Tony D'Onofrio
Retail
The latest BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands survey has insightful data for both technology companies and the retail 
industry.
For the retail industry, the brand value data projects continued economic recovery especially in the United States and in luxury brands.
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New technologies such as RFID, NFC, augmented reality and gamefied retail apps will directly interact with consumers based on predictive
behaviors identified by "Big Data". - Tony D'Onofrio
This month RIS News published a great post on 12 key takeaways from a recent Onmichannel Merchandising Symposium.
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"Retail IT is being transformed. CIOs are shifting from proprietary systems to package solutions and from an emphasis on cost 
reduction to a solid bump in IT capital spending. A strong customer focus means CIOs are fixing their attention on channel integration and analytics that will help them spot and anticipate shopper preferences more quickly." (5) - NRF Stores Magazine, April 2013
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"We're out of the (cash) register business.(2)" - Urban Outfitters CIO
As demonstrated by the recent Walmart announcement that they are expanding their "Scan & Go" iPhone app to 40 more stores in 
Denver, mobile POS continues to gain traction in global retail.
For Walmart, "Scan & Go enables a shopper to scan the bar codes on products as she (the shopper) picks the products off shelves and puts them into her shopping cart. The app creates a list of all products scanned. When the shopper has completed shopping, she presses the Done Shopping button and the app generates a custom QR code. The self-checkout terminals scan the QR code on the smartphone, tally the list, and ask the shopper to select a payment option to complete the transaction at the terminal.(1)"
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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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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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" The (RFID) industry got out in front of its headlights and over invested in a phenomenon that just wasn't ready to take off yet—and that, by the way, happens all the time. The RFID industry, in general, has underperformed, because it was impatient and tried to drive toward a tornado too quickly. It is easy to see that in hindsight. There are real problems to be solved, and in the current market's state of adoption, end users want to give RFID companies money, but not for tags and readers. They want to give them money for solutions to their problems. If the RFID industry responds to that, it will be successful." -- Geoffrey Moore, Author of Crossing the Chasm, as quoted in RFID Journal (June 4, 2012)
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To promote excursions and products from the country, the India Ministry of Tourism has been running a marketing campaign with the brand line "Incredible India." My favorite post this past week was a reminder that this same tag line "Incredible India"can be applied to the nascent modern organized India retail industry.
Favorite Weekly Post: Government of #India opens #retail supermarket sector to foreign chains. http://ow.ly/dJask Good news for global retailers, eg #Walmart- Details
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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.
Categories
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
