When price becomes almost irrelevant.
Price is just an arbitrary scale for the 'unquantifiables' which has only two functions: it is a reflection of the amount someone is prepared to sell something for. It is a relative measure, helping you to make purchase choices by giving you and the seller...
Keep looking for the ‘Big Idea’
Following on from my rant about content porn, it seems to me that the real problem has become the immediacy required by the digital age. You need more stuff, on line, now! At least, that is the demand, but more stuff is of no value unless it moves...
6 confronting questions for every initiative to ensure success.
Long term survival of every commercial enterprise is dependent on one thing, and one thing only: Consistently being able to make a profit sufficient to ensure that the owners are prepared to continue to have their capital in the business rather than...
Future retail success will come from ‘Organic Intelligence’
There is some really interesting and contradictory stuff going on in retail. On line shopping is continuing to expand at breakneck speed, so we are told. According to Statista.com the current percentage in Australia is 7.2%, but the percentage...
What is your businesses key metric?
Every business has a key strategic metric, one that encapsulates the productivity of the investments made in the business, that can be tracked over time, and broken down progressively as you move into the operational levels of your business. The metric you...
The 5 strategic dimensions of price
Setting prices is one of the most challenging, but often sidelined management decisions. Given that price has more impact on the bottom line than any other single factor, it is crazy that it is so often left until the last moment, or to a superficial...
What is the most universal and useful management tool of all?
Easy question. '5 whys'. 5 Whys was first articulated by Toyota's architect of the TPS, Taiichi Ohno in the 50's, but it was not new. Anyone who has had children has been on the receiving end of a form of the '5 whys' from about two and a half years old,...
How do you solve a critical problem?
Define the problem first! Dealing with problems effectively requires that you first define the problem. This sounds pretty obvious, so obvious in fact that many do not think about it, they just persist with workarounds that address the symptoms, without...
A marketers rant about ‘content porn’
Content has become a marketing buzzword delivering a tsunami of crap into our inboxes, cluttering up our phones, and potentially delivering all sorts of nasty surprises if we open them. Content started as a great idea, suddenly we could communicate...
Jack is back!!
Tesco in the UK is in the launch phase of a discount chain, 'Jacks' as a competitive response to the inroads of German discounters Aldi and Lidl. I can only assume Coles and Woolies management are watching with interest, as they have yet to find a...