Collaboration: A Distributor point of view on Roles and Innovation

Adam Simon and Chris Petersen interview Nitin Chhabra, CEO Ace Turtle

As part of our continuing series examining a wide range of collaborative ecosystems, we are examining the transformation of the supply chain and the role of the distributor. The rising expectations of consumers are creating stress points on logistics and profitability for both retailers and brands. Fulfilment the last mile is not only a requirement of the new retail ecosystem, distributors must now emerge as innovation partners that create strategic opportunities for both retailers and brands.

Collaboration: A Technology Retailer Perspective

Adam Simon and Chris Petersen interview Bülent Gürcan, CEO, TeknoSA

This blog is part of our continuing series examining a wide range of collaborative ecosystems that are emerging in response to consumer behaviour and expectations. While omnichannel is the new normal for customers, retailers are still evolving their transformation refining their business models to balance offline and online retail.

As strategic collaboration evolves in a new ecosystem across retail, there are as many questions as there are answers. We were excited to have an opportunity to explore these issues in a conversation with Bülent Gürcan, CEO of TeknoSA.

Collaboration: A Worldwide Brand Perspective

Adam Simon and Chris Petersen interview Lucas Perraudin, HP

This is part of our series examining a wide range of collaborative ecosystems that are emerging in response to consumer behaviour and expectations. While omnichannel is the new normal for customers, the transformation is still in process for many brands, retailers and distributors.

Few retailers and brands can independently afford to build their own end-to-end solutions. As a result, the next phase of transformation is collaborative commerce:
ecosystems of partners who can deliver what customers want anytime and everywhere.

The culmination of this blog series will be a panel discussion at our CEO Breakfast at CES2018. We have invited three senior executives to share their perspectives from three points of view: Brand/Supplier, Distributor, and the Retailer.

Sleeping with the enemy … or strategic collaboration?

By Chris Petersen and Adam Simon

One of the epic battles in the history of retail is the escalating war between the behemoths Walmart and Amazon. While Amazon’s total sales still lag behind those of Walmart’s, the annual double-digit growth of Amazon puts it on a trajectory to surpass the world’s largest retailer. However, the sleeping giant has awoken! Walmart is now creating new levels of innovation online, with click and collect and automated customer convenience at check out.   The rapid innovation and growth of these giants is certainly not great news for the rest of retail. Have we reached the age of “if you can’t beat them, join them”? Many retailers and brands are seeing opportunities in choosing a side. Are there any other alternatives left?

The retail goliath’s all-out war for customers via “marketplace partners”
In the battle of Amazon versus Walmart, it is no longer a war of ecommerce versus stores. Competing in today’s marketplace for omnichannel consumers requires massive infrastructure, systems, and logistics for the last mile all the way to the customer’s door. It also requires a vast assortment of products, including the most popular brands.

Increasingly, both Amazon and Walmart are searching for unique brands and products that differentiate, and attract customers to their ecosystem. For many brands, and even retailers, the choice seems to be that it is easier to partner with a giant rather than try to beat them.

Will those jumping in bed with Amazon see a “Prime” Future?
Amazon is so much more than a “retailer” – it is become an ecosystem of ecommerce, distribution and even building devices. A huge part of that ecosystem is the “Prime”, which fuels repeat visits and growth from Amazon’s most profitable customers. To attract Prime members, Amazon needs prime brands and offerings.

Best Buy electronics has recently “teamed up” with Amazon for voice shopping via Alexa in order to tap into Amazon prime customers and traffic. Kohl’s department stores has gone even further by opening Amazon product sections in their stores, and new processing for Amazon returns to Kohl’s stores.

From Nike collaborating on curated Amazon assortments, to Calvin Klein collaborating on pop-up stores with Amazon, both brands and retailers are strategically collaborating in new ways to tap into Amazon’s ecosystem and traffic. Amazon wins with prime products and new offerings.

Walmart is rapidly recruiting its own coalition of brands and retailers
Walmart is no longer just playing catchup. They have leapfrogged Amazon in a number of areas, especially in click and collect. They also recognize the importance of assortment breadth and premier brands. In addition to purchasing millennial appealing brands like Bonobos and Moosejaw, Walmart is also focusing on curating premium brands and products. Who would have imagined that Walmart would now be collaborating with Lord & Taylor! As department stores struggle, Walmart offers a potential for Lord & Taylor to reach the masses, and at the same time, Walmart brings cache products to Walmart.com.

While Amazon may have Alexa, Walmart has aggressively collaborated with Google in voice shopping. Each giant is now literally matching each other blow by blow. Where does that leave the rest of retailers and consumer brands?

The upside of strategic collaboration with one of the giants
Simply put, omnichannel is not rapidly scaling throughout the rest of retail for many reasons.   The retailer conundrum is that if they make the extensive investments to expand online and home delivery, they starve their stores of much needed investment required to differentiate customer experience. Strategic collaboration with Amazon or Walmart offers many benefits: immediate turnkey access to ecosystems with massive traffic, no major capital investments for distribution and home delivery, reduced risk and costs. There are many upsides in reaching the masses to grow revenue by collaborating Amazon or Walmart, at least short term.

What is the downside of sleeping with an elephant?
There is a huge danger of “selling your soul” in order to survive in the short term, especially if you are a retailer. Whether it is collaborating with Amazon or Walmart, both brands and retailers must constantly evaluate:

• Can we curate a “marketplace assortment” that sells online, without giving away our core value propositions that bring customers to our brand and stores?
• If Amazon and Walmart own the interface of the sale, how do we engage customers?
• How can we remain relevant to customers by offering better solutions and services?
• What can we do better that the giants do not already do for customers?

With their vast infrastructure, systems, data and analytics Amazon and Walmart have the “big data” to leverage the most profitable products and customer segments for their gain. Are there any alternatives for the rest of retail?

Collaborating on data as the new currency for Customer Experience (CX)
The bottom line: retail is not dead. It is mediocre retailing focused on product and price that is dying! If it is only about products at a price, that is the forte of Walmart and Amazon and they are winning hands down.

The future for the rest of retail lies in creating relevance beyond products, price and promotions. Data is the new currency for strategic collaboration to differentiate value. Not just any data. The new strategic currency is “rich data” about how to establish the power of CX – Customer experience.

The most powerful untapped “gold” is the behavior of customers: before, during and after the sale. Beyond the giants, the innovative retailers, brands and distributors are strategically collaborating to create alternatives focused on how to engage customers throughout their journey, and how to deliver “knock your socks off” services that bring them back for more.

The alterative to “sleeping with the “enemy” requires both consumer brands and retailers to change the past paradigms of negotiating solely on products and price. The future of retail success lies in collaborating to create customer relationships, not the products sold.

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Chris Petersen and Adam Simon are collaborating on a series of blogs that explore the rise of strategic collaboration and new customer centric ecosystems. This blog series will culminate with a worldwide panel discussion at the ContextWorld CES CEO Breakfast, where a global Brand, Distributor and Retailer will share their perspectives on strategic collaboration.

If you are interested in more information on this CES event, contact tgibbons@contextworld.com.

 

What is your purpose?

By Chris Petersen and Adam Simon

One of the most impressive speakers at the recent Gitex Conference on Digital Marketing, was Christian Eid, the VP of Marketing at Careem, the start-up which has shaken up the Middle East with its model-busting alternative to Uber. Above all, he stated, you have to know what your purpose is. How important is this for strategic collaboration?

Are these the “best or worst of times” for consumer brands?

By Chris Petersen and Adam Simon

Charles Dickens begins his historical novel with the classic opening: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity”.

Dickens’ words also accurately describe the paradox facing consumer brands today.   In many ways, brands have unprecedented opportunities to reach consumers.   Yet, the consumer transformation to omnichannel has disrupted historical retail models creating new challenges. Those brands that thrive will be those that collaborate in ways that adapt to the changing dynamics of the retail ecosystem.

Why these are the BEST of times for consumer brands
Prior to the rise of ecommerce, the route to market for consumer brands was primarily through the retail store.   The supply chain was essentially a linear model from manufactures, to distributors to retailers.   Today’s omnichannel consumers have disrupted that model and now expect to shop, purchase and take delivery anytime and everywhere.   This has created some dynamic new opportunities for brands marketing and selling products to consumers.

Direct Sales to Consumers
As consumers increasingly shop and purchase online, manufactures have an increasing opportunity to sell direct to consumers through their own ecommerce.   Direct channels can increase margin, but more importantly, they enable direct relationships with customers.

New Marketing Opportunities
More than 70% of customers begin their purchase journey online. Brands have an opportunity to engage customers early and often through multiple touch points, in addition to customer experiences in store.

Reach – Products and Supply at More Places
Through the integration of physical and digital retail, brands can effectively spread their supply across more places and use “virtual inventory” to reach more customers.

Long tail – Opportunities for Premium Mix and Revenue
The number of products carried in physical stores were limited by physical space and open to buy capital.   The growth of ecommerce enables means making a full range of products available to many more customers locally and globally.

Why these are the WORST of times for consumer brands
The rise of the omnichannel customer has swung the pendulum to be more customer centric. While the situation today might not constitute the “worst” that can happen, current customer behaviors certainly post major challenges to brands, their previous strategies and program effectiveness.

Commoditization of Products
The power of ecommerce and omnichannel customers is reaching customers anytime and everywhere. The corresponding challenge is the explosion of everyone’s products everywhere. Even if brands go direct, they are still competing with over 400 million products available on just Amazon, not to mention what’s available on Alibaba and Google.

Slippery Slope of Price Erosion
The challenge of ecommerce is transparency and ease of product and price comparison. The ecommerce giants can change pricing dynamically, by market hourly.   Once online, prices become the lowest common denominator. Even major retail stores have now realized that they must match prices online.

The missing 5^th P – Personalization
Ecommerce has for the most part been an electronic catalog of what’s available at a price.   Brands have little opportunity to differentiate product or their value add services selling through ecommerce. Brands need to find ways to personalize solutions and services before and after the sale.

Connecting the Brand and User Experience
The experience online has been primarily features, function and price. Brands need more innovative ways to connect at multiple points with the customer, especially early in the journey, and at the critical points of decision to purchase which now occur across channels.

The bottom line: “All of the above” requires strategic collaboration
Brands have more opportunities than ever to reach today’s consumers.   Herein also lies the challenges of having the right media and resources to leverage those points of contact to optimize the brand experience.  The reality today is that few brands have the capacity or resources to able to do it all. Indeed, future success for consumer brands lies in their effectiveness to:

• Optimize brand value beyond commoditization of product and price
• Create an engaging brand experience across multiple channels
• Solve for optimizing supply at the right time and place
• The ability to solve for the last mile to the customer’s door
• Personalizing service that meets customer expectations

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Chris Petersen and Adam Simon are collaborating on a series of blogs that explore the rise of strategic collaboration and new customer centric ecosystems. This blog series will culminate with a worldwide panel discussion at the ContextWorld CES CEO Breakfast, where a global Brand, Distributor and Retailer will share their perspectives on strategic collaboration.

If you are interested in more information on this CES event, contact tgibbons@contextworld.com.

 

What’s changing retail – Strategic distributor collaboration

By Chris Petersen and Adam Simon

Distributors have been part of the traditional supply chain for decades.   They were often called the “box movers” of the industry because they quite literally performed the essential service of moving mass quantities of products from suppliers to retailers’ warehouses.   While distributors still function in that role, what is rapidly changing retail is the customer demand of fulfilling a single unit to a local point they choose.   The rising expectations of consumers are creating stress points on logistics and profitability for both retailers and brands.   The capabilities for local distribution the last mile are not only a cornerstone of the new retail ecosystem, distributors are emerging as innovation partners creating strategic opportunities for both retailers and brands.

Four demands driving new levels of strategic collaboration

By Chris Petersen and Adam Simon

The transformation from sales transactions to collaborative networks
The traditional supply chain was based upon a sales transaction model of brands selling products to distributors, distributors to resellers and retailers. Once the products arrived at the retailer’s doorstep, it was their responsibility to warehouse it and sell it through to the customer. In this traditional model retailers did work with brands and distributors, but those relationships were primarily transactional negotiations based on product, price and promotions to sell products.

The traditional retail model and the economics have changed. What is driving the change are customers who have “escaped the traditional funnel”. Today’s consumers are not bound by channel, place or time. They expect unprecedented choice of products, where they shop and how they take delivery. Traditional retailers do not have the infrastructure, resources, the inventory required, or enough of their own trucks to deliver to individual customers.

To survive, retailers need more than products and “box movers”. To thrive, retailers need a collaborative network of partners who can help strategically address rising customer demands, enabling a shift from sales transactions to customer relationships.

Customer demands driving the retailer’s need for strategic collaboration
It’s a great time to be a customer. It’s a very challenging time to be a profitable retailer. The simple economic reality is that only the world’s largest retailers can attempt to offer end to end solutions that meet omnichannel customer expectations. Even a retail giant like Walmart cannot afford to carry all of the inventory required for the millions of products now online. And, the ecommerce giants Amazon and Alibaba built their business by collaborating with an ecosystem of partners for overnight delivery and customer services.

Let’s be clear. Collaboration is not “free”. Two-day shipping is not free. Home delivery is not free. Retailers cannot afford to “solve it all”. Retailers must selectively find solutions to remain competitive, and where possible, find partners who will work collaboratively to build solutions that optimize the retailer’s relationships with core customers.

There are four core customer drivers in today’s omnichannel market place where retailers must find collaborative solutions:

1. Choice – Solutions to deliver on customer expectation for more product range

Almost all retailers are expanding assortments online in order to offer competitive choices. A wider range of products equates to inventory, which is one of the most costly retailer investments. Increasing assortments requires strategic relationships with distributors for both the inventory and warehousing to store it. However, it is the convenience of last mile delivery to the customer’s door which is requiring most retailers to strategically search for collaborative solutions like drop shipments from brands and distributors.

2. Convenience – Solutions that let customers have it their way

It is one thing to offer the products online, it quite another to be able to offer the convenience of “real time retail”. The majority of customers expect to “see” not only what is on the store shelf, but the delivery time for products not carried in store. This requires strategic collaboration with brands and distributors to share new levels of data, and participation in joint fulfillment. Customers are increasingly purchasing from retailers where the returns process is fast and convenient, creating a growing need for cost effective reverse logistics.

3. Customized – Customers demand for solutions requires partnerships

Customers are increasingly looking for more than products at a price, they want customized experiences and solutions that fit their lifestyle. Case in point, smart home and IoT products. Customers want and need services that assist in configuring and installing products. Even retailers like Best Buy with a “Geek Squad” are strategically collaborating with services and installers to increase bandwidth required to meet consumer demand for customized services.

4. Connected – Customers expect communication before, during and after

Today’s purchase is a journey, not an event. Customers expect to research online, and have online follow them to the store. They also expect real time information on the status of orders, pickup and delivery. With multiple partners stocking and delivering products, this requires new levels of information that must seamlessly connect and be available to customers. The best of breed not only collaborate with customers during the sale, but connect with customers after the sale on satisfaction and future services.

Replacing the 4Ps with the 4Cs Requires Collaborative Partnerships
The traditional 4Ps of Product, Price, Promotion and Place have been transformed by todays empowered customers. To meet the rising expectations for the 4 Cs of Choice, Convenience, Customized, Connections will require competencies and resources beyond the bandwidth of most retailers. Future success will require more than product sales today. Retailers now must strategically collaborate with partners in ways that will enable them to create, and sustain relationships that transcend the sale of a product.

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Chris Petersen and Adam Simon are collaborating on a series of blogs that explore the rise of strategic collaboration and new customer centric ecosystems. This blog series will culminate with a worldwide panel discussion at the ContextWorld CES CEO Breakfast, where a global Brand, Distributor and Retailer will share their perspectives on strategic collaboration.

If you are interested in more information on this CES event, contact tgibbons@contextworld.com.

 

When ecommerce dominates, do you compete or collaborate?

By Chris Petersen and Adam Simon

There is a tipping point coming where ecommerce will overtake traditional retail sales. That critical mass is not as far off as many might think. Doug Stephens recently published some interesting forecasts on the growth of ecommerce, particularly the top 3 giants. Based upon the recurring annual growth rates of 12 to 35% for the large ecommerce players:

• Ecommerce will be 25% of total US retail in 6 years, and may exceed 30% of the UK
• Amazon, Alibaba and eBay will control 40% of global ecommerce within just 3 years
• Within just 15 years ecommerce will overtake traditional retail sales accounting for more than 50% share of consumer sales

This is highly relevant in the Middle East with the takeover of Souq.com by Amazon, and the recent price-slashing at the beginning of this month. Other than being swept away by the tidal wave of ecommerce giants, what are the choices for brands, distributors and traditional retailers?

The Future of Retail – An ecosystem of strategic collaboration

By Chris Petersen and Adam Simon

Consumer demands are driving a retail renaissance, not an apocalypse
In reviewing world headlines regarding store closings and retailers filing for bankruptcy, it would be easy to conclude that a retail apocalypse is upon us. If you only look through the retail lens of “stores”, many bricks and mortar store formats are struggling. But through the eyes of today’s consumers, it is no longer a question of shopping stores versus online. Customers simply don’t see “channels”, or separate physical from digital shopping.

Customers expect a seamless experience across time and place, with multiple choices of how and where to acquire their purchase. It is these rising consumer expectations for “real time retail” that are outstripping the capacity of individual retailers, distributors and vendors to independently deliver. The future of retail is quite literally becoming a transformation of the traditional linear supply chain into an ecosystem of strategic collaboration.

Innovations are increasingly the product of strategic collaborations
The e-tail giants of Amazon and Alibaba are increasingly viewed as the great innovators and disruptors of retail. Both have driven innovation focused on customer centric choice, convenience and personalized service which has disrupted traditional stores. However, not all of these innovations are internally driven and executed. Both e-tailers collaborate extensively with vendors and resellers in a “marketplace” in order to expand breadth of assortments, without undo inventory exposure and risks. Amazon has even collaborated with the very traditional US Postal Service in order to gain weekend delivery and capacity, and last week announced a collaboration with Kohl’s for the reception of returned goods.

The wave of strategic collaboration is not limited to ecommerce. In its race against Amazon, Walmart is collaborating with a host of partners for assortment breadth, fresh produce and last mile delivery. Walmart’s newest pilot involves partnering with August Home smart devices to enable a Deliv delivery driver to have one time home access to put the groceries in the refrigerator. A unique aspect of this service is the customer can remotely control and watch the delivery real time on the Wi-Fi web cam. It is too early to tell if customers will opt in for this level of in home service. The crucial point is that this level of differentiated, personalized service would be inconceivable without strategically thinking “outside of the box [store]” on how to collaborate with the right combination of partners who can create and deliver it.

Today’s consumer dynamics drive demands that few can solve alone
Today’s omnichannel consumers are quite literally shopping anytime and everywhere. In addition, their purchase has become a journey across both time and place. Regardless of where the purchase takes place (in home, online or on phone), customers now expect a seamless experience with personalized service on how and where they take delivery. Even the very largest retailer, distributor or vendor does not have enough trucks for the “last mile”.

The new dynamics of executing retail dynamically in real time requires technology, systems, expertise and resources beyond the capacity of a single retailer, distributor or a vendor. There are a host of new “retail” issues driving demand for strategic collaboration:

• Long tail breadth inventory – Who holds the inventory, where and at what cost?
• Drop shipments – Are forecasts accurate to enable overnight fulfillment?
• Inventory “everywhere” – Who owns it and who has the risk if it doesn’t sell?
• Real time availability – What’s required to show store stock plus virtual options?
• Customer experience – If more SKUs go online, who owns experience and pays for it?

A new partnership and blog series focused on Strategic Collaboration
Chris Petersen and Adam Simon have collaborated on a host of projects and retail events. As they jointly explored omnichannel and digital transformation of retail, clear patterns began to emerge. Omnichannel is the consumer normal, the execution is inherently expensive. Relatively few retailers or vendors can afford all of the infrastructure, systems and costs associated with inventory and fulfillment. They also discovered that many of the innovative retail breakthroughs are in fact a function of strategic collaboration, which in turn is creating a new ecosystem.

As strategic collaboration evolves as a new ecosystem for retail, there are many more questions than there are answers. Over the course of the next 12 weeks Petersen and Simon will share their findings and discussions with leading vendors, distributors and retailers regarding their views of strategic collaboration, including:

• What are the best practices and pitfalls of strategic collaboration?
• What are the parameters and guidelines for collaboration?
• What do you look for in a strategic partner?
• What are the criteria and requirements for success?
• How do you measure results?

This blog series will culminate with a worldwide panel at the ContextWorld CES CEO Breakfast where a global Vendor, Distributor and Retailer will share their perspectives. Please contact us for more details on the event or to register!