One "small" step for Customer Experience one giant leap for retail.

Or one could adress it one small step for Amazon one giant leap for Customers and the variations can go on... 

But back to the focal point, the Amazon Go concept that erupted on the Internet late 2016. numerous of reports and discussions has emerged since then. This is my first response or angle on it.

For some who are into retail this is expected however the implications of this entry and simliar will eventually change everything for everyone. 

And how is that?

Well, the retail business (parts of it however) has always been in the fore front of innovation and customer experience but the broad mass has always looked into what others do and never truly taken the a step except for Target.  Amazon on the other hand is constantly pioneering every aspect of it from a service vantage point.

The entry of Amazon Go marks an true change in the market. Reason for that being that they excelled, refined and pushed the limits of what the future Retail Customer Experience should be. This alongside other innovative strongholds such as Google, Apple, Facebook with wast insights based on their user base. They have already started transforming the market in comparison to their traditional successors and they are increasing their knowledge by the millisecond. Sure their are C-suite executives that are fully aware of this but probably lack the appropiate actions or way ahead to gradually transform their offering to suite the rules of the market. It is evident that the change of mindset is key to be a vital player. 

So what should a traditional Retail CEO look or rather re-focus on?

For now I will not dwell into the part of workforce and how AI gradually will replace traditional workforce (more in upcoming post shortly). But focus should first and foremost be a customer experience driven approach to business but also refine other aspects of the business suite the new market place. Amazon Go is not only a offering it is also one of the first true evidences to the era of Liquid Services (as established by Accenture). Services that forms itself around the specific Experience of each customer rather than a group and that emerges a business focus on:

• Growth of connected devices
• Connected sensors
• Networked connectivity
• The Cloud
• Data and analytics
• User Interfaces

Living Services will talk to us. They will know us. They will entertain us, assist us and protect us. They will respond by wrapping around us—constantly learning about our needs, intents and preferences, so they can flex and adapt to become more relevant, engaging and useful. 

 

This will be the pivotal battleground for organisations over the next couple of years. And also what be a focal point on the blog onwards.
 

You better start swimmin'

Nothing is consistent, the force of evolution will eventually make everything change. Nowadays things are moving more rapidly than ever and new business come and business go in a rapid manner. However that is maybe not for the majority of the companies today but for a small fraction of them. Even if he nowadays is a multi-million dollar business man, Dylan wrote this lyrics back in the 1960's. With no intention of being quoted in a business blog.

“If your time to you Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.”

— Bob Dylan, Times a-changin'

However it fit the modern times of how I see things moving around in business and should act as a heads-up for traditional business owners out there. "...start swimmin'" reflects action "...sink like a stone..." reflects consequence of action not taken.

So many business leaders in traditional organisations  have not taken action/started swimmin' and are already sinking as a consequence. Primarily because they have missed out on an even more pro-active action - how have new businesses transformed their domains forever.

The challengers of traditional business...

UBER - The world's largest taxi company, owns no vehicles.
Facebook - The world's most popular media owner, creates no content.
Alibaba - The most valuable retailer, has no inventory
Airbnb - The world's largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.

Beeing an innovative brand in a saturated market

What makes a brand tick, how do you define it,  what could it possible be worth to your organisation? You probably get as much answers to these questions as the consultants you ask. 

We need to turn to metrics and analysis. According to Brand Orientation Index, (A Swedish research project which purpose is to identify the link between brand orientation and profitability), states that a company who actively work with their brand is more profitable. That is one aspect. Another study shows that companies with a vision-lead culture significally outperforms those without . (A Harvard Business School global study by John Cotter). 

Now we are on to something, but is a brand and a vision enough?

Well you can obviously get ahead of some of your competition, but todays market place is competitive. 

The expression "business never sleeps" has been around for years. But the expression "brand never sleeps" is equally important. Brands today have to be innovative as well, branding is a daily struggle against competitors and the race for consumers is constantly ongoing, if you fail to deliver upon their expectations they will take their business elsewhere.

Still with me?

So how do you do it, well we could probably start with how not to do it - by being traditional in your approach.
The usual pitfalls:

Human resource takes care of business and employee culture.Marketing takes care of brand platform.

MGMT consultants make the business strategy.

All good initiatives but to many times handled and developed in separate silos with no coherence between. This have to be a top prioritisation for the organisation. Work across departments, align initiatives, engage people within the organisation they are and possibly could be your biggest asset.

But also try to have the outside inside perspective, how to people outside the organisation look upon your organisation. Is your business as clear to them as it might be for you? Metrics and valid KPI's are fundamental, constantly measure peoples relation towards your brand. How you approach them, how do they react to that and adjust if performance is poor.

Differentiate vs. category benefits
Tap into the start-up aspect of business, how do they stay relevant, do they have a masterplan from the start? Atleast they have a product or service that clearly differentiates them from the opposition.

Instead of talking category benefits, talk differentiation. 

Imagine this , if we where to launch a new brand, product, or service, would people support our cause if we were to put it out on Kickstarter? LEGO did it and turned crowd-sourcing into their next winning platform with LEGO Ideas. Everyone can contribute, builds relations even stronger  with the product and brings real brand equity back to LEGO.

Another example, If you have a bank and want to challenge the traditional banks out there chances are that you probably will not stand a chance in competing in the same category. You simply don't have the organisation nor the money to disrupt the category. But when if you neglect the traditional category. Take your traditional business but add the innovative force of e.g digital with the toolset of design processes or/and innovation you might tap into new fields that none of the old banks have the chance to compete with. If your're doing your strategy well you can find yourselves in a whole new segment that is on safe distance from the traditional competition but will close access to the consumers that probably are more eager to save their money in a new type of disruptive bank with promises of taking care of their business with no overhead fees, just making them use the bank in the way they want it the most. Top that off with a service offer based upon customer needs and deliver upon that, then you have the business of tomorrow. 

Screenshot from simple.com

Simple Bank - "We've re-imagined the banking basics."

Create customer experiences that surprise the visitor. Länsförsäkringar shop in Stockholm

Länsförsäkringar -Swedish insurance company - Increased competitiveness and reduced costs with has offices open 7 days a week serving clients with insurances and normal bank services. They have profoundly disrupted the Swedish bank scene by making insurance and bank services a shopping experience.

It would be odd not to mention Uber when discussing disruptive brands. Then american based company have caused the traditonal taxi organisations in Europe to strike, demonstrate and try to legislate against the new kid on the block. 

Customer loves it, the traditional taxi business hates it. The latter unwilling to change. Things are already in motion and by creating a brand that is more simple and more passionate about the customers Uber will forever change the business by doing everything else other then the expected.

Remember, it never stops, so keep on developing, questioning status quo and your brand will flourish.