Interesting facts on Technology and the Changing Paradigms...

See how quickly data is generated over the internet in real-time. This is amazing!!! Click the animation to open the full version (via PennyStocksLab ).

McDonald's, which stand among the  American capitalism’s greatest success stories is now  losing market share, losing sales, and suffering one heck of a identity crisis.  McDonald’s  CEO Don Thompson finally ran out of time to fix the restaurant chain’s deepening problems. Thompson would step down as  CEO and board member on March 1, 2015 and be replaced by Steve Easterbrook, its chief brand officer who is responsible for fixing the fast-food operator’s marketing and menu.  In addition to Thompson’s departure, the company also announced that Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen will take on the newly-created role of Chief Administrative Officer, overseeing functions that support operations. The move comes a week after McDonald’s, the world’s biggest restaurant company, reported  fourth-quarter and full-year results  that made 2014 the first with a decline in same-store sales in a dozen years. So what has gone wrong? 1. Perception: McDonald...

Mobile has changed the way brands and consumers interact and transact. The ubiquity of mobile devices has opened up a wealth of new opportunities for retailers to engage with consumers; thanks to mobile, brands are more embedded than ever before in consumers' daily lives.  The key issues that most of the retailers are trying to address in their m-commerce strategies include - How mobile has become the linchpin of Omni-channel strategy? - How retailers are coping with mobile fraud concerns? - How to deal with shopping cart abandonment?  Recently, eTail has published a whitepaper that covers these concerns in detail. Have a look!! 2015 Mobile Opportunity.pdf    

An agency, 'We are social' from Singapore recently published a report on Digital,Social and Mobile trends in 2015. I found the report very comprehensive and a compendium of up-to-date digital statistics. Mobile increasingly dominates the digital world;  mobile will help to push internet penetration beyond  50% of the world’s population  during mid to late 2016. Though there are 376 slides available on Slideshare , I have compiled the following data points which you can download - Global and Regional Overviews - Global Internet Usage - Global Social Media Usage - Global Mobile Phone Usage - Country Snapshot: USA - Country Snapshot: Canada     Social Media Trends 2015.pdf

To create more compelling and relevant shopping experiences, best-in-class retailers are leveraging mobile, digital and interactive technologies. An infogrpahic from STRATACACHE, outlines  how retailers can leverage cutting-edge technology throughout the six stages of the customer journey. The 6 step Digital Customer Journey.pdf    

Mobile is changing the landscape of the commerce at a very rapid pace. The figure below summarizes the Mobile landscape.  Mobile is a key driver of world economy, generating $3.3 trillion of global revenue.   

In Retail, while some predictions make tremendous headway, some take more time to progress. Mobile is such a case that made a slow and steady progress in the retail space. About 2-3 years ago, it all started with rumblings about mobile commerce and mobile POS and their potential use cases. It has been a long time since then but I personally believe that mobility is finally coming to fruition. Mobile is now, one of the top priorities for most of the retailers in the areas of marketing, commerce and in-store payments. After the data breaches that we have recently witnessed from the notable retailers like Target and Neiman Marcus , tying payments with mobile is the new trend that promises to secure the customer data more aptly. It is indeed safe to presume that Mobile is the new payment reality. Some of the key indicators in the mobile payment space - There is a g rowing acceptance of Apple Pay , NFC, Google Wallet and other apps. This is a key sign that consumers will continue ...

In a recent survey, 51 percent of US consumers switched service providers within a year. Switching rates were highest among retailers, cable and satellite providers and retail banks, making businesses in these sectors the most vulnerable. To counteract this trend, businesses need to act quickly and boldly. The next frontier in customer experience is engagement, because an engaged customer is much more likely to be a repeat customer. Know more on the Seamless lifestyle experience here Seamless lifestyle experience- A new paradigm

There has been a lot of buzz around NRF 2015. Here are the key takeaways from this year's event Top 5 Trends from NRF 2015  

A recent study by Forrester Consulting and Accenture shows that CPG executives see growth opportunities through digital transformation Some of the highlights of the study are  -  Although CPG executives are committed to increasing their use of digital technology to improve internal integration across marketing, sales, service, supply chain and research and development, many believe a number of real and perceived barriers – from emerging market restrictions and lagging customer analytics – may slow the process - To  unlock the true potential of digital technologies that CPG executives have committed to, companies need to put their investments beyond the efficiencies created by the digitization of processes and channels, and enable them to become fully digital organizations. To achieve their growth targets, CPG brands need to deliver and market a consistent,  personalized consumer experience across multiple sales channels to reach target consumers around the world ...

Forrester Study: Retail Leads Shift To Modern Marketing Marketers in a variety of industries could learn from retail, according to a recent study, titled  conducted by  Forrester Consulting   and commissioned by  Oracle . The global study of 492 marketing decision-makers featured responses from executives in 20 industries, including electronics, energy, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, media and telecom, in addition to retail. As many as 46% of retail organizations currently are able to provide real-time feedback and advanced insights to enhance customer engagement and marketing effectiveness, compared to 31% in other industries, according to the study. Additionally, 42% of retail companies  are leveraging a fully integration cross-channel marketing platform vs. 14% from other industries. Why-You-Need-To-Be-A-Modern-Marketer by Forrester

Brick-and-mortar and e-Commerce are constantly fighting for consumers’ attention and dollars. While 94% of all retail sales still take place in stores, e-Commerce sales are expected to increase annually by 17%, reaching $414 billion by 2018.  Which channel will win this sparring match? This infographic, courtesy of Whisbi, spotlights trends in e-Commerce and brick-and-mortar, and how both channels can come together to create a seamless omnichannel experience.

Worldwide CMO Advisory predictions for 2015 by IDC This IDC study features IDC's top 10 decision imperatives that CMOs must focus on for success in 2015 and beyond. Each imperative is described in terms of its potential impact on the organization, how quickly it will be a mainstream practice, and the relative effort needed to address it. Top imperatives include CMO turnover, designing content for the buyer's journey, the emergence of line-of-business (LOB) buyers, addressing marketing skills gaps, and CMO/CIO partnerships. "CMOs must herd cats, juggle chain saws, and climb mountains," said Gerry Murray, research manager with IDC's CMO Advisory. "It is a challenging, exciting, yet precarious position requiring new skills and great focus on business performance. IDC's top 10 decision imperatives for 2015 will help CMOs transform their organizations to the world of always-on, real-time, digital-first marketing in order to drive revenue, margin, and ...

10 ways to convert Customers using Psychology While experimenting with the latest trends can be fruitful, sometimes, jumping on them still doesn't make a dent in your close rates, no matter how well you've implemented them. So to make sure you're hitting your goals every month, sometimes it's smart to make optimization choices based on something that's been around for a while: human behavior. Read up on what makes people tick -- and adjust your strategy accordingly.  Thanks to Help Scout , getting up to speed on the most important research in psychology is easy.  In the infographic below , they've curated and summed up some smart, science-backed tips for increasing your conversions. Check it out:

Welcome to the first edition of Retailnomics- January 2015. Explore the latest Retail stories under 'Top Stories' and 'Insights'....  TOP STORIES How Zappos Kept Shoppers Engaged During The Holiday Season Zappos invests significant time and money in developing new tools and tactics that will surprise and delight customers. Within its internal innovation lab — aptly named Zappos Labs — the online retailer has a dedicated team of employees who focus on solving customers’ pain points, and creating compelling and customized experiences across all channels. Out of a series of tests and brainstorming sessions, Zappos Labs has established a variety of innovative tools to make customers’ lives easier. For example,  Ask Zappos  allows customers to snap photos of items they see on the street and text, email or Instagram them to team members. A representative will then find the item and send a link to the customer to buy online. And new capabilities implemented in the...

Disruptive Technologies 2015-2016.pdf A great compilation of 25 technologies to watch-out for in 2015-16 by Brian Solis 1) Social Media 1.0 is dead : Social media becomes part of a digitally transformed ecosystem Real-time and content marketing becomes more sophisticated and portable Social becomes key hub for shaping customer experiences Social connects the Zero Moment of Truth and the Ultimate Moment of Truth 2) The future of search and SEM also lies outside of Google :  More than 88% of consumers are influenced by other consumers’ online comments. Customers are also starting searches in places such as Youtube, Pinterest and also in apps directly. 3) Messaging apps become the new social media 4) Asia and other foreign competitors will compete to gain share and push messaging forward 5) Notification windows introduce a thin layer for rapid engagement:  Apps such as Yo, while a novelty at first, will redefine what an app is and will be...no kidding. 6) Chinese ...

Digital technologies are reshaping both consumer demand and competitive dynamics in the CPG marketplace, irrevocably altering how people shop and how they decide what to buy. Digital innovation has created entirely new patterns of expectation. Consumers, who are enjoying the convenience and value of digital services in other aspects of their lives, expect these benefits in grocery as well. Pioneering companies, some of them old but most of them new, are creating enormous value by meeting fast-changing needs and expectations in the largest, and least penetrated, consumer category. In the process, they are putting retailers and suppliers alike under acute pressure to adapt. CPG companies need to understand and, to the extent possible, shape the shifting retail landscape, because ultimately they will need to participate in new distribution models. The Digital Future-A game plan for Consumer Packaged Goods

This IDC study summarizes IDC Retail Insights' outlook for 2015 and the 24-month planning horizon beyond through the lens of the 10 decision imperatives that make up the best framework as IT and line-of-business decision makers and influencers plan and execute technology-related initiatives in the year ahead. The team scanned the global retail ecosystem to identify critical economic, technology, business, political, environmental, and legal developments that drive the 10 most important decision imperatives facing the industry's IT and LOB technology buyers and influencers. Retail Trends 2015 by IDC