Let me share something that’s been keeping me up at night. After 30+ years in retail marketing, I’ve witnessed countless “revolutionary” technologies. But AI is different. It’s not just another tool – it’s a fundamental shift in how markets operate. And most retailers are missing the bigger picture. Here’s why. Last week, I watched a [...]

Image produced by Dali-E I have been watching the announced developments in AI over the last week or so from OpenAi, Microsoft and Google and while they all have aspects that blow my socks off, I still get the feeling we are going down a rabbit hole that gets narrower and narrower. As our AI [...]

I am a frustrated futurist focussing in on the retail industry. Having spent 15 years in hardware (nuts and bolts) possibly one of the slowest moving, then 15 years in electronics and telco possibly one of the fastest, I consider myself qualified to comment. I needed to do a bit of editing of my past [...]

The share price of automotive retail group Bapcor the company that runs the Autobarn and Autopro retail groups plunged and slightly recovered to $4.56 after the market digested the news that Paul Dumbrell would not take up the CEO role, he was due to start in 2 days. At $4.56 this is half the value [...]

Woolworths released its Q3 sales commentary to the market today. The executive, and there have been many, must cringe when they have to comment on the performance of Big W. I read through today’s announcement and have found it difficult to see a positive stat or trend. It is not since the divisional management days [...]

My name is Alex and I have a confession to make. I, a retail industry veteran of over 40 years, have succumbed to the siren song of Aldi’s “aisle of shame”. Every Wednesday, I find myself irresistibly drawn to my local Aldi, eager to peruse the tantalizing treasures that await in that notorious center aisle. [...]

Why We Established Sheds4less? Sheds4less Developed A Revolutionary Garden Shed System, Focusing On Maximizing Storage And Organizing Outdoor Spaces For Homeowners A comprehensive, first of its kind system designed to cater to garden enthusiasts, DIY fans, and homeowners. Sheds4less developed this unique garden shed system, the only one of its kind providing over 7,400 variations [...]

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Myers CEO – goneDJ’s CEO – goneMarks & Spenser – shuttering 10% of networkHouse of Fraser – in crisis modeEvery specialist electronic chain worldwide – gone (almost)Toys were Us worldwide – goneSpecialty Fashion Chain – sold for a fractionLowy’s – collected their money an ranDiscount department stores – crisis worldwideGodfrey’s – acquired by 99 year [...]

I think that we are at the start of a pretty fundamental change in the retail industry. This is being played out profoundly in the fashion segment. In the last 3 months we have seen a large number of mid tier retailers fail ( Payless, pumpkin patch, Marc’s, Howard’s storage, plus numerous others) this is [...]

Just over 25 years ago my partner Desiree and I decided to cement our relationship by purchasing two new sofas from a small furniture manufacturer called King Furniture. They had one showroom in Alexandria Sydney and had a reputation for producing some quality furniture. We wanted something that would last as we could not afford [...]

I rarely respond to banner ads (as does the majority of the population) However when I was confronted with an ad for Google’s latest tome “ZMOT-Winning the Zero Moment of Truth.” I just had to respond. here was the promise of research based insights into what’s important at that critical decision point where a prospect [...]

Can you keep a secret? Let me give you a tip! – today, nobody can. There was once a time when retailers were charged with the responsibility of “curating” information provided by a select set of vendors and then presenting this information in a moderated way to the consumer. Having control of this information channel [...]

You have probably heard the current furor happening in the retail industry where the major retailers are bleating about online retail having an unfair advantage in the current GST regime.Technically this is correct, but this is not the reason that the majority of retailers are feeling significant pain. Here in Australia our major retailers have [...]

There is a seismic event building in the retail marketing world. Like any major event it is starting as a barely perceptible deep rumble. There are a few monitoring stations starting to pick up the cues. But like any earthquake there are bound to be casualties. So what am I talking about here? Well we [...]

In 1984 Apple launched one of the most talked about TV commercials in the marketing world. Contrary to popular belief this commercial only ran once in a paid format. Just to jog your memory here is the clip. https://youtu.be/VtvjbmoDx-I?si=ZCGHB7QiT4-Bly9F Apple 1984 TV Advert This was a world changing moment. From these beginnings we find ourselves [...]

There was once a time when if you asked what someone was going to do in retirement, the answer would be, move to a seaside location and open a little shop of some sort. These were also the times when a lot of “significant others” (don’t you just hate PC) would operate a small store [...]

Facebook could possibly change the balance of power in marketing communication with their new email initiative. Couple this with Googles priority inbox program and the rise and rise of peer reviews as a pre-purchase tool and we are looking at a seismic shift customer communication. Positive word of mouth endorsement, while always important, now shoots [...]

I was reading an article yesterday and the author compared Facebook to a country. If Facebook does have north of 500 million subscribers, as is reported, it is now equivilent to the third largest country in the world. Only exceeded by India and China. Just think of the retail opportunity. We know where the customers [...]