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Business Strategy
Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - 09:16
Looking beyond the aesthetics, there are compelling business reasons for retailers to pull down the ‘Check Out’, ‘Pay Here’ and ‘Till Point’ signs hanging from the shop ceiling. For one thing, tills mean queues. Research has shown that 51% of UK shoppers refuse to even enter a store if they spy a queue. There are also studies that allude to the increasing redundancy of the till. According to Deloitte research, for instance, three in five smartphone owners who use their devices to shop have done so while shopping at the store. Some famous retailers have already questioned the future...
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Posted by: David Line | Wednesday, May 1, 2013 - 17:59
In July 1995, a former hedge fund executive launched a website that aimed to upend the traditional way of selling consumer goods, starting with books but soon expanding into a diverse array of products. Dubbed Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos’s business went on to disrupt not only the way people typically shop, but also the book publishing industry itself, en route to becoming the world’s largest online retailer. It now serves as a prime example of how technology can enable innovative companies to fundamentally rethink the way business is done, as opposed to merely optimising existing processes. Now...
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Posted by: James Chambers | Wednesday, April 17, 2013 - 15:57
New research published this week shows that the CEOs of some of Europe's blue-chip companies routinely spend over 100 days on business travel. Last year, Elmar Degenhart, the CEO of Continental, the German tyre-maker, spent over 150 days away from head office, travelling to meet customers, employees, investors and analysts. Willie Walsh of International Airlines Group is another member of this CEO '100 club', reveals the American Express report, written by the Economist Intelligence Unit.As this report is published only a few weeks after easyJet entered the FTSE 100, it would be nice to think...
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Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Friday, April 5, 2013 - 08:52
At its core, consumerism is about status. This is as true now as it has always been. Yet the notion of status is changing. As an ever increasing number of newly wealthy consumers from emerging economies can now afford the status symbols, the premium whisky, the luxury watches, the latest ‘IT’ bag - the artifacts of prosperity, the luxury consumers from the developed economies are, in turn, no longer satisfied just to own the status symbols with the right logo. Instead, these luxury consumers have an increasing thirst for knowledge and learning. They want to be involved with the...
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Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Monday, March 4, 2013 - 09:57
Savills has a stark prediction for the US: the global property group sees 15% of America's 1300 biggest enclosed malls going out of business within 5 years. If correct, that could soon mean 195 dilapidating white elephants across the US. The idea of the mall as a hermetically sealed box, appearing like a space ship while turning its back to the local community and having little connection to the urban streetscape, now seems a product from the last century. Retail is experiencing dramatic re-calibration with the explosion of on-line shopping and the resultant closure of many...
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Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - 09:46
Increasing urbanisation and smaller dwellings mean we have less space for our stuff. The Self Storage Association says that in the UK the self storage market grew by 8% last year. Even so, Britons still have more than £2,800 of clutter stored in their attics, according to the Co-Op, suggesting that there is room yet for the self storage market to grow.Besides a squeeze on living space, other factors contributing to the trend for de-cluttering include the mood of austerity, the desire for sustainability, the demand for ‘just in time’ products and our ever more nomadic lifestyles. Increasingly...
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Posted by: David Ropeik | Friday, August 3, 2012 - 09:20
So you think you can manage risk? Think again. Or rather, think more carefully. And be a bit more humble about just how well you are able to think in the first place. When it comes to risk, financial or physical, the brain is less a powerful computer capable of careful conscious reason, and far more a survival machine whose job is not to get good grades and win Nobel Prizes, but to keep you alive.Research in a number of fields has uncovered just what goes on behind the curtain of consciousness as we form our perceptions of risk. Saint Thomas Aquinas observed that “Most men seem to live...
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Posted by: Chris Webber | Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - 11:08
They say there’s an exception to every rule. While most Olympic host cities have been left disappointed by the long-term impact of their investments, the Barcelona games are credited with transforming the city’s economic fortunes. Hoping that they can learn the magic formula for success and apply it to East London, those responsible for delivering the London Olympics have been regular visitors to Spain’s second city. Anyone expecting a similar kind of economic boost is likely to end up disappointed, but plans to use the Olympics as a catalyst for some much needed housing investment could...
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Posted by: Zoe Tabary | Friday, May 25, 2012 - 13:18
I’ve recently had to reflect on the ultimate question for a proposal: the meaning of life. Centuries of thinkers have tackled it before me and if I had to pick one, I’d agree with French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre that human life doesn’t come with any pre-assigned meaning. If there is a meaning to life, it’s what we invest it with.So rather than a solution to a problem, I see the meaning of life as what makes each one of us happy. But living in a resource-constrained world may cause us to revaluate what our measures of happiness are. Lately, happiness and quality of life have been the focus...
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Posted by: Gareth Lofthouse | Monday, April 23, 2012 - 00:00
Tesco remains a formidable retail player, but there’s no doubt it has lost some of its lustre in the past 12 months. While the company still has a 30% share of the UK market and expanding operations overseas, the outlook has been looking less rosy ever since the company issued a profit warning back in January.Now the company has unveiled plans for its UK fightback. Chief executive Philip Clarke is investing £1bn to improve the look and feel of its stores and to offer a better choice of products. The company will also hire 8,000 new staff and train them to offer a friendlier service. At...
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All Business Strategy posts
Scrapping the checkout requires retailers to create an alternative 'farewell experience'
Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - 09:16
Corporate strategy and the data revolution
Posted by: David Line | Wednesday, May 1, 2013 - 17:59
Some of Europe's top CEOs are spending upwards of 100 days a year on business travel
Posted by: James Chambers | Wednesday, April 17, 2013 - 15:57
How brand ownership is moving beyond the latest must-have logo
Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Friday, April 5, 2013 - 08:52
Building shopping centres as traditional retail outlets needs a re-think
Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Monday, March 4, 2013 - 09:57
Collaborative consumption set to disrupt traditional retailing
Posted by: Ibrahim Ibrahim | Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - 09:46
David Ropeik explains what the latest research in neuroscience and psychology tells us about our ability to manage risk
Posted by: David Ropeik | Friday, August 3, 2012 - 09:20
What can London expect from hosting the Olympics?
Posted by: Chris Webber | Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - 11:08
