Outro factor

Outro factor a contribuir para compras de proximidade, mais encomendas, mas mais pequenas, aumento de reposições e, eventualmente, aumento do número de épocas por ano:

"Francia avanza hacia la economía circular. En el marco de su hoja de ruta para impulsar este sistema económico, el Gobierno del país ha presentado una serie de propuestas legislativas entre las que figura la prohibición de incinerar o destruir prendas que las marcas o las tiendas no venden y la obligatoriedad de donarlas a instituciones para el reciclado o a ONGs para su reúso."

Trecho retirado de "Francia da un paso al frente en economía circular y prohíbe destruir las prendas no vendidas"

Depois, a culpa é do digital

O relatório "Experience is everything: Here’s how to get it right" é muito interessante, mas tem um problema grave, na minha opinião, trata os "clientes" como miudagem, como um fantasma estatístico.

Por exemplo:

"Price and product quality are a given—79% of U.S. consumers say they might switch from one brand they like to another for a better price, 52% for product quality. Such drivers often dictate initial choices too—and in many instances, switching brands can be hard (consider what it takes to switch banks). For many it’s not worth the hassle for small improvements."

E se uma empresa tem como clientes aqueles que não valorizam acima de tudo o preço? Lembram-se dos anos de chumbo da troika? Pois, "A realidade é muito mais complexa".

"Q: Which of the following would stop you from doing business with a company?"

Ainda a suckiness e o caring

Ontem um empresário com quem trabalho e que faz o favor de seguir este blogue enviou-me um e-mail para mim e para o resto da equipa com esta imagem:

Ainda numa reunião recente tínhamos falado no "Too Big To Care".

Hoje de manhã li e registei:

"So why not rethink your strategy and embrace the idea of building a tiny company? You might want to consider it, especially since Rowe says 'tiny' doesn't refer to size--or profit potential. Instead, it's a mindset."

Ontem naquilo que formalmente é uma acção de formação para empresários, mas que tento que seja uma conversa orientada para a reflexão e partilha de experiências falou-se disto:

"Like a tiny house where there's limited space for 'stuff,' a tiny business requires that you examine, prioritize and work with what you value and eliminate what you don't,"

Como não voltar aos nabateus e a Taleb sobre os artesãos saberem trabalhar com limites:

"the artisan is someone like me: You cannot be a promiscuous entrepreneur if you're an artisan. And also, you know where to stop. The problem is Steve Jobs stopped at the product line. The typical artisan knows where to stop.
...
Whereas if you hire someone [like] McKinsey, they'll end up making you keep going beyond and doing shit. They want you to expand until you end up in bankruptcy."

Trechos retirados de "Why More Businesses Should Embrace Being Small"

Acerca da suckiness, visitar isto e isto.

Isto é uma tragédia? Não!

Recordar o perfil de 2017. Depois, olhar para o perfil do 1º trimestre de 2018:

As coisas não estão a correr bem. Há definitivamente uma deterioração da situação.

Até a metalomecânica está a exportar menos do que no ano passado. A farmacêutica e a floricultura estão com quedas importantes. No primeiro trimestre de 2017 o crescimento farmacêutico andava nos 30% agora cai 35%. O calçado crescia 9% agora cai 5%.

Isto é uma tragédia?

Não, claro que não. Estou sempre a citar Nassim Taleb aos empresários:

"Economists fail to get w/ GDP growth that anything that grows without an "S" curve (slowing down phase) blows up."

Por isso, é que é importante a gente que espalha bosta, a gente com skin-in-the-game, a gente que não confia no alinhamento improvável de planetas e foge do fragilismo.

Este ano menos bom para alguns sectores, será um ligeiro incómodo para quem se prepara nos anos bons para o que pode acontecer de menos bom, porque sempre irá haver um ano, ou dois, ou três menos bom. E são esses anos menos bons que vão ajudar a limpar o sistema dos devaneios de alguns mais exuberantes e prevenir o colapso estrutural de um sector, ou de uma economia um pouco mais à frente, quando acabam os fundos para o governo de turno que estiver a torrar dinheiro para manter um status-quo.

Sou fanático por ecossistemas!!!

"In every ecosystem, there exists a key resource necessary for the ecosystem to create value and become viable. ... A keystone species is one that has a significant impact on its community or ecosystem and is “disproportionately large relative to its abundance” … key species perform roles not performed by other species or processes. … In a service ecosystem, where business value is created, the actor is seen as a foundation resource because he/she possesses agency and can act freely and purposefully by using operant resources to act on other resources. Actors are the foundation resource in service ecosystems because they perform roles not performed by other resources or processes. It is therefore necessary to understand this driving force—the actor—to gain a deeper understanding of service ecosystems.
…
A service ecosystem provides the fundamental basis for actors’ resource integration and value co-creation efforts through mutual service provision. The concept of value co-creation implies that value is created through interactions with a set of resources guided by regulatory mechanisms embedded in a service ecosystem.
…
To understand the actor as a foundation resource in the service ecosystem, it is necessary to zoom out from dyadic relations to get the system perspective. Systems are made up of several components, the linkages between these components, and an environment. General systems theory emphasizes an open, socially constructed, dynamic system that can be theoretically decomposed into: (1) the actors (social and economic market participants); (2) linkages and networks of actors (the social and collective relations); and (3) environment or context (boundaries, social, and market conditions through institutions and institutional arrangements).
.
Actors co-create value based on their individual perceptions and links to other actors through their network as well as through the embedded service ecosystems. In this complex, multifaceted environment, actors operate continually at a crossroads of different societal and individual realms.
…
At the center of every service ecosystem is an actor who operates on and integrates various available resources, guided by mechanisms of beliefs and norms, in order to co-create value. As part of this value co-creation effort, the actor faces various forces standing at the intersection or of this value co-creation effort, the actor faces various forces standing at the intersection or crossroads of influencing realms. We argue that this crossroads can be divided analytically into societal- and
and individual-focused realms
…
Embedded in the four realms, individual action realizes institutional order through schemas and mental models, expressed by day-to-day actions. These schemas and day-to-day actions occur within service ecosystems that presume an underlying set of resources to facilitate the actor’s engagement in particular practices and to support his or her corresponding position in the system. This resource integration process forms and is formed by institutions and institutional arrangements in continuous  interactions. Actors’ schemas and mental models simultaneously influence their understanding of reality; their actions confirm or challenge institutional arrangements and the positions the actors possess in the service ecosystem."

Trechos retirados de "The Actor: The Key Determinator in Service Ecosystems" de Bård Tronvoll, publicado por Systems 2017, 5, 38

A suckiness dos gigantes nada pode contra isto

"Along with the ceaseless churn of collections — averaging at least four a year — designers leading major brands must invent It bags, launch mass-market fragrances and cosmetic lines, and produce ever more extravagant shows and events to feed social media. Despite this, what consumers long for are experiences, authenticity and community — concepts that, when touted for marketing purposes, quickly lose meaning.
...
While running a small independent fashion label is more difficult in some ways than being part of a big conglomerate, it does allow the freedom to be true to one’s instincts and beliefs, which in turn leads to real brand community.
...
who are transforming how business is done in their industry with practices that are ethical and equitable to their manufacturers, employees and the environment. They do this not because it is good business (it usually isn’t), but because it seems the obvious moral choice. And because they do this while creating fashion that articulates and, most importantly, anticipates what women want to express and how they want to feel, they have earned the devotion and loyalty of their customers, who tend to be talented, self-realized women: architects and actors, writers and gallery owners.
...
Indeed, the quest to be true to one’s self is something all these designers share. Several years ago, Rachel Comey, 45, realized the usual fashion show setup — people crammed on hard benches to watch a few minutes of clothes on parade — didn’t do justice to the kinds of clothes she was making. Instead, Comey began hosting intimate dinner parties, where guests could converse while seeing pieces worn by models of various ages and races. Comey’s designs, which early on suited the creative Brooklyn woman who wanted to look equal parts sexy, comfortable and dorky, are sometimes deeply personal, riffing on her own girlhood memories." (1)

Um filme com um título que diz tudo "Hand-Crafted Is So In Right Now--And This Company Is Capitalizing On It"

Os gigantes vão ser úteis, como a Uber para limpar a legislação, para financiar o investimento em tecnologia que depois, com a sua democratização, poderão ser usados pelos independentes, "If the Shoe Fits: 3D Printing and the Future of Manufacturing Footwear", porque a suckiness vai dar cabo deles.




Trechos 1 retirados de "The Independent Women’s Designers Having a Big Moment"

A oportunidade chinesa (parte II)

Via @nticomuna cheguei a "Abyss & Habidecor exporta cada vez mais para a China":

"Dedicado à produção de têxteis para casa e decoração no segmento luxo, o grupo Abyss & Habidecor exporta cada vez mais para a China, destino onde as vendas têm crescido a um ritmo de 20% ao ano.
...
“A China faz em grandes quantidades, não é concorrência nenhuma. Nós somos uma empresa artesanal e eles não têm capacidade para fazer o que nós fazemos e todos os anos a nossas vendas para a China têm aumentado”,
...
Produzidos em máquinas manuais e com algodão egípcio Giza 70 – o que significa que foi plantado na década de 70 e tem, portanto, 40 anos – os artigos do grupo de Celso Lemos destinam-se exclusivamente ao segmento luxo."

Recordar "A oportunidade chinesa"

Privilegiar os inputs sobre os outputs (parte XI)

Parte I, parte II, parte III, parte IV, parte V, parte VI, parte VII, parte VIII, parte IX e parte X.

O amigo João PS no FB publicou este texto:

"Precisava de comprar 30 metros de cabo de som para substituir cabo velho que me faz estática numa aparelhagem. Só sexta-feira teria tempo para ir buscar. Comecei por pesquisar na net portuguesa. A minha velha loja de som, a Transsom, fechou, ou mudou de nome, não sei, já não a vejo há muito tempo. As duas hipóteses perto de casa eram a Worten e a FNAC. Na FNAC, uma dor, 10 minutos passados à procura no site e cabo de som a metro nem vê-lo. Na Worten ofereceram €9,99/10 metros (total €30) mas sem poder escolher a data de entrega. Perdi a paciência e fui à fiel companheira Amazon.it. Em 30 segundos e 3 cliques, 30 metros em bobina estavam encomendados com possibilidade de entrega em casa na sexta-feira. Preço total com entrega Expresso? €19,52. Ainda poupei 10 euros.
.
Vem de a 3000 Km de distância, chega quando quero, e ainda é mais barato. A qualidade é sempre a esperada, e se um tipo tem qualquer dúvida sobre ela, a devolução é sempre possível sem chatices. [Moi ici: Este parágrafo do João é um desfilar do que Osterwalder coloca no lado do cliente no canvas da proposta de valor. O que gera ganho e o que reduz dor]
.
Qual o segredo da Amazon? Penso que é por serem absolutamente racionais na gestão do negócio. Tudo é estudado, avaliado, medido, decidido e implementado com vista ao melhor interesse da empresa (através da satisfação do cliente).
- Notam a motivação da satisfação própria como melhor modo de obter a realização de satisfação dos outros? -
A Amazon é uma lição que deveríamos estudar nas Universidades de Gestão em vez de se encher os cérebros dos miúdos de calhamaços académicos de gurus."

A estratégia que a Amazon segue não é a única com viabilidade no mercado. A maior parte das empresas portuguesas não pode competir de igual para igual com a Amazon. Por isso, é preciso ter cuidado ao querer copiar a sua estratégia de eficiência.

No entanto, o João tem muita razão quando propõe que o estudo da Amazon seria muito mais útil que o debitar de vacuidades bem, ou mal, intencionadas de membros da tríade encalhados em fórmulas desenvolvidas para um outro tempo e mundo. Pessoalmente, usaria o exemplo da Amazon para exemplificar até à exaustão o conceito de empatia, o calçar os sapatos do cliente para facilitar-lhe a vida, coisa que o João não encontrou na FNAC e na Worten. Recordar a imagem de Alan Klement sobre o que ajuda ou dificulta a captar um novo cliente:

Aliviar a dor - está cá na data pedida

Benefícios - qualidade e poupança

Catalisadores - posso devolver na boa sem problemas

Minimizar o custo de mudar - em 30 segundos e 3 cliques

A imagem inicial retirei-a de uma apresentação no slideshare que infelizmente já não consigo encontrar para atribuir com toda a justiça ao autor.

Parece anedota

"Only one-quarter of the managers surveyed could list three of the company’s five strategic priorities. Even worse, one-third of the leaders charged with implementing the company’s strategy could not list even one.
.
These results are typical not just in the technology industry, but across a range of companies we have studied. Most organizations fall far short when it comes to strategic alignment: Our analysis of 124 organizations revealed that only 28% of executives and middle managers responsible for executing strategy could list three of their company’s strategic priorities."

Trecho retirado de "No One Knows Your Strategy — Not Even Your Top Leaders"

"Giants invariably descend into suckiness" (parte XII)

Parte I, parte II, parte III, parte IV, parte V, parte VI, parte VII, parte VIII, parte IX, parte X e parte XI.

Revolta contra a suckiness.

Em especial a parte X, acerca dos gigantes terem sido talhados para o Normalistão e falhem cada vez mais com o avanço de Mongo, eis o tema abordado por Seth Godin ontem em "Bigger to feel safer":

"Creative institutions get bigger so that they can avoid doing things that feel risky.
.
They may rationalize this as leverage, as creating more impact. But it's a coin with two sides, and the other side is that they do proportionally more things that are reliable and fewer things that feel like they might fail.
.
In other words, hiring more people makes their useful creative productivity go down.
.
This is not the way it works in a factory. When Henry Ford hired more people for the assembly line, productivity went up. Things got more efficient. More lines, more plants, more hands led to more productivity. The natural scale of the enterprise was large indeed.
.
But a creative studio, a marketing team, architects, strategists, programmers, writers, editors, city planners, teachers--the natural scale of the enterprise is smaller than you think. [Moi ici: O que dizemos acerca de Mongo? O triunfo da arte! Organizações que praticam a arte não podem ter sucesso com os pressupostos que resultavam no Normalistão]
.
This is a new law of organizations, and it's not well understood."

A China a mudar

O original aqui, "China’s once-booming textile and clothing industry faces tough times", a tradução aqui, "China em apuros".

E o resultado na Europa,

Coisa de loucos (parte II)

Parte I.

Tanta iliteracia económica embebida neste título, "Custos laborais crescem pouco e impulsionam exportações".

Acreditam mesmo que as exportações portuguesas cresceram e crescerão por causa dos custos laborais baixos? Acaso os custos laborais portugueses podem competir com os custos laborais dos países do centro e leste da Europa?

Infelizmente, parte importante do crescimento das exportações nos próximos tempos vai ter um perfil diferente do verificado nos anos da troika, mais à custa de automóveis e outras commodities, e menos à custa de PME.

Privilegiar os inputs sobre os outputs (parte X)

Parte I, parte II, parte III, parte IV, parte V, parte VI, parte VII, parte VIII e parte IX.

Privilegiar os inputs sobre os outputs nada mais nada menos do que aplicar uma regra fundamental do Design Thinking.

Começar pelo que o cliente, ou o consumidor, ou o prescritor (começar por um actor do ecossistema) precisa ou quer fazer. Quais as suas motivações, que problema é que está a tentar resolver.


A Empatia é a chave. Não é acerca da nossa empresa. Precisamos da capacidade de perceber e partilhar os sentimentos de outros. E recuo a Março de 2011 a: "Eles não. Eu, para chegar ao nós"

O papel das redes e as organizações de Mongo

Em Mongo, terra de tribos e de artesãos, as organizações vão ser diferentes das criadas para o Normalistão.

"network forms of organization - typified by reciprocal patterns of communication and exchange - represent a viable pattern of economic organization.
…
Pre-existing networks of relationships enable small firms to gain an established foothold almost overnight. These networks serve as conduits to provide small firms with the capacity to meet resource and functional needs.
…
I have a good deal of sympathy regarding the view the economic exchange is embedded in a particular social structural context. Yet it is also the case that certain forms of exchange are more social - this is, more dependent on relationships, mutual interest enter, and reputation - as well as less guided by a formal structure of authority. My aim is to identify a coherent set of factors the make it meaningful to talk about networks as a distinctive form of coordinating economic activity.
…
When the items exchanged between buyers and sellers processed qualities that are not easily measured, and the relations are so long-term and recurrent that it is difficult to speak of the parties as separate entities, can we still regard is as a market exchange? When the entangling of obligation  and reputation reaches a point that he actions of the parties are interdependent, but there is no common ownership or legal framework, do we not need a new conceptual toolkit to describe and analyze this relationship?
…
Network forms of exchange, however, entail indefinite, sequential transactions within the context of a general pattern of interaction. Sanctions are typically normative rather than legal.
…
In networks, the preferred option is often one of creating indebtedness and reliance over the long haul. Each approach does devalues the other: prosperous market traders would be viewed as petty and untrustworthy shysters in networks, while successful participants in networks who carried those practices into competitive markets would be viewed as naïve and foolish. Within hierarchies, communication and exchange is shaped by concerns with career mobility - in this sense, exchange is bound up with considerations of personal advancement.
…
Networks are “lighter on their feet” than hierarchies. In network modes of resource allocation, transactions occur neither through discrete exchanges nor by administrative fiat, but through networks of individuals engaged in reciprocal, preferential, mutually supportive actions. Networks can be complex: they involve neither the explicit criteria on the market, nor the familiar paternalism of the hierarchy, basic assumption of network relationships is that one party is dependent on the resources controlled by another, and that there are gains to be had by the pooling of resources. In essence, the parties to a network agreed to forego the right to pursue their own interests at the expense of others.
.
In networks forms of resource allocation, individual units exist not by themselves, but in relation to other units. These relationships to establish and sustain, thus they constrain both parters ability to adapt to changing circumstances. As networks evolve, it becomes more economically sensible to exercise voice rather than exit. Benefits and burdens come to be shared. Expectations are not frozen, but change as circumstances dictate. A mutual orientation - knowledge which the parties assume each has about the other and upon which day draw in communication and problem solving - is established. In short, complementarity and accommodation are the cornerstones of successful production networks. … the “entangling strings” of reputation, friendship, interdependence, and altruism become integral parts of the relationship.
.
Networks are particularly apt for circumstances in which there is a need for efficient, reliable information. The most useful information is rarely that which flows down the formal chain of command in an organization, or that which can be inferred from shifting price signals. Rather, it is that which is obtained from someone whom you have dealt with in the past found to be a reliable. You trust best information that comes from someone you know well. … information passed through networks is “thicker” [Moi ici: Como não associar este "thicker" ao densificar das relações em Normann] than information obtained in the market, and “freer” than communicated in a hierarchy. Networks, then, are especially useful for the exchange of commodities whose value is not easily measured. Such qualitative matters as know how, technological capability, a particular approach or style of production, a spirit of innovation or experimentation, or a philosophy of zero defects are very hard to place a price tag on. They are not easily traded in markets nor communicated through a corporate hierarchy. The open-ended, relational features of networks, with their relative absence of explicit quid pro quo behavior, greatly enhance the ability to transmit and learn new knowledge and skills."

"Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization" de Walter Powell, publicado por Research in Organizational Behavior, Janeiro de 1990.

Para reflexão

Depois a culpa é do digital...

• Millennials. Portugueses são os que mais seguem lojas nas redes sociais
• Retalhistas divorciados dos consumidores
• The Future of Retail is the End of Wholesale
• Comunicação. O marketing tradicional “falhou completamente”
• Marcas cortam nos intermediários

A maré do século XXI

Há dias Steve Blank usava a história para fazer um paralelismo entre Elon Musk e o fundador da GM, "Why the Future of Tesla May Depend on Knowing What Happened to Billy Durant".

O artigo é muito interessante e deu para aprender factos importantes. No entanto, há uma ressalva que  quero fazer: atenção à grande corrente de fundo que estava em marcha na primeira metade do século XX.

A primeira metade do século XX foi a ascensão de Metrópolis, a ascensão de Magnitograd, a ascensão da produção em massa, a ascensão da padronização, o triunfo do Normalistão.

Agora, a embrenharmos-nos no século XXI, estamos perante uma outra corrente, uma corrente numa direcção oposta: a ascensão de um mundo económico a que metaforicamente chamo de Mongo; o Estranhistão, a ascensão da variedade, a ascensão da diversidade, a ascensão dos artesãos e das tribos.

Ontem descobri um artigo que ilustra bem esta corrente que nos está a levar a Mongo, "How to Start Designing Your Own Products in 4 Easy Steps":

"With print-on-demand, the sky's the limit with what you can create. And the best part is, for aspiring business owners, it's extremely easy to get started.
.
Over the last two years, I've gone from zero to over 600 products that I sell online using print-on-demand technology. The technology has not only allowed me to create a passive income, but also explore my creative side. The best part -- there are literally hundreds of products that I can create so I can focus my time and creative efforts on coming up with incredible designs."

Aquilo a que se chama aqui de democratização da produção (desde 2012), o que vai derrotar os gigantes concentrados na massa, as cooperativas de artesãos. Recordar que na cidade americana de Baltimore, só nessa cidade, em 1920 existiam 19 marcas fabricantes de automóveis.

Contexto e valor (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.

"Context at the micro or individual level frames exchange as it occurs among individual actors. The important process of exchange at this level is direct service-for-service exchange. That is, each actor draws on its resources and competences to directly serve another actor. The context of this service-for-service exchange is a dyad, which consists of two actors and the service-for-service exchange between them. More important, this is a reciprocal dyad because both actors serve each other, which is an important aspect of value co-creation because both actors are active participants in the exchange process.
...
Context at the meso level frames exchange as it occurs among dyads.
...
Context at the macro level frames exchange as it occurs among triads. The important process of exchange at this level is complex service, or the synergies of multiple simultaneous direct and indirect service-for-service exchanges that enable actors to serve in a particular context, ... Each triad draws on its resources and competences, and applies them for a beneficiary in a particular context. The context of service-for-service exchanges at the macro context is a complex network. More important, the notion of a complex network is a fundamental aspect of value co-creation because of how actors, dyads, and triads create synergy among multiple simultaneous direct and indirect service-for-service exchanges."

Os trechos que se seguem são muito bons:

"Layer of meta-context: Framing exchange among complex networks as service ecosystems
.
Context at the meta-layer frames exchange as it occurs among complex networks. At the meta-level, the notions of time and replication are introduced. Specifically, practices, routines, activities, or processes may be replicated at any of the three levels of context. Based on this, the important process of exchange at this level is institutionalization, or the process by which various networks of actors become legitimized (or delegitimized) with respect to larger societal systems. Included within this notion is replication, especially of institutions, which paradoxically creates dynamically changing contexts at the same time that it also introduces stability to the system.
....

complex networks are sustained by the reciprocal service provision of multiple actors, dyads, triads, and complex networks that are accessing multiple resources. As shown in Figure 2, this is a complex multi-dimensional evolution that occurs simultaneously in three dimensions: across levels of context, over time, and through replication. When complex networks successfully institutionalize resources, they become joined together as a service ecosystem, or ‘a spontaneously sensing and responding spatial and temporal structure of largely loosely coupled value proposing social and economic actors’ interactions through institutions and technology, to (1) co-produce service offerings; (2) exchange service offerings; and (3) co-create value’. In other words, the meta layer covers all the levels of service-for-service exchanges such that they together constitute service ecosystems. The notion of a service ecosystem is a fundamental aspect of value co-creation because it acknowledges how large-scale social structures and institutions evolve relative to the individual service efforts of actors, dyads, triads, and complex networks."

Como não recuar no tempo e regressar a um projecto de 2004 e a um postal de 2007. Este blogue é fã dos ecossistemas há muito tempo.

Como se compete num mundo de Amazons e Zalandos et al? (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.

Ainda acerca do by-pass ao mundo das Amazons, Zalandos, Continentes, Pingo Doces, FNACs et al.

"many small retailers carry inventories that compensate with quirk or quality for what they lack in breadth. Magpie-like secondhand and vintage stores are especially popular. So are businesses that carry local specialty and handmade items. Longtime retailers reflect the specific--and sometimes peculiar--tastes of their communities..These companies excel in product selection.
...
"We are proud of the weird," [Moi ici: Como isto está em sintonia com a mensagem deste blogue!!!]
...
"His vision has always been to rescue records from people who did not want them and turn them over to people who did," Grauzer says.
.
Weber's strategy was more passionate than practical. "He just kept buying records regardless of whether they sold or not," [Moi ici: Isto é um ponto importante, muito importante. Abaixo na tabela tem tudo a ver com o criar uma network]
...
"I guess it doesn't sound like a great business model," says Grauzer. "But it has worked."
...
Kneib will custom-make soap in any design from almost any natural ingredient. "They want something that smells like lime or ginger or they want a certain color because it's for a wedding," she says. "We produce what they want."
...
Because customers find many products unfamiliar, Papa sends them home with samples before they buy."

Trechos retirados de "These Companies' Inventories Pick Up Where Amazon's Leaves Off"

Contexto e valor (parte II)

Parte I.

"Toward service in context...
Context also influences value co-creation through its influence on service.
...
One of the seminal works that addresses resources and service together within a context is Theory of the Growth of the Firm, in which Penrose (1959) describes how resources yield services.
...
To summarize, the Penrosian perspective articulates that successful firms are those that own and control the resources that yield more service outputs in the context and ‘grow’ to dominate the context. [Moi ici: Como não recordar outra vez Napoleão]
...
Penrose did however advance the notion that resources are distinguishable from context because they are bundles of potential service.
...
Rethinking context.
Given the discussion above, it is necessary to deepen our understanding of context. We begin by acknowledging the heterogeneous and distinctive nature of context, and define a particular context as a set of unique actors with unique reciprocal links among them. The ability to define context uniquely is important because context heterogeneity affects how resources can be drawn upon for service.
...
Social network analysis, in particular, can assist in making salient the heterogeneous nature of context  when it is viewed as a set of unique actors and unique reciprocal links among them.
...
Visualization is also a key aspect of social networks analysis because it enables researchers to ‘see’ context and the scaleable influence of context within market structures.
By defining context as a unique set of actors and the unique reciprocal links among them, it is possible to see how hundreds of actors and links may constitute one specific context, while two actors and links may constitute another context."

Continua.

Como se compete num mundo de Amazons e Zalandos et al? (parte II)

Parte I.

A parte I terminou desta forma:

"Como se compete num mundo de Amazons e Zalandos et al? Criando um mundo alternativo, apostando em Mongo. Em Mongo faz todo o sentido trabalhar um ecossistema, fazer um jogo de longa duração, envolver mais actores.
.
O que é que o sector tem feito nos últimos anos? Promover a marca Portugal! Como é que isso pode ser usado?"

Entretanto encontrei um artigo muito, muito bom que ajuda a  começar a responder ao título pergunta do postal, "How Fashion Can Fight Amazon". O artigo é mesmo muito bom e merece uma leitura bem mastigada:

"Yet, despite all these recent achievements, innovations and accolades, there are some adjectives that I can’t ever recall hearing mentioned in the same sentence as Amazon. Conspicuous by their absence in most commentary on the internet giant are words like fun, beautiful and joyous. You’ll very rarely, if ever, hear Amazon described in these terms.
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And that’s no coincidence. Amazon isn’t a fun experience. Friends don’t meet for dinner and then go on an Amazon shopping spree. People don’t take selfies of themselves ordering things on Amazon.
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As for beauty, Amazon is about as aesthetically pleasing as a wood chipper. But, like a wood-chipper, Amazon is purpose-built, not for beauty but for efficiency, expediency and volume.
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And, regardless of its early success, I have yet to hear anyone recount stories about what a “joy” it is to shop using Echo. Nor can I recall anyone giddily running from one room to another pushing their Dash Buttons. The point of these technologies is not to elicit joy but rather to eliminate altogether any consciousness of shopping.
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Amazon is a passionless yet wickedly effective means of consuming. They’ve taken what used to be a sometimes painful, arduous multi-site online buying experience and literally brought it down to one-stop and zero clicks with Alexa. It is the all-you-can-eat buffet of consumerism. It’s the Wikipedia of shopping, which is to say that whatever you’re looking for is probably there but getting it is never what you’d call a memorable experience.
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And so, as "cheap" is to Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Rolex, fun is to Amazon — it’s simply not in the brand’s DNA. Nor was it ever intended to be. Jeff Bezos never set out to create a delightful shopping experience. Amazon is quite simply the shortest distance between wanting and getting."

Se segue este blogue com regularidade já sabe como eu penso: se a Amazon faz isto e é muito boa, fará algum sentido ir torrar dinheiro a competir no mesmo campeonato que ela? Como me posso diferenciar da Amazon? Por que tenho de entrar no negócio da venda, quando sou um produtor?
Voltaremos a isto numa outra parte.

"So, if truly great retail can be considered fine art (which I fully believe it should be) then Amazon is the paint-by-numbers equivalent. It’s fast, easy and simple but about as artistic as Dogs Playing Poker. In other words, Amazon has — to its credit — reduced shopping to a science, but in doing so has also sapped it of its aesthetic, social, kinetic and human joy.
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And it's this one tiny yet glaring chink in Amazon's seemingly impenetrable suit of armour that may just offer their competitors an opportunity to inflict a small wound, or at least save themselves from outright annihilation. Using art to counter Amazon’s science, retailers may just stand a chance of surviving, if not thriving in their shadow."

E aqui começa a minha incomodidade com a parte I. Num mundo de ecossistemas avança-se sozinho com um site, sem trabalhar a estória, sem criar carisma, sem fazer sonhar, sem desenhar e alimentar a experiência:

"Don’t build stores. Build stories..
Ultimately as humans we acquire products but we invest emotionally in stories. The world doesn’t need another concrete commercial real estate box with racks, registers and shelving, or another cold, catalogue-like website. It needs physical and online shopping places that celebrate unique brand stories. It needs enchanted spaces and installations that promote interactions with products. It needs powerful experiences that engage on every sensory level. Great retail must be nothing less than a form of performance art where the cost of admission is a purchase only-too-gladly made.[Moi ici: Por favor voltar a trás e reler com calma uma e outra vez este último sublinhado]
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Don’t conduct commerce. Create community.
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Building a tightly connected community of customers who are galvanised by a common passion, place, idea or interest is the surest way to cultivate a sense of community and an atmosphere of fun. Doing so raises your stores and websites beyond the level of commerce and into the realm of becoming powerful places for communal gathering.
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Don’t sell mass. Sell me.[Moi ici: Meu Deus!!! Como isto é acerca de Mongo, como isto é um problema para os gigantes atolados na sua suckiness e desejosos de nos verem como plancton]
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Mass is the realm of Amazon, which has little interest in personalising products. Personalisation costs time, money and effort — all of which dilute Amazon’s competitive advantages of selection, speed and affordability. So, find a means of personalising and customising products and solutions for your customers. This can be by leveraging clientele data, using technology to offer personalised solutions, or by offering bespoke and customised options, replete with concierge levels of service. Regardless of how you achieve it, it’s essential to leave every customer feeling that your store, your products and your staff were there especially for them.
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Don’t measure sales. Measure experiences."

Vêem algo disto na parte I? Eu vejo uma espécie de Lefties para vender os restos que não se conseguiram despachar.

Continua.