/experience-commerce-winning-customers/221080/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

eCommerce Native App or Hybrid Progressive?

I've had quite a few conversations this year around the question of when a company, retailer or manufacturer looking to go direct to consumers, should build a Native mobile app.

That isn't an easy question to answer.

The company culture comes in to play and the relationship the brand has with its customers.  If you just need a simple interface for online sales then why build a native app?  Mobile web is a great solution.

Then one app I've been using came to mind: Hamilton

Yes, the app for the Broadway musical.  For a while I was in that app every day as the lottery for shows in Boston was held every day.  I found myself doing lots of other things in the app and play around with it a bit even now that the show has moved on from Boston.  It occurred to me if they can get me in to their app every day then the opportunity exists for other brands to do the same.  If the relationship with their customers demands it.

Here is a little article on a different approach:

https://econsultancy.com/five-ecommerce-brands-success-progressive-web-apps/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Essentially, PWAs [progressive web apps] are mobile apps that are delivered through the web. By using an app shell and pre-caching on a user’s phone, they can be added to the home screen and will load instantly.

Google states that 53% of users will abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load. As a result, the functionality of a PWA can simplify the online shopping experience, and even improve conversions.

Recently, we’ve seen a number of ecommerce brands capitalise on the technology.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Online eCommerce Grocery Sales to Grow Fast

The toughest nuts to crack are often the best.

Not sure that is the case here but I'm still convinced we will see quite a shift in our Supermarket shopping habits as the Information Age continues to change our daily lives.

These folks continue to think grocery will move to online.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Online sales of groceries continue to grow much faster than the overall market and that web growth is expected to continue, according to recently released datafrom the United Kingdom-based Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).

Yes, it references the UK but the data is U.S. focused.

Here is the full article:

https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2018/12/17/all-signs-point-to-continued-growth-in-online-grocery-sales/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Is AR Poised to Break Out?

I love these predictive articles.

It is all complete nonsense, really, that someone will write one of these.  Usually they are forced to make a deadline and write about something.  This is like a stocking stuffer for writers.

But it's still fun to read these.

:-)

Will AR have a breakout year in 2019?  Sure.  Or no, no way.

Augmented Reality is one of the latest buzzes going around.  The iPhone X introduced it as a basic function by utilizing the face capture technology to create animated emojis in text messages.  Wow.  Cool.

No.  Not really.

So what's next?  Read on to find out:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/2019-the-year-ar-finally-goes-from-unsexy-to-cool/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0265 Physician Computer Systems

Best Reading of the Day

There is something for everyone in here if you have a passion for digital.  Systems. Platforms. Medical.  Product Management. Professional. Whatever your flavor this is a must read.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

The next time I saw Cameron was on the day of his operation. He lay on a stretcher outside the operating room, waiting to be wheeled in. A computer screen on a boom loomed over the bed, showing the safety checks I still had to do.

I shook Cameron’s hand and was introduced to his wife, who was in a chair beside him. They smiled nervously. It was his first time going under anesthesia. I told them about who would be on the surgical team with me and what was going to happen. I reached for the computer. But then I hesitated. I remembered when I’d turned my back on Cameron at our last encounter.

“Let’s go through these checks together,” I said.

I angled the screen toward the couple. Side by side, we confirmed that his medical history was up to date, that the correct surgical site was marked on his body, that I’d reviewed his medication allergies. His shoulders began to relax. His wife’s did, too.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

Here is the full story on the New Yorker (paywall enabled if you read more than a few articles each month):

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/12/why-doctors-hate-their-computers

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Amazon Pay In Store

Move over Apple Pay?

Move over Android Pay?

Move over Samsung Pay?

Move over Walmart Pay?

Amazon is on the move.

Not so fast, I say, but this move makes sense.  This is very much like what PayPal was trying to do when it created Samsung Pay.  They have countless payment methods on file for online payment.  Why can't they get those payments used in the store?

Because they are very different worlds that's why.

Read this snippet here:

Amazon has found a new target to tackle in its continued pursuits to dominate retail: in-store mobile payments.

Amazon has been talking with brick-and-mortar retailers to convince them to adopt Amazon Pay, the e-commerce giant's online-payment option The Wall Street Journal reported. The service has so far been touted as a payment option similar to PayPal for shopping online, but the Journal reported that Amazon is looking to expand Amazon Pay capabilities.

Here is the full story:

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-to-challenge-apple-with-in-store-mobile-payments-report-2018-11

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

How AR and VR can Help Your Marketing

I'm convinced Augmented Reality has a very strong future to empower digital interactions between people.  VR is more niche as it requires a greater commitment of intensity during the interaction.

Here is one take on how either can be useful for your marketing:

You’re planning your next holiday but rather than reading reviews and looking at images of the resort you intend to stay in, you put on a virtual reality headset and are instantly transported there. You walk around the hotel, head out onto the main strip and wander past the shops and restaurants, making your way down to the beach where you can almost feel the soft sand between your toes and the sea breeze in your hair. You’re longing to get into the turquoise sea and so remove the headset and hand over your credit card.

It sounds futuristic, doesn’t it? Well, newsflash – that reality has already arrived...

Here is the full story:

https://www.clickz.com/4-ways-to-use-immersive-technology-to-change-the-face-of-your-marketing/219424/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Something Different - Black Holes at the Heart of our Galaxy

I think it was Star Wars (1977) and the ongoing halo effect from the moon landings that did it for me.

I love outer space.

When 'A Brief History of Time' was published in 1988 I devoured it as a teenager. A book that wrote about the origins of our universe, the mystery of outer space, and delved in to the mystery of black holes?  Awesome!

So I keep an eye out for stories in this realm.  Please forgive the deviation from the normal tech and digital/retail stories but I think this is great stuff that you might enjoy too.

Generally the way it works is the study of Physics is broken in to two groups: theoretical physics tries to explain the universe, experimental physics tries to test the theories.  There is always a huge lag from the theory to the testing as setting up these tests can be a massive, expensive, and very time-consuming affair.  This effort needed a minimum of a couple decades of accumulated data to test work the long-deceased Albert Einstein put forth.

Wow!

Here is the full story:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/science/black-hole-milky-way.html

Here is a snippet from the piece:

For the last two decades, two rival teams of astronomers, looking to test some of Albert Einstein’s weirdest predictions about the universe, have aimed their telescopes at the star, which lies 26,000 light-years away. In the process, they hope to confirm the existence of what astronomers strongly suspect lies just beyond: a monstrous black hole, an eater of stars and shaper of galaxies.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Our Children and the Information Age

As I've written about extensively we are just entering the new Information Age with incredible information all in our pockets through our mobile devices. 

What is all of this doing to each of us?

We are only starting to see the changes that are coming and are very early in understanding what the ramifications of those changes are.

Here is one story that claims the Rich and Poor divide in the U.S. is resulting in unexpected reaction to these questions: the wealthy are disconnecting their kids because they can afford to while the poor can not.

Here is a snippet from this worthwhile piece:

The parents in Overland Park, Kan., were fed up. They wanted their children off screens, but they needed strength in numbers. First, because no one wants their kid to be the lone weird one without a phone. And second, because taking the phone away from a middle schooler is actually very, very tough.

“We start the meetings by saying, ‘This is hard, we’re in a new frontier, but who is going to help us?’” said Krista Boan, who is leading a Kansas City-based program called START, which stands for Stand Together And Rethink Technology. “We can’t call our moms about this one.”

For the last six months, at night in school libraries across Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, Mo., about 150 parents have been meeting to talk about one thing: how to get their children off screens.

Here is the full story:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/digital-divide-screens-schools.html

Do those of us in the industry have a responsibility to be aware of these questions and even address them?  I think maybe so.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Artificial Intelligence and Creative Writing

I was blown away merely by the headline for this story.

Supposedly the "creative" jobs are safe from the coming robotic overlord dystopia (tongue in cheek of course).  Not any more.  Now AI can help write creative stories.

Wow.

Just.

Wow.

Read the full piece here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/technology/ai-is-beginning-to-assist-novelists.html

Happy ... Writing and Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS I have completed my first fiction book and self-published online so this one really grabbed my attention.

PPS One more. A.I. defeated a team of lawyers to create an error free contract in less time.
https://m.slashdot.org/story/347623

Nike and the Store of the Future ... Today

It started for me with the launch of the Nike Apple Watch.

An Apple Watch branded specific to Nike.  Cool looking too.  There's much more going on there than I realized at first however.  If a loyal Nike customer is wearing that watch, they likely have the Nike app to go with it and ... what happens when that combination goes to a mall near a Nike store?

Bingo.

Nike Stores are really at the cutting edge as this piece talks about.  Here is a snippet from the piece:

Retail isn’t dead, boring retail is. That was the sermon Nike was preaching at its New York City headquarters yesterday in a presentation by chief digital officer Adam Sussman, senior director of Nike Stores Experience Michelle Warvel, and Ron Faris, head of Nike’s SNKRS app and s23 NYC digital studio. The brand is using SNKRS to connect with culture, experimenting with turning experiences into retail opportunities, as well as preparing to roll out in-store features in which customers check out their new kicks with their phone.

I love how that article begins by the way.  So very true!

I talk about the traditional ranking of retailers, Tier 5 the smallest like your local christmas tree vendor, and Tier 1 the largest like Walmart.  There is really a "super tier" now.  Those retailers putting it all together: digital interactions (mobile and social), ecommerce, and a great in-store experience.  They are the very top of the list.  Some companies can do one of those great and succeed but they'll never be the biggest of the big.  Two gets you a long ways but the very best do it all.

Here is the full story:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90256871/nike-showcases-its-mobile-vision-for-the-future-of-retail

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Journalism and Blockchain

If you don't have any idea what is happening in "Blockchain" you aren't alone.

Here is Wikipedia to help:

By storing data across its peer-to-peer network, the blockchain eliminates a number of risks that come with data being held centrally. The decentralized blockchain may use ad-hoc message passing and distributed networking.

Peer-to-peer blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability that computer crackers can exploit; likewise, it has no central point of failure.

And the full Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain

Here is a good little story about a huge publisher looking to blockchain tech for journalism.  Worth the read.

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/10/10/forbes-fix-journalism-blockchain/

Here is a snippet from the story:

Publishing giant Forbes is joining a blockchain-based journalism network to begin experimenting with publishing its content using decentralized tech.

In an announcement yesterday, Forbes revealed it has teamed up with blockchain-powered journalism platform, Civil, in an effort to gain more trust with readers. As part of the collaboration, Forbes will also publish content on the blockchain.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Google Phone vs Apple iPhone

Great little article from the folks over at TechCrunch that looks at the most recent offerings from Google and Apple.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

First off, if you’re strapped for cash, or more accurately just want to be more responsible with the cash you do have, the price tags of these devices communicate some loud differences. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL go for $200 less than the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, respectively. Paying $1,000 for a phone is wild, but it’s the world we live in...

Here is the full article:

https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/09/pixel-3-vs-iphone-xs-how-do-they-stack-up/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Will Digital Money Ever Grow Up?

What is digital money or "cryptocurrency", you may only know by the name "BitCoin"?

Here is a definition:

• a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

Money is ... complicated and has always been managed by the government of the country issuing the money.  Since the Bretton Woods agreement following World War II the United States Dollar has been the preferred money of the world, though it doesn't replace the local currency (yes that is a simplified statement).

What about money that knows no political boundaries?

Enter cryptocurrency, one example of which is the widely known "BitCoin".

This is a very immature technology that has enormous potential ramifications.  The power of this tech is growing.  With that growth and its impact it has gained the attention of law enforcement.

Here is the full story:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612147/new-yorks-damning-report-on-crypto-exchanges-will-be-good-for-the-industry/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

A fight is brewing over the future of the cryptocurrency exchange, and its outcome will figure prominently in how the industry evolves. On one side are the purists, who believe that crypto exchanges—the on- and off-ramps between the world of crypto and the traditional financial system—can and should remain free of government meddling. On the other side are government regulators, charged with protecting investors from fraud.

This week the New York attorney general’s office landed a powerful blow in favor of the regulators, with a new report that illuminates the shadowy inner workings of 10 popular cryptocurrency exchanges.

It kind of sounds like the inmates are running the asylum so to speak, for now.  If cryptocurrencies are going to grow up they'll need more adults in the room.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Virtual Reality Entertainment in Your Mall

We have all heard a bit about VR, virtual reality, or maybe even AR, augmented reality.

VR.  You know?  Those goofy looking people wearing some crazy futuristic headset and acting like they don't know what's happening in the real world?

Yes that.

Or "Ready Player One" as Steven Spielberg's film showed us (I do not recommend that movie, really a waste of time).

What I wasn't prepared for was a VR entertainment ride in the mall.

Here is a picture of me, on the right, taking the ride for a ... spin.

What I also was not prepared for was what the physical effect of the "ride" portion would have on me when married to the Virtual Reality headset.  Wow!  Complete immersion!

Now, I'm no fan of roller coasters as I've hardly ever ridden them and haven't built up a tolerance to their behavior.  I'm up for the Goofy ride at Disney World but not much more.  I figured, its VR, it isn't real, why not try a big roller coaster for my first ride.

No way!  I immediately panicked!  Had to take the head set off quickly and just move on.

Really?  Yes, it had that much of an impact.  I closed my eyes and chanted "It's not real.  It's not real. It's not real."  Then just gave up.  My next attempt I parachuted in to Normandy on D-Day in 1944. That was much better for me as the physical ride didn't have the same impact.

Bottom line, as I've known for years, if you haven't tried VR you just have NO IDEA what it is like.  This is going to be HUGE.  Movies.  Games.  You name it.

Here is the website for a company like the one I experienced in Boston:

http://www.vr360adventures.com/about-us/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple's New Products 2018

Yawn.

Yes, I've been saying that for years now.  I'm a week removed from the product launch event and still haven't posted anything.

A new iPhone.

A new iPad?

A new iWatch err, I mean, Apple Watch.

This is the result of maturation of the product line and therefore isn't really newsworthy any more.  That is all fine.  Really.

Here we go:

iPhone Alphabet Soup

Who in the world came up with their naming convention for this lineup?  Last year we went from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 to the ... iPhone X.  Heh.  So clever (I have one and it is fantastic).  So where to go now?

The iPhone XS
The iPhone XS Max
The iPhone XR

What? Yeah.  A bigger option.  A cheaper option.  30 minutes more battery life! Faster! Fine. 

"Hey Joe, is that the new iPhone?"

"Yeap!  I love it.  This one is the "ten ess MAX".

"Huh? You mean the X S Max right?"

"Huh?"

Apple Watch Series 4

My Series 1 watch just had a issue.  The watch face, the screen of the tiny computer on my watch, just went flying off during a workout.  I'm on standby considering my options.  Apparently the early batteries had an issue where some would gradually enlarge.  Apple was even forced to increase the warranty from 1 to 3 years.  Mine is 3 and 1/2 years old.  Mmmhmmm.

The Series 4 has a bigger flatter screen and more rounded edges.  Okay.

Here is an article on this subject that provides some details I did not:

https://www.recode.net/2018/9/12/17850362/apple-iphone-xs-event-apple-watch-series-4-airpods

Some reports indicate Apple will announce new iPad and Mac devices later:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2018/09/15/up-next-for-apple-2018-macbook-air-new-ipad-pro/#5070fa843e26

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Doctors, AI, the Information Age, and You

Quick.

You have a situation.  There are a set of measurable indicators the most common of which are easy to take.  Various levels or markers of each measurement point to a likely culprit and solution. The size of the data set that must be factored in is enormous, well beyond the ability of the human mind to hold all at once.

How should this be handled?

If this isn't the perfect situation for computers and Artificial Intelligence I don't know what is.

Are we talking about Amazon.com and their amazing ability to mine datasets to sell more stuff to you?  Or are we talking about medicine?

I was an Emergency Room medic in another lifetime with the United States Air Force so I have some understanding of this.  I've been a believer for many years that we need far more computer algorithm medicine and far less human emotion involved.  I've seen it first hand.  That is the premise of this article. 

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Former Google China president Kai-Fu Lee is betting heavily on artificial intelligence...
“If we look at what AI cannot do, there are really two main things,” Lee said on the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher. “One is creative jobs. Jobs like scientists, storytellers, artists and so on. And the other are the compassionate people who really have created a human-to-human connection, trust.”

And what about the jobs that require low creativity and compassion?

“All those jobs will be taken by AI,” he said.

Here is the full article:

https://www.recode.net/2018/9/17/17867990/kai-fu-lee-ai-superpowers-book-artificial-intelligence-jobs-doctors-kara-swisher-decode-podcast

Will the IBM Watson doctors be there for your next medical appointment?  Not yet.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Facebook and Democracy 2018 Edition

The unfortunate news related to this story is I'm only going to touch on Facebook and democracy in the United States in 2018.  The reality is Facebook is having a profound impact globally and we are really only just beginning to understand the impact.

Here is a piece about what Facebook is doing to protect the looking midterm elections in the United States, just 49 days away:

Two weeks ago, on a hastily scheduled conference call with journalists, Facebook executives announced what many felt was inevitable: Someone, perhaps Russia, was once again trying to use the social network to “sow division” among U.S. voters, this time before November’s midterm elections.

The “bad actors,” as Facebook called them, created bogus events; posted about race issues, fascism, and President Donald Trump; and paid Facebook to promote their messages. “Some of the activity is consistent with what we saw from the IRA before and after the 2016 elections,” Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy wrote in a blog post, referring to the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-backed online troll farm.

That activity, of course, may have altered a U.S. election, and sent Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg down a path of self-reflection that has changed Facebook’s strategy, as well as its mission.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

https://www.recode.net/2018/8/17/17686252/facebook-2018-midterm-election-plan-russia

How is technology changing the human condition? How is it impacting democracy?  I've written a bit about our entry in to the Information Age and I feel a white paper coming out of it.  I'm sure I'll write more about this subject.

Happy Voting,

J.W. Gant

The New iOS for your iPhone and iPad

iOS 12 is out now and once again Apple is playing catchup with its hardware.

The hardware in their mobile line is 2nd to none in most areas but the software behind it lags year after year. 

The first two paragraphs in this story tells quite a bit:

Apple's iOS 12 software update is available today for supported iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices, and on the surface, it looks like one of the smallest new iOS releases Apple has pushed out.

This isn't a surprise; Apple said earlier this year that iOS 12 would be more about performance and stability than adding new features. Some major additions that were originally planned—like an overhauled home screen—were reportedly delayed to a later release.

Here is the full story:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/09/ios-12-thoroughly-reviewed/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Driving Retail

The trend is strong and continuing.  Mobile interactions with customers is increasingly at the heart of the digital relationship between retailers and their customers.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Holiday sales are set to grow 13% this year over 2017, with mobile devices pushing 68% of e-commerce visits and 46% of orders, according to a new report from Salesforce. The cloud computing firm estimates artificial intelligence (AI)-based product recommendations will account for 35% of revenue.

Here is the full story:

https://www.retaildive.com/news/mobile-to-drive-68-of-holiday-e-commerce-traffic/532468/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Are You Willing to Pay More for Your iPhone?

...and more ...

...and more ...

How did they do it?  How did Apple get us to pay more for our iPhones?

The most recent line of phones has one that finally topped $1000.  That's the price of a pretty good television and folks are lining up to pay that for a tiny computer your carry in your pocket.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

"Apple has been intentionally testing the price elasticity of its products in the past few years, and what it found is customers have an appetite for more expensive iPhones," said Wayne Lam, an analyst at IHS Markit.

The iPhone XS, which replaces the similar iPhone X, keeps the $999 price tag but is now in the middle of the new X-branded line, not on top.

Here is the full story:

https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/13/technology/apple-iphone-prices/index.html

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0264 Grocery App Usage Increase

Best Reading of the Day

Forbes.com has a great piece out about mobile apps and supermarkets.  That's something I know a little bit about as I led an effort for 3 years in that space.  They predict the apps will see a 50% increase in usage.  That is something else I know a little about having written a few papers on the subject.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

When the fridge is empty, and you are too tired to put on real clothes to go shopping, reaching for the phone to use a grocery app is an easy solution. You are not alone when you do this. According to a study from eMarketer, grocery app usage will grow by 50% this year, and 18 million Americans will order food this way. However, brick-and-mortar grocery stores are not going away and can take advantage of this industry shift.

Here is the whole story:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanabandoim/2018/09/11/grocery-app-usage-will-grow-by-50-what-this-means-for-the-industry/#752a389164dd

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0263 AI over A/B Testing for Advertising

Best Reading of the Day

I am working to get my head around the impact Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, will have on our world so I'm pulling in any interesting article I see on the subject.

If you've watched even one episode of the landmark television series 'Mad Men' you'll have an appreciation of the work that goes in to creative decision making for advertising.  Now let the machines do a big chunk of the work.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Even though one of the main goals of digital marketing is to serve customers the right message at the right time, we all know what it’s like to be chased around the internet by an ad that’s completely irrelevant or just plain annoying. And that’s because deciding when and where to deliver that message, not to mention the labor that goes into creating the message in the first place, has long involved human guesswork. Granted, those guesses often come after rigorous testing, but those best tests are limited to the often slow-moving process human analysis. Until now.

Artificial intelligence has already transformed everything from the IT department to the customer service experience, and now, machine learning is on track to completely change the ways we think about ad creative.

Here is the full article, another excellent one from ClickZ:

https://www.clickz.com/how-ai-could-make-a-b-testing-a-thing-of-the-past/216302/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0262 Social Media's Growing Pains

Best Reading of the Day

This is a really fine article over on the New York Times.

What has Facebook, and other technologies, done to us?  What has the impact been on humanity?  How did we get here?  What can be done?

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Let me first state that I actually like Mark Zuckerberg and have since the day I met him more than a dozen years ago.

But let me also say that he and Facebook, the huge social network that he started in college, have been working humanity’s last nerve for far too long now.

Every week, it’s something, and that something is never good.

This week, it was the revelation that the Russians — or, more precisely, a group of geek thugs who are acting the exact same way that a group of Russians acted when they messed with the 2016 United States elections on Facebook — are still skulking around the platform and making trouble for the midterms.

Here is the full article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/opinion/the-expensive-education-of-mark-zuckerberg-and-silicon-valley.html

I use Facebook for one thing really.  I have a couple small groups I'm in where we discuss particular topics.  Movies mostly.  I enjoy the folks there.  We are quite collegial and regularly have respectful disagreements.  We stay on topic and share our thoughts and experiences.

Beyond that the platform doesn't do hardly anything for me any more.

Twitter is a great place for instant news, though dangerous as the possibility of inaccurate news is very real.

Troubling times as we've seen our hopes and dreams for technology dashed by bad actors.  As if we've never seen this before in history (oh, yes, we have says Mr. Nobel). 

Happy Disturbing Reading,

J.W. Gant

Update on Mobile Pay and Apple Pay

USA Today has posted a couple stories on mobile payments the last week.  This one is worth a read.

Biggest news is a couple retailers joining Apple Pay, CVS Pharmacy and 7-Eleven, and US Chase adding Apple Pay to its ATMs.

If you know payments you know that last one is hard to do.  ATMs are quite different from other needs.

Here is the full article:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2018/08/04/mobile-pay-had-great-week-but-apple-google-still-have-long-road-ahead/904569002/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Brands Blazing a Trail in AR or VR

Wait.

What in the world is AR?

For that matter, what is VR.  Wait.  Maybe I know that one.

Augmented Reality or AR and Virtual Reality or VR are becoming hot buzzwords for a reason.  This stuff is really cool.

The folks over at ClickZ who just released a great article challenging brands to bump up their AR/VR game have released another excellent read.  This time they're focusing on brands already doing it well.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two years since Pokemon Go became a national obsession and made augmented reality (AR) not just a possibility, but a reality, for digital marketers. These days, it seems like everyone is trying to figure out how to make AR work for their brand, but the key to creating an AR experience that gets audiences engaging, according to Jason Yim, CEO of Trigger Global, is to focus on functionality rather than novelty.

Here is the full article:

https://www.clickz.com/ar-isnt-just-fun-and-games-here-are-the-brands-at-the-forefront-of-functional-ar/216076/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0261 Storytelling

The highest achievement in brand management and advertising for a brand is to tell a story that relates the product to the people who might spend money on that product.

The art of storytelling.

As someone who has always loved storytelling in its many forms and has now joined that with my first book I am keenly aware of the power of the form.  Leveraging that for marketing is a masterful achievement.

Here is CMO.com with 6 brands that have done so:

https://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2018/6/29/6-brands-that-have-mastered-the-art-of-storytelling

Here is number 1 on their list:

Grey Goose
When most people think of Grey Goose, they think cocktails. But that’s not the only place where the global spirits connoisseur excels. Its content marketing efforts are vast, but the highlight is the brand’s video strategy, in which it shows that it is also a content creator.

In March, Grey Goose partnered with Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx to launch “Off Script,” a nine-part digital series in which he has one-on-one conversations with Hollywood darlings, such as Jeremy Renner, Vince Vaughn, Denzel Washington, and Gabrielle Union.

I know what you are thinking.  Sure.  That works fine for the big players who can afford to hire an Academy-Award winning actor.  What about me?

Just tell a story and a compelling one that your audience cares about. That's all.  You can do it.  Be creative in the media you use but be consistent for your brand.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Netflix Stocks Slide

How is this for a headline?

Netflix's Garbage Programming Blamed for Stock Falling Off a Cliff

Here is the full story:

https://gizmodo.com/netflixs-garbage-programming-blamed-for-stock-falling-o-1827639926

So Netflix didn't hit their own estimates.

Okay.

They just bumped their budge for original content from $8 billion to $13 billion.

With a "B".

I'm going to go out on a limb here as someone who knows a bit about the lead time associated with the creative process.  Netflix will come storming back as this creative budget creates an explosion of excellent, finely tuned and data driven design, original content.

Stay tuned.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Brand Prep for Augmented Reality Advertising

Just when you thought you worked out your social media strategy and executed on your mobile plan now it is virtual reality or augmented reality.

Are you ready?

The fine folks over at ClickZ (you really should follow their work) have a great little article on the subject hot off the presses (for my younger readers that means they just wrote it).

Read on:

https://www.clickz.com/augmented-reality-ads-are-here-is-your-brand-ready/215659/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it’s moving augmented reality (AR) ads out of Messenger and into the News Feed. Early adopters like fashion retailer Michael Kors and beauty brands like Sephora are creating ads that allow Facebook users to virtually test products from the comfort of their couch.

The move means that even brands without huge marketing budgets should start thinking about how AR can fit into upcoming campaigns...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0260 Strategy of Apple Pay

Best Reading of the Day

Mobile payments has been something very close to my professional activities for many years now. I've competed directly against Apple and their Apple Pay product.  Where are they headed now?

Here is a snippet from the piece:

There’s a reason everyone seems to be getting into mobile payments. Thanks to increasing smartphone usage and a push for faster, simpler, more secure financial transactions, mobile payments could become a $3.4 trillion industry by 2022. In the U.S. last year, eMarketer estimated it to be a $49 billion market already.

The consumer options are sundry: There’s Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay; PayPal, Venmo, Square, and Square Cash; bank-backed alternatives like Zelle and Chase Pay; and in-app options through things like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. As consumers abandon cash, checks, and even credit cards, everyone is jumping into mobile payments—but perhaps none with the zeal of Apple.

Here is the full story:

https://slate.com/technology/2018/07/apple-pay-can-apple-beat-paypal-venmo-in-mobile-payments-war.html

What do retailers think?

From the start the response was mixed.  Some feel any place their customer is at they want to be as well.  Another, however, stated their mix of credit to debit was such that if mobile pay, primarily funded with credit cards, caused that mix to flip it would be billions of dollars a year lost.  That is big time incentive to work in the space right (they are)?

This is one space with entrenched, well funded and organized interests, and tons of money at stake.  Apple won't see the players in this space fold like the music industry did.  I see this space continuing to be hyper-competitive for the foreseeable future.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Life in the Galaxy

Every now and then I ask you readers to indulge me with a bit of an off the trail topic. This is the technology blog after all and that means science.

I've written about the great filter.

Storms in New England.

More.

Here we go again.  Is there life elsewhere in our galaxy?  Best guess says we really need to go explore to find out.

Here is a snippet from the piece:
I

t’s something people tell me all the time, and usually in hushed tones: “With a trillion planets out there, we really can’t be the only intelligent beings in the galaxy.” In other words, given the enormous amount of real estate in space, aliens are sure to exist. So why haven’t we found any?

I don’t dispute this straightforward idea because, after all, it underpins the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). But not everyone agrees.

Here is the full story:

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/are-we-truly-alone-cosmos-new-study-casts-doubt-rise-ncna891286

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

3D Printing Saves the Air Force Money

How do we the U.S. taxpayer end up paying $10,000 for a toilet seat?

Fraud.  Waste.  Government incompetence.

No.

How about when the aircraft that is still in service has a specially designed toilet seat and the company making those is no longer able to do so?  Special order 1 at a time as needed.  $10,000.00.

Hello 3D Printing.

Need a new, special, toilet seat to replace a broken one?  Print it.

Cost savings at nearly .... $10,000.00

Wow!

Read the full story here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

The New Nike Mobile App Store

We've been hearing it for years now.

Bricks & Mobile, the play on the descriptive "Bricks & Mortar".

Truer words were never said.

When I was building the shopping assistant app for regional supermarkets the concept was an in-store shopping assistant.  I envisioned mobile would soon enable concierge level service for the masses.

Hello Nike.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

A year later, the mobile strategy is showing results with direct-to-consumer sales that rose 34% and comparable store sales gains of 5% in fiscal Q4 2017 from a year earlier, per eMarketer research. Nike's website also had about 11% of the online traffic generated by the top 10 U.S. apparel retailers in Q1 2018, one of the only direct-to-consumer brands in the top 10, according to SimilarWeb.

Here is the full article:

https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/nike-melds-mobile-physical-retail-with-new-la-concept-store/527832/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Technological Future of Retail

It isn't often I see a tech journal site do an analysis like this where they step outside their comfort zone.

Fun fun.

For once a technology first site looks at what is happening in brick & mortar retail, rather than the other way around.  Worth the read though it points to a pending larger report from the team. I'll try to update this story with that report once it comes out.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-future-of-retail-4-trends-transforming-how-we-shop/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

1. Mobilized shopping

You can now walk into a store, find the product you want, then pull out your phone and order it from an app or a mobile site, and maybe even get same-day delivery. This raises the bar ...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Alexa in Hotels

"Alexa, get me room service please."

"Dialing room service."

Is this what you want in your hotel?  Have I some news for you!

Me, I find the idea of a device constantly listening for you to talk to it to be a bit creepy.  Pass.

Read on:

https://gizmodo.com/alexa-for-hospitality-lets-amazon-follow-you-on-vacatio-1826947384

Here is a snippet from the piece:

For those averse to talking on the phone, hotel stays can resemble a war of attrition, testing your mettle to see how long you’ll go without calling the front desk and admitting you forgot to pack your toothbrush. But Amazon’s new Alexa for Hospitality service, which puts an Echo device in your hotel room, might let you avoid the conversation altogether, and let you bring a bit of your always-on, always-listening, always-spying smart home with you. So don’t do anything stupid.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Brands Feel Pain of Social Media

You would have to ignore all of the news, business or otherwise, not to recognize the struggles of social media today.  Not so well understood however is how this is impacting brands who utilize social media to interact with a large portion of their customers.

The Participation Age indicates brands are now co-created by potential customers.  That mostly happens through social media.  So if Facebook, Twitter, etc. are suffering?  Yeap.

Read more here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2018/06/brands-blamed-for-social-medias-shortcomings.html

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0259 Regulating Technology

Best Reading of the Day

"Robber Barons"

That's what they were called.

In the late 1800s they industrialists who used questionable methods to get rich came to be known as robbers. 

Here is a bit more on that subject:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)

That is the language now in use to describe Google, Facebook, Amazon and more who have convinced the masses of the population to hand over their valuable personal data for free.  Time for regulations of these giants in technology?  There is an argument to be made.

Read more here:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611425/its-time-to-rein-in-the-data-barons/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

When Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress earlier this year to discuss how the now-defunct political-data company Cambridge Analytica acquired data of up to 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge or consent, one of the few pointed questions came from Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina. “Who’s your biggest competitor?” Graham demanded. After Zuckerberg replied that Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft all had some overlap with various Facebook products, Graham chafed at the answer.

“If I buy a Ford and it doesn’t work well and I don’t like it,” pressed the senator, “I can buy a Chevy. If I’m upset with Facebook, what’s the equivalent product I can go sign up for?”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Rethinking Your Brand App

The folks on the tech team over at Forbes have an opinion piece worth reading.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Salesforce’s most recent State of Marketing report explains that marketing leaders are zooming in on the customer experience as a critical part of their marketing strategy. In the report, 68% of the marketing leaders surveyed said their companies are increasingly competing on the basis of customer experience and 64% are focusing more on providing consistency across every channel to accommodate changing customer expectations.

What can I say?  This "recent" report says the customer experience is critical?

Joking right?

Seriously.  Pulling my leg.

We have known for years you need to be where your customer is.  Starbucks has it figured out.

Still worth the read though.  Here is the full article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/06/11/four-ways-to-rethink-the-brand-app-experience/#462f433d5e4e

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Technological Disruption and the City Taxi

I am fascinated by all things related to the ongoing entry in to the Information Age. 

A bit more than 100 years ago the street lamps in major cities were powered by gas.  Every evening a fleet of trained individuals would pan out across the city igniting the city's gas street lamps.  Every morning they would extinguish them.  Along came electricity and quickly those jobs were all eliminated.  Great safety and cost savings improvement for the city and the inhabitants therein.  Terrible for the people who lost their job and had no skills for anything else.

Technological advances always result in disruption of the status quo.  Today is no different.

What do you know about how taxi services are regulated in our biggest cities?  Nothing?  Count me there too.

City managers long ago recognized the need to regulate the number of taxis in a city boundary so as to prevent overcrowding of taxis on the streets.  These managers, however, also saw an opportunity to make money regulating that task.  Enter the taxi medallion.

A taxi is required to have a taxi medallion to do business within city limits.  New York, Chicago, all of the big U.S. cities do this.  A finite number are created.  As you can imagine when demand outdraws supply the price goes up (ECON 101).  Owning your own taxi medallion was the gold standard and a dream realized for generations of middle America.  The price could go north of $1 USM.  Yes, million, for a taxi medallion so you can drive a cab in city limits. People would save for years and take out a loan the size of, or larger than, most home mortgages.

With the advent of UBER and Lyft the value of these medallions is plummeting.  No longer able to compete and dragged down by a massive loan now underwater we are seeing a dramatic rise in suicides among long-time city livery and taxi drivers.

Disruption comes with a cost.

Read more here:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/shadow-uber-s-rise-taxi-driver-suicides-leave-cabbies-shaken-n879281

Interesting Reading.

J.W. Gant

Information Age DNA and Law Enforcement Detective Work

This is the technology blog and .I have an interest in all the ways technology is changing and impacting our lives, for better and for worse, as we enter the Information Age.

Have you heard the recent news of the Golden State Killer?

Wikipedia states the following:

The Golden State Killer is a serial killer, serial rapist, and serial burglar who committed at least 12 murders, more than 50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in California from 1974 to 1986.

So, how was he caught recently and what does this have to do with tech?

Detectives work by creating a list of suspects and narrowing it down.  Once it is small enough to reasonably interview subjects of interest they hit the roads.

Start with a list of people likely to commit the crimes illustrated in that Wikipedia entry.  Males of the same race are the likeliest (we know this from analysis of history).  That is a huge list in California.  A certain age.  Great.  Still an enormous list.  The detectives on the case back in the 1970s and 80s didn't have enough to narrow it down more.  The bad guy wasn't caught, then he stopped.

Enter your DNA on Ancestry.com.  Here is CNN on the story:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/02/us/golden-state-killer-unsealed-warrants/index.html

Here is a snippet from that piece

...police tracked him down by comparing genetic profiles from genealogy websites to crime scene DNA, according to investigators.

Here is VOX on the use of ancestry sites, geneology, to catch bad guys:

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/27/17290288/golden-state-killer-joseph-james-deangelo-dna-profile-match

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Sacramento authorities confirmed Thursday that they used DNA profiles from ancestry websites to help them catch the Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker (EARONS).

This is a really interesting addition to the toolkit for crime solving.  Tech.  It's everywhere and the Information Age continues to change fundamental aspects of our lives.  Some entrepreneurial detectives in California have helped create the new "fingerprint", the new method for breaking open cases, that utilizes information to catch bad people.  That's good for the rest of us.

Sleep easier tonight.  The good guys are out there catching the bad guys and all will be well.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Virtual Store Obsession

First, let's get the notion of the so-called "retail apocalypse" out of the way.

The Unites States is over-saturated with physical retail and it is feeling gravity pull it back to earth. Also, a few brands that have failed to keep up with the times are going under (Sears won't last much longer as the CEO enriches himself with its brands).

However, there is a whole new opportunity for retail and there is a gold rush to get there.

Next up is the virtual online experience.  Enter the Obsessed.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

"You can't sell fashion and art the same way you sell toothpaste," says Neha Singh. "But on the internet, that's exactly what we do: Toothpaste is sold the same way as beautiful clothes."

Singh is the founder of Obsess, a new online shopping platform that seeks to reinvigorate what she describes as the "boring and tedious" business of online shopping. Singh hopes to usher in a new era of online retail, where currently, items are almost always presented as two-dimensional thumbnails on a uniform scroll-through grid.

Here is the full story:

http://www.businessinsider.com/neha-singh-obsess-google-amazon-experience-online-shopping-2018-6

I love stories like this for the multi-faceted aspect of it.  This is retail, it is technology, it is innovation, it is the customer experience, it is all of that and more.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Games for Kids and Retail

I love games.

I've been playing games my whole life.

The basics, of course, but I was also riding the wave of the digital revolution.  The first ever electronic games such as 'Electronic Detective' or 'Stop Thief!' that married the classic board game with a digital helper.

Oh, there is a remake of that beloved classic if you care.  It is excellent.  Take a look here:
https://restorationgames.com/stopthief/

Hasbro has been rolling with the punches for a long time now and they aren't slowing down.  Read this piece to find out the newest version of Monopoly.  Hint, it resulted directly from customer feedback on the original.

https://www.clickz.com/hasbro-evolves-alongside-customers/214732/

This is pure Participation Age stuff folks.  Everyone is responding to the customer's input for a brand.  Are you?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  Did I mention I'm being published?  My game will be available soon.  :-) Don't worry though, I won't be marketing it in here.

BRotD - Entry 0258 Retail and the Startup Competitors

Best Reading of the Day

The ultimate goal for the creators of goods, manufacturers and brand owners, is the direct to consumer relationship disinter-mediating the retailer that has gained so much power and leverage the last 40 odd years.  I've been very interested in this for a few years now and new stories on the subject catch my eye.

Similarly you see pure digital retail companies starting up as well. Think Amazon.com as it started out, not the behemoth it has become.

Here is a great little write-up that intends to help retailers understand the "digital native" company and what can be learned from the approach.

https://www.mytotalretail.com/post/digital-native-brands-the-almost-new-face-of-modern-marketers/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

There's lots of buzz surrounding digital-native brands and what's making them so disruptive and relevant today. While the definition of digital native is evolving, they are companies that launch as web-only retailers with the belief that superior technology can be a differentiator. They often engender loyalty by projecting authenticity and effectively leveraging social media. More importantly, they believe in a few core operational traits that can serve as a template for larger companies to try to emulate.

The modern retailer has a whole new series of competitors and threats to it. The savvy management group will be looking at all of these and determining the firewalls to place, the areas to compete directly, and the technology investments to make (once the best people are in place) to remain competitive and give customers what they want.

Call it 'Bricks & Mobile' or all it 'Omnicommerce' or anything else you want just be where the customer wants and needs you to be.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Car Play Finally Opening Up

Do you have a preferred map navigation program?

I admit I became completely hooked on Waze when you could select Elvis Presley for your navigation voice.

<Elvis Voice> Uhh Right hand turn comin up baby.<End Elvis Voice>

Not so much since it was acquired by Google, lost the Elvis voice, and the real-time traffic data began showing up on Google Maps.

My new car, a 2017 I bought last summer, has Apple CarPlay in it that I never use.  Why?  It works great if you stay within the walled garden of Apple programs.  Want a map program other than Apple's?  Nope.  Music? Just play from your iPhone (Apple Music) and it works great but Sat Radio?  No, not going to be friendly with that.

Finally some of that will change with the new version of iOS coming soon.

Here is the full story:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-carplay-ios-12-will-finally-let-you-use-google-maps-waze/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** The big iOS update has quite a bit more to it.  Read on: iOS UPDATE DETAILS at CNET

Artificial Intelligence takes the World Stage

Great little article by the folks over at Business Intelligence.  Well worth your time.

AI is where the computer program is able to learn what it needs without direct input.  This is important when sets of data get so large the human cannot anticipate the needs of the computer program.  Machine learning handles the role of the human in deciding what is relevant or not.

This short piece argues AI is not coming, it is already here.  Very true.

Here is the full article:

http://www.businessinsider.com/understanding-artificial-intelligence-impacting-world-2017-10

Here is a snippet from the piece:

While AI is having an enormous impact on individuals and the smart home, perhaps its largest impact can be felt in the e-commerce space. In the increasingly cluttered e-commerce space, personalization is one of the key differentiators retailers can turn towards to stand out to consumers. In fact, retailers that have implemented personalization strategies see sales gains of 6-10%, at a rate two to three times faster than other retailers, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group.

Now if I could just get my hands on a little real intelligence, rather than artificial, I'd be all set.

:-)

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0257 Modern Retail and Technology

Best Reading of the Day

This is a fine piece that attempts to explain how the best, tier 1, retailers are handling the challenges of the new connected world.

Retail in the Information Age would also be a fine title for this article.

I'm certain we will see all flavors of players.  Pure mobile, pure brick & mortar, pure eCommerce, and many combinations.  The top retailers must be all things to their customers and that's what we are seeing.  The very top is pulling away from the rest, almost creating a new top tier.  The Walmarts and Amazons of the world do it all very well.

Here is the story:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2018/05/08/taps-clicks-bricks-how-retail-giants-are-reinventing-commerce-via-mobile-desktop-stores/#7d921323c5ca

Here is a snippet from the piece:

“Customers move seamlessly between our stores, online, and mobile,” Home Depot's vice president of Online Pratt Vemana told me. “They’re using mobile within the store, and texting aisle location from their desktops to their phones.”

Home Depot is not the only one.

The term previously coined for this, maybe by folks at Forrester (?), is "Bricks & Mobile".  The author's "Taps, Clicks, Bricks" is also evocative of what is happening.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

The Information Age Continues the Revolution

I've written extensively in these pages about our entry in to the new Information Age, leaving the Industrial Age behind, and how every fabric of our lives will change in time as this new age matures.

Here is exhibit 1,734 in that vein.

The United States Marine Corps is reorganizing, restructuring, the Infantry Squad unit to account for the expected new type of warfare they will be facing and to add a drone to each squad.

I am no expert on infantry operations though I have served Active Duty in the United States Air Force (ER Medic in another lifetime), however, here is a quick overview.  The most basic unit is the 3 man fireteam. The first formal unit size is the squad, previously composed of 13 infantrymen. Then comes a Platoon of Squads, and a Company of Platoons, and a Battalion of Companies, etc, up to a Division, then Corps, and Army, followed by an Army Group.

The Marines are changing the fundamental structure of their units by altering the Squad.  The 13 man Squad will become 12 men and one of those will be a specialist with a drone assigned to him and the squad.  Wow! Information technology has come to the battlefield in a big, big way.

Here is the full story:

https://breakingdefense.com/2018/05/marines-reorganize-infantry-for-high-tech-war-fewer-riflemen-more-drones/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Each rifle squad will get its own quadcopter mini-drone to scout ahead and a drone operator to run it. But the squad will shrink from 13 Marines (three fire teams of four plus a squad leader) to 12 (three fire teams of three plus a command team of squad leader, assistant squad leader, and “squad systems operator”).

How has your life changed in the last 12 months as a result of information technology?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Awesome Retail Mobile App

Great little article by the folks over at ClickZ.

Want to know what a great mobile experience in retail is like when it isn't Starbucks?  Check it out.

Neiman Marcus, on the other hand, had two positive quarters in a row, citing the brand’s digital-first strategy as the catalyst for the turnaround.

In a way, Neiman Marcus’ app epitomizes that digital strategy, focusing more on where their customers are (online and offline, often at the same time) rather than where they used to be (the mall). We’ve mentioned some of its features before, but here’s a deeper dive into the app and what retailers can take away from it.

Here is the full article:

https://www.clickz.com/neiman-marcus-mobile-app/214155/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Basics of eCommerce Personalization

Get your house in order first.

That should always be the rule to live by.

Low hanging fruit, etc.

However it is shocking to find basic advice along those lines is still necessary especially when its something new involved where we lack a basic comfort level with the subject.  The reactionary response is to seek help from outside to address this new "something".

Try looking inside first. 

Good little article:

https://www.clickz.com/5-first-party-data-strategies-personalization/213990/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Every brand understands—or should understand—the importance of data. And no data is more valuable than first-party shopper behavior data, which is derived directly from your customers. Since first-party data comes straight from the source, this eliminates any games of telephone, enabling marketers to better understand—and build stronger relationships with—their customers.

Clearly brick & mortar retailers want the same approach but it is far more challenging when dealing with in-store interactions.  This article's value is best seen by the online players or the omnichannel play for traditional retailers.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0256 Smart Clothing

Best Reading of the Day

This fine little write-up is well worth your time.

Smart Clothes.

Okay, okay, yes it sounds ridiculous and probably will be for a while yet but crazier things have happened.

What is the utility?  That's the key.  Do we find some in this article?  Judge for yourself.

Here is the full article:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/wearables/levis-smart-jacket-changed-how-i-use-my-phone/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

The cuff on the left arm is woven with a conductive fiber, as well as a special-grade polyester that allows it to act as a touch sensor; the rest of the jacket is traditional Levi’s cotton-based denim. You can feel a slight difference in material when you touch the denim part of the jacket, and then touch the cuff. It’s not easily noticeable, though, which is important to maintaining a traditional look.

I've seen a bit on smart clothing and when it comes to these, even the classic electric blanket, I have to admit I have visions of being enmeshed in electronic clothing that catches fire.  Ugh.  Not a pretty picture.  People, well, most people, got over that for the electric blanket lines.  If there's sufficient benefit to this line of connected clothing then people will buy them.

This prototype takes the same basic approach as the smart watch.  It isn't a replacement for your smart phone, it complements it so you don't have to reach for your phone.  Yes, that right there might be enough to sell units. Not bad.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Retail

The Mobile Marketing folks recently organized a summit on "Mobile Retail" and captured what they consider the best quotes from the summit.  It is worth a read for anyone interested in tech, mobile, or retail.

Here is the full story:

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/the-10-best-quotes-from-our-mobile-retail-summit

Here is a part of the piece:

Our day was kicked off by Jat Sahi of Fujitsu, who explored how mobile and digital was disrupting not just traditional working practices, but entire sectors and business models, and what retailers can do to keep pace with the speed of change.

I'm of course solidly in the camp that sees how disruptive technology is.  However, it is the customer that matters.  Tech alone will not solve problems.  How we provide for people, their wants and needs, does matter.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

How Google Shopping Ads is Killing It

Data.

Data.

Google.

Data.

All the same thing.

Wonder how Google figures out what you mean when you type in something you are looking to purchase?

Wonder no more.  Here is a snippet from the piece:

As Google has scaled up its Shopping products in recent years, there has been a growing consensus in the retail search marketing space that Shopping ads are one of the most effective ways to win valuable consumer clicks.

This is especially true of the non-branded, broader search terms that are typical of the early stages of the customer journey.

During this phase, Google Shopping ads – commonly referred to as Product Listing Ads, or PLAs – are considered to be a key means of engaging consumers early, and boosting new customer acquisition.

Here is the story:

https://www.clickz.com/google-shopping-dominating-retail-search-marketing/213772/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Customer Service via Drone

Walmart wants drones buzzing around in its stores, helping people.

Seems like a logical extension of the mobile shopping assistant.  Not ready for prime-time yet I'm sure but I have little doubt this is coming.

Here is the story:

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/316641/walmart-files-patent-for-in-store-drone-customer-s.html?edition=108241

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

What Facebook's Problems Mean to You

As the Federal Trade Commission looks in to Facebook's interactions with the now widely known company Cambridge Analytica people across the U.S. and the globe are waking up to a startling revelation ...

Facebook has a ton of data about you.

Wait. That isn't news to you? Good!

Here is that story in case you are interested:

https://www.cnet.com/news/ftc-confirms-its-investigating-facebook/

Here is the next startling revelation ... ready?

Every company out there wants your data too. The only difference is Facebook got caught with its hand in the cookie jar and the company it was in business with, Cambridge Analytica, is engaged in some very dirty business. Setting up politicians so it appears they had sexual relations with Ukranian escorts. According to their CEO on video it doesn't matter if the person actually engaged in the behavior it just has to appear that way. Great business you have there, but, hey, so long as your kids get to go to expensive private schools who cares if you help destroy democracy.

Apple is reportedly interested in seeing Facebook put under the microscope for this.

Of course they are. Facebook eats Apple's lunch on personal data. Apple might gain more marketing dollars if Facebook loses out. It's a gold rush to get your data and all of the technology companies, and retailers, want in.

Where Facebook has really done is overstepping on what they gather without proper notification. Android users woke up to a shock over this when they found Facebook was gathering their phone conversations.

I have been predicting we will see a general pullback in technology due to security concerns. Privacy concern are trumping that. Regulations are next.

Is it time we the people gained a measure of control over the technology that has become central to our lives?

Giving out your personal information is a trade-off  You give something of value and receive something of value in return. I have a rewards card or my favorite supermarket. No worries. However when the data gathering is unclear or used in ways you don't agree with and without your consent you should be concerned.

Happy Reading.

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE**

I have several articles to add to this.  First up is news the U.S. immigration force, rounding up illegal entrants, is using Facebook data to track, locate, and presumably remove folks:
http://fortune.com/2018/03/27/facebook-data-ice-immigrants-deport/

Can the consumer gain from this fiasco?  Yes according to one analyst and I agree.  This is an important moment, a wake-up call, to folks who haven't followed what is happening to them digitally. Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/27/facebook-data-scandal-should-be-a-wake-up-call-about-online-footprint.html

When an issue enters the public awareness to a level it is parodied in TV comedies you know it is a problem.  Facebook is spelled in Russian during the new opening for Season 5 of the hit HBO comedy 'Silicon Valley'. A reference to Russian trolls using Facebook data to attack the 2016 elections. See it and read more here: https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/3/26/17164094/silicon-valley-season-5-opening-credits-facebook-easter-egg-russian-cyrillic-letters-fake-news

More bad news for Facebook on the front page of Bloomberg's marketing pages: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-03-27/ad-scammers-need-suckers-and-facebook-helps-find-them

What Facebook's troubles mean to marketers, that's you right? Read on:
https://econsultancy.com/blog/69902-facebook-is-in-real-trouble-what-it-could-mean-for-marketers/

I'll add more if I find worthy entries in this ongoing story.  I think we are about to see some technologies become treated as equivalent to utilities such as electricity, running water, and phone service.  How that changes the game is easy to see.  A vacuum will be created and other companies, such as Apple, will rush to fill it with their services.

The In-Store Shopping Opportunity for Mobile Apps

When I was first imagining the mobile app I would build for regional supermarkets the biggest opportunity I saw was to help reinvent the in-store shopping experience.

Want to find a store?  Don't you already have a favorite supermarket picked out?  Doesn't google do that for you?

After you've been to the store?  What?  Recipes to cook the food you bought?  Sure, but there are a few resources for recipes available already right?

In the store?

Now you're cooking with butter!

(I love that saying)

Walmart is at it in a big way and it is worth following.  With resources I could only dream of they are reimagining the shopping experience.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

With a new mobile app experience, Walmart is hoping to change the way people shop at its brick-and-mortar stores. The multinational retail chain, which now has more than 11,600 stores under 59 banners and ecommerce websites in 11 countries, recently debuted a new mobile app experience that promises to get customers in and out of stores more quickly, reimagining in-person shopping.

Walmart’s new Store Assistant is an all-encompassing mobile app solution...

Here is the full article:

http://streetfightmag.com/2018/02/27/walmart-reimagines-in-store-shopping-experience-with-mobile-update/

Now imagine if none of the past were present and no stores existed today and you wanted to open a store.  What would you do .... today?  Mobile interactions?  Social media interactions?  You bet.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Whole Foods After Amazon

Where do you shop for your food and "super" market needs?

Whole Foods?

Before Amazon bought it or after or both?

What has changed?

Take a look:

https://www.boston.com/news/food/2018/03/01/amazon-whole-foods-changes

I think it is safe to say this is only the beginning.  One becomes the other and the other becomes the one.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Target's Profits Down

Target is in a bit of a hard spot.

Amazon on one side.

Walmart on the other.

A changing industry heavy on digital technology, ecommerce, and changes in the store experience.

Not everyone is going to get it right and the legacy merchants are going to have to craft a new path forward.  Target's efforts resulted in a problem in its profit as it missed efforts.

Great analysis and an interesting look in to what is happening in retail in the United States today:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-06/target-s-turnaround-plan-weighs-on-profit-as-it-chases-amazon

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

What to do About Smartphone Addicts?

Is there a smartphone addict in your life?

Is it you?

Your significant other?

Children?

Co-workers?

Students?

What can you do about it?

Plenty.

Read more here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/02/05/this-millennial-discovered-a-surprisingly-simple-solution-to-smartphone-addiction-schools-love-it/?utm_term=.7e4c900d9068

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Ditch the phones.

He founded a company, Yondr, whose small, gray pouches swallow phones and lock them away from the fingers and eyes of their addicted owners. Since it started in 2014, hundreds of thousands of the neoprene pouches have been used across North America, Europe and Australia.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Optimizing for Smaller Audiences

Hello folks, I've had a crazy last 6 weeks but have been capturing some stories I marked to blog when I finally carved the time to catch up and get back to my usual rhythm.  Here's the first of several stories.

I've often thought about the practice of A/B testing, or split testing (the practice of providing part of your audience with one design and the rest with another to compare and contrast).  It is especially difficult when your audience is small.  As a statistically driven person I think in terms of scientific sample size when determining the accuracy of results.

Thank about it.  Is your A/B testing useful when you have 5-10 visitors regularly?  100?  10,000?  When your numbers are in the tens of millions or more then ... definitely, but what about the smaller fish in the sea?

Here you go:

https://getuplift.co/how-to-optimize-a-low-traffic-site-without-ab-testing-step-by-step/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Testing is not a matter of opening your testing tool and waiting for that little “Statistically Significant” marker. You need to reach your required sample size before concluding anything or else the insights will be invalid.

That’s where it gets difficult for low traffic sites.

Unless you’re detecting an incredibly large effect, you’ll need to run the test for months. The longer a test is running, the more vulnerable it is to sample pollution, which can rear its head in many ways.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Marketing Technology - Data Analysis

What's the saying in digital marketing circles?  You don't need a "growth hacker" you just need a marketer who understand data.

Yeap.  I'm onboard with that view, pushed by the best minds at Google and many other places.

Here is a great little piece to that end:

https://www.clickz.com/6-changes-marketing-measurement-will-impact-2018/206222/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

“One of the biggest pitfalls for performance measurement is to measure the ‘part’ with ignorance of the ‘whole,’” wrote Pearl Zhu, author of the Digital Master book series. Her quote perfectly reflects the growing realization of marketing measurement’s critical role. We see a requirement to evolve beyond attributing the value of a conversion to single customer touchpoints (the ‘part’) toward an understanding of marketing effectiveness throughout the ‘whole’ customer journey.

Multi-touch attribution delivers change through modeling all of a brand’s customer interactions to attribute fractional credit for each conversion to each unique touchpoint.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  Welcome to 2018!

Improving Retail Mobile Apps

Continuing the discussion on retail mobile apps.  I've been in and around this game for many years.  What I see is a new kind of "Tier 1" retailer. 

There's the classic Tier 1, but then there is a superpower level.  That retailer has it all: great retail stores, great mobile app, great online shopping.  Which ones qualify?  Walmart, Amazon, Target, Starbucks .... anyone else?

Here is the story:

https://www.clickz.com/retailers-improve-app-experience/207018/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Most retail apps leave something to be desired, according to Jim Cusson, President at retail marketing agency Theory House.

“I think of that quote from Field of Dreams: ‘If you build it, they will come,’” he says. “A few years ago, there was this rush to build apps and everyone wanted one, whether it had a true purpose or not. You see a lot of injured soldiers on the battlefield now because companies have invested money in an app that’s obsolete.”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Retailers and their Mobile Apps

Recently found a great little website for all things related to digital marketing.  Worth checking out:

https://www.clickz.com/

Here's one of the stories that grabbed my attention.  6 retailers who have outstanding mobile apps:

https://www.clickz.com/6-retail-brands-nailing-app-game/207024/

Here's a snippet from that piece:

Earlier this year, the app market data and insights company found that the typical consumer uses 10 apps per day. For most people, it’s unlikely that many of those 10 are retail apps. Amazon is the category’s sole representative on Apple’s Top Chart.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant