Tony D'Onofrio
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"Over the years I have become convinced that we learn best --and change-- from hearing stories that strike a chord within us....Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves." - John Kotter, Harvard Business School
One of my favorite traditions every year is to watch the American Super Bowl, both on the personal level for the game itself, and professionally to view the latest batch of TV commercials. Some quick statistics on this year's XLVII edition (1):
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"Technology will be your canvas and how you shape your work of art will be totally up to you." - Tony D'Onofrio
My favorite post from last week was from Mashable and it highlighted the 11 "big" tech trends that we will see in 2013. While the list was interesting, more intriguing were the interwoven fundamental business opportunities that these new technologies are driving.
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"Loss prevention as a 'profession' is still underway – for many in retailing it is still viewed as being primarily about locks, bolts, alarms, catching thieves and providing muscle in uniform. However, to others it is about making a valuable contribution to the profitability of a business through understanding the root causes of shrinkage and developing solutions that are fit for purpose." Adrian Beck, University of Leicester (UK)
The above quote was on a PowerPoint chart at NRF 2013 in New York a couple of weeks ago in a session titled "Big Data, Predictive Analytics, and the Bottom Line."
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"Choose a job you like and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius
In the hustle and bustle of running through life, we often forget that we are actually on a journey which has an expiration date. My favorite post this week was a reminder that the journey of life is really work in progress. Think of it as a personal resume, an accumulation of individual choices that through time build into your life's work.
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THOUGHTS & INSIGHTS FROM NRF 2013 "Now, you know the rest of the story." - Paul Harvey 
Over 27,000 people from 70 countries gathered in New York this week to attend the NRF 2013 retail "Big Show." Post the holiday season, this trade event is the wrap up gift to close the previous year, think about the new year, and more importantly filter through the messages on the long term trends of the global retail industry.
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"Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the future, and from the present to live better in the future." - William Wordsworth
Having just moved to Europe for three years, 2013 promises to be a year of new experiences, possibilities, and opportunities to shape the future. Timely that this move was at the beginning of a new year.
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This week's post was inspired by a recent article in "Fortune" magazine where Steve Jobs and Sam Walton were compared and contrasted by their biographers Walter Isaacson and John Huey (1). Walton and Jobs were born in different eras, had very diverse backgrounds, pursued different paths to success, failed a few times along the way, and all while still chasing their career zenith by the end of their lives. In this post, we will discuss the ONE thing they both had in common that ultimately made them superstars in their respective fields.
Let's start with some quotes from both Sam Walton and Steve Jobs.
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As we are near the end of 2012, let's start this week's discussion by revisiting the Apparel Magazine 2013 RFID retail predictions that were published in the October personal post "RFID's Moment of Retail Truth" (1):
2013 will be the year of the "Specialty Retailer" with a noticeable proliferation of RFID implementations.- Details
"Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it." Alan Perlis (*)
Last week's post was focused on predicting the 2013 top 10 retail trends for retail. This week want to expand this discussion with some additional insights from some other sources on how technology continues to add both complexity and opportunity to our mutual futures.
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"With high hopes for the future, no prediction is ventured." - Abraham Lincoln
On March 4, 1865, the above words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln in a short, yet very powerful speech given on the day of his second inauguration as President of the United States. As backdrop to this speech, Lincoln had just won a major legislative win in passing the 13th Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery (as dramatically depicted in the current Steven Spielberg movie) and the Civil War raged on taking over 620,000 lives (the most of any war in USA history) by the time it ended in April 1865. The same month the war ended, roughly one month after this speech, Lincoln was assassinated.
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It is a Small World
"To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone." – Reba McEntire
Continuing our global journey to learn something new, our next stop is the Trevi Fountain in Rome. The name "Trevi" comes from the Italian words tre, meaning "three", and vie, meaning "roads". The fountain is located where three roads meet.
A fountain has been located at the Trevi Fountain site for over 2,000 years. The current fountain was designed by Nicola Salvi and built between 1732 and 1762. It's the largest Baroque fountain in Rome.
The Trevi Fountain's water comes from the Acqua Virgo aqueduct, the only functioning aqueduct from ancient Rome. Local lore says that throwing a coin into the fountain will ensure you return to Rome. Other lore says that throwing two coins will lead to love, and throwing three coins will lead to marriage.
Wishes aside, since 2006, a Roman Catholic charity called Caritas has collected the roughly €3,000 a day thrown into the fountain and used it to provide food and social programs worldwide.
Life is one sweet ride. Time flies way too fast. Take a moment. Sit at your favorite place. Imagine the history before you. Live each moment as it was your last. One day, it will be.
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Brilliant Research
Unlocking Shopper Reactions to Secured Products
60% of shoppers report seeing locked-up merchandise on a regular basis. More than a quarter of shoppers say a retailer loses their purchase when items are locked up. 62% of shoppers say they typically wait for assistance when they encounter locked up merchandise, and 9% say they order the item online from that same retailer. - From Numerator.com Read more
Smart Infographic
Retail Media: An Evolving Growth Opportunity that Won't Wait
Retail media is still surging. Ad spending with US retailers is growing 9X faster than traditional point-of-sale shopper marketing. - From Bain & Company
Insightful Videos
Why EV Leases Are So Cheap Right Now In The U.S. -CNBC
Automakers are offering steep discounts on electric vehicles, and especially on leases. In the first three months of 2024, less than a quarter of car buyers leased vehicles, but more than a third of EV buyers did. Read more
