Dr. Stephen Needel

Trivial impact; the industry is not clamoring or dying from lack of bigger or faster or more easily implemented computing. It's technology looking for an application.

Segmentation is great when (a) segments really exist that are not just a figment of someone's statistical imagination and (b) it produces groups that are truly different in their attitudes, behaviors, shopping patterns, targetability, and so forth. Nothing says that everything can be segmented in a rational and useful...

Every chain has out-of-stock issues and every chain should be looking to see if the issue is severe and what it takes to fix it. It does make you wonder whether this report, coming from a union-backed organization, has a bias? May or may not.

Self-interest would argue against passage—why would I want to pay more for stuff online if I don't have to? That said, there's some merit to the fairness aspect. Also, hard to believe that paying the sales tax on an item is going to change shopping behavior radically. I don't...

So the consultants think that you need better incentives for the executives? Really? That's going to motivate the people on the selling floor? Until the folks that are on the floor have a reason to care about omnichannel, retailers can talk all they want, nothing interesting will happen.

No. If her business is driven by demand then by definition, disruptive is not what they are doing. What F-L does well is create demand. They are one of the few companies that can do that because their best target is hormone-driven rather than habit or cognition driven. Do...

I think the first time I find I paid more because of sequential pricing would be the last time I bought from an online retailer. Nothing wrong though with offering me a discount on a sequential purchase. I have a very tough time envisioning this in a bricks and...

First, I think you have to separate those that are geographically in direct competition with big chains from those who aren't. If you're the only store for miles around, behave like a big chain. When you're in direct competition, I like Al's ideas about becoming something different.

Can't wait to...

They are going to have to be much better at pricing if they want to be the tech playground.

It appears from the graphic that a store is limited by the preceding distribution centers. But I'm thinking it's mostly a combination of attitude/business practice and inefficient shelf sets. A store manager has to want low out-of-stocks, otherwise, the shelves don't get stocked. And poor shelf management leads to...