Tony D'Onofrio
Blog
Welcome to Euroshop 2017, the largest retail trade show in the world.
In early March, over 100,000 visitors from 60+ countries tracked 
to Dusseldorf to view 2,000+ exhibits on everything retail. The visual retail feast in Germany that is Euroshop is only held every three years.
At the conclusion of the event, the organizers cited the continued digitalization in retail, tailor-made onmichannel solutions and the emotionalization of the shopping experience as the dominant themes for Euroshop 2017.
Breathtaking and Visionary: That Was EuroShop 2017
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Exclusive Research on LP’s Growing Industry Influence
A recent LP Magazine study, sponsored by Tyco Retail Solutions, highlights key technology trends around video, EAS, and exception reporting. The research also provides insights into future LP investments and the evolution of the Loss Prevention function.
The Critical Loss Prevention Technologies
Decision makers rely on a variety of tools in their LP portfolio. In the United States, CCTV/Video Surveillance and Exception based reporting were ranked the most critical technologies, while in the UK, CCTV/Video Surveillance and Data Mining were ranked most critical.
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An Endless Curiosity Adventure and why it is the Secret to Success
It was an early brisk morning. My tired tourist family was still asleep. It was my turn to venture out to our favorite bakery in Florence
The sun was still hiding behind the Tuscan hills. The sky was a mixture of darkness, red, yellow streaks of light, forecasting another great Italian holiday ahead.
I was the first to arrive at our special bakery and found the door still locked. The culinarians inside were busily filling the bakers’ racks with the sweet treats. An amazing delicious sugared aroma permeated the air outside the store.
Impatiently I paced outside. One minute, three minutes, past opening time. When are you going to open this door? The family has a busy day ahead.
Cultivate Your Passions
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For those that have seen me speak around the world, you will recall my passion for sharing innovative videos that with few or no words convey powerful messages.
The days of busy PowerPoint charts are over. For my entire career, the mantra has been "less words, more graphics". In a world where our attention span is down to 8 seconds, even 140 or less Twitter characters are too much to actually read.
Video is the new medium required to package successful branding. The following are my current favorite future predicting retail technology videos.
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Happy Chinese New Year. 新年快乐
2017 is the year of the Rooster. Anyone born in the following years - 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, and 2017 - shares the characteristics and personality traits of this tenth of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac cycle.
While in Shanghai in early January was fascinated by the amount of innovation discussed in the China Daily newspaper. The news clips were additional confirmation that all industries in both developed and emerging markets are being digitally disrupted. On multiple fronts, China is advancing faster as they are bypassing traditional legacy technology cycles to new platforms.
On the Road to Being World's Largest Retail Market
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Retail Success is a Team Sport
NRF 2017 opened on good news that USA 2016 retail holiday sales increased 4% over the previous year to $658.3 billion, exceeding initial National Retail Federation forecasts. Number includes $122.9 billion in non-store sales which were up 12.6%.
For the106th Annual Convention & EXPO in New York this past week, NRF forecasted 35,000 attendees. The 2017 edition will exceed the over 3000 retail companies from over 90 countries attending the previous year.
On both personal and professional levels this was one of the best NRF events ever. Always enjoy participating in the motivational and educational RetailROI event on Saturday. During NRF, the group raised over $500,000 in support of global Retail Orphan Initiatives.
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For the past five years, Ford has been publishing a list of global micro trends. The company calls it "a compilation of the most compelling movements across the globe that are shaping how we live, work, and engage with the world around us."
As we begin the New Year, thought would share my favorite global highlights from both the 2016 and 2017 editions.
Social Media is Hard Work
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The past couple of weeks were filled with the delivery of regionally customized presentations on the future of retail in Spain, UK, Portugal, and Switzerland. As we are in the middle of the paramount shopping season, special focus was on three important retail holidays.
Black Becomes Cyber While Overtaken By Singles
Black Friday
Over both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, 2016 brick-and-mortar net instore sales dropped 5% and the number of transactions fell 7.9%. Shopper visits to physical stores declined 1% during the same two day period. UK 2016 Black Friday shopper traffic fell a significant 8% which follows a drop of 4.05% in 2015.
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Summarizing the first three ingredients driving the age of disruption from Part 1 of this post:
Geopolitical Risks Ahead
The Netherlands, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, all have key elections in the next 12 months that could potentially join the global populist disruptive wave manifested in Brexit and the surprise USA presidential ballot. Geopolitical turmoil carries risk for global brands and must be carefully navigated for continued success.
Need for Technology Speed
Today is indeed the slowest day of technology change for the rest of your life. Each new disruptive technology is finding its expanded global audience faster.
Is the Data Economy the New Oil?
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For a transformational 2017, five key ingredients need to be closely monitored and navigated in building a successful global business formula.
Geopolitical Risks Ahead
"Dawn of a new age. Populism rules. Status quo - R.I.P." - Australian investment bank Macquarie
A family argument throughout the 2016 USA presidential election was my prediction of a Donald Trump win. As with Brexit, too many pundits were taking for granted the underlying disruption of an increasingly number of people questioning the world order.
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It is a Small World
Continuing our journey to learn something new, we travel to the War Rooms Museum in London England. The Churchill War Rooms is a secret underground headquarters which offers a fascinating glimpse into Britain's wartime operations, featuring the Map Room, Cabinet Room, and Churchill's office, all preserved as they were on the day the lights went out in 1945.
In the underground Cabinet Room Churchill and his key ministers and advisers would meet with the Chiefs of Staff to make important decisions about the course of World War II. Churchill was known to push his military chiefs far beyond their comfort zones, so it was likely to be a place of tension and confrontation.
The War Rooms were a top-secret location, with strict security measures and a focus on maintaining confidentiality, even down to the typewriters being noiseless. A tiny room disguised as a toilet was used for secret conversations between Churchill and the US President.
You can find some poignant graffiti, including a hand-drawn image of Adolf Hitler, in the Chief of Staff meeting room. To alleviate the health problems associated with working underground for prolonged periods of time, staff had to strip to their underwear, put on protective goggles and stand in front of portable sun lamps.
Churchill’s leadership lessons emphasize unwavering resolve, inspiring communication, and the importance of character and conviction, particularly during times of crisis. Visiting his War Rooms was inspirational.
As he also famously said, “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” My glass for visualizing success has always been half-full. What you visualize and action through continuous learning is what you will ultimately achieve. Believe in yourself and your dreams. Failure is never final. Reset, keep calm, and always carry on.
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Brilliant Research
US Tariffs: What's the impact on global trade and the economy?
J.P. Morgan Research has lowered its estimate for 2025 real GDP growth due to heightened trade policy uncertainty, the effect of existing tariffs and retaliatory measures by foreign trading partners. Real GDP growth is now expected to be 1.6% for the year, down 0.3% from previous estimates. - J.P. Morgan Read more
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China Coffee Wars — Why Starbucks Is Losing The Battle With Luckin -CNBC
Despite adding around 1,500 new stores between 2022 and 2024, Starbucks’ revenue hasn't increased. Competition from chains like Luckin, Cotti and Manner have increased sharply in the years following the pandemic. Read more
