Future Commerce Podcast: eCommerce, DTC and Retail Strategy

"Clicks to Bricks"

Future Commerce Podcast: eCommerce, DTC and Retail Strategy

"Voice is dead", Hema launches experiential grocery, cast your votes with the blockchain! Also - which online mattress retailer is opening 200 stores in the USA? One guess, and it rhymes with "blasper". Listen now!

Show notes

  • Phillip's wife received a package from Care/Of Vitamins and it had someone else's pills in it (!!!!)

  • When new companies enter the pharmaceutical and health space, how can we trust that they are being diligent in their quality assurance?

RIP Voice Shopping?

  • The Information have said only 2% of Echo users have ordered using their voices and 90% of that 2% (AKA .18%) didn't use it again.

  • Are there future applications for voice in commerce, though?

  • Brian theorizes there could there be in-context purchasing opportunities in audio/visual media.

Voice is still growing in popularity

The problem with the voice assistants today (other than the fact that they might just be FBI listening devices with PR)

  • Amazon, company with the best position for commerce releases a voice assistant. No one uses it for commerce. It has great hardware and technology. Most people use it for music. It's awful for web search, though.

  • Google, the company in the best position for web search releases a voice assistant, but it lacks the commerce capability.

  • Apple, the company with the best position for music, releases the worst voice assistant, and even its speaker is lackluster.

China brings innovation in the grocery business

  • Hema Market is like Amazon Go, but on steroids.

  • Hem Market is backed by Alibaba.

  • At the cashless grocery store, every item has a barcode customers can scan to trace the product's origin, delivery, and nutritional information.

  • On your way out the door, you can pay using your smartphone or visit a face scanner that links you to your Alipay account.

Smell you later, basic pencils

  • In the back to school market, there are new products popping up like guided creative journals and scented pencils. These new innovations are driving significant profit over traditional options.

  • This aligns with a larger pattern of creating luxury upgrades on commodity-type products. Consumers are more willing to supplement the mundane with something unique and new.

  • As the economy improves, luxury purchases are increasing on low end goods.

  • This could be why aspirational luxury brands are struggling.

  • Phillip sites the luxury brand, whose name he could not recall, that burned all their extra stock to increase demand. IT'S BURBERRY, PHIL!

Tracking inflation with the... kale index?

  • Wages have risen, but prices has not. Base prices will likely follow.

  • Is there a cleaner-eating, non-GMO, certified organic, locally-owned version of the Big Mac index for our present time?

Casper is going "clicks to bricks"

  • Casper is opening 200 storesΒ in the United States.

  • Mattress stores across the country are closing, what makes Casper different?

  • Casper has built a recognizable brand and has a competitive price point.

  • This is the result of the VC rapid-growth mentality. Now that they've saturated web sales, brick and mortar follows.

  • Care/of ships wrong products

    • Voice? Ded.

    • 2% of echo users ever bought, 90% never use it again

    • ACTUAL SOURCE

    • Unnamed sources = who cares?

  • Hema grocery concept store

  • Blockchain voting via VOATZ - West Va.

    • Bad Idea? or WORST IDEA EVER?

  • New product categories arise in back to school sales

  • Casper to open 200 stores

    • Clicks to Bricks

  • Couple charged with Amazon fraud scheme

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