Batota, um exemplo

Ao longo dos anos uso aqui a palavra batota para ilustrar o fenómeno de optimização racional. Alguém, a liderar uma empresa, olha para a situação, percebe os drivers do negócio e o que é a vantagem competitiva. Depois, resolve abusar dessa receita e aplica-a religiosamente.

Ao continuar a leitura de "When More Is Not Better" de Roger Martin, ontem dei com uma estória que me pôs com curiosidade sobre qual será a solução proposta pelo autor. O que me veio à cabeça, no meio de um sorriso irónico foi o corporativismo de Salazar, o qual abomino:

"Consider the American waste-management industry. At one time there were thousands of little waste-management companies—garbage collectors—across the country. Each had one-to-several trucks serving customers on a particular route. The profitability of those thousands of companies was fairly normally distributed. Most clustered around the mean, with some highly efficient and bigger companies earning higher profits and some weaker ones earning lower profits.
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Then along came the late Wayne Huizenga, the founder of Waste Management Inc. (WMI). Looking at the cost structure of the business, he saw that two big costs were truck acquisition (the vehicles were expensive, and because they were used intensively, they needed to be replaced regularly) and maintenance and repair (intensive use made this both critical and costly). Each small player bought trucks one (or maybe a handful) at a time and ran a repair depot to service its small fleet.
Huizenga realized that if he acquired a number of routes in a given region, two things would be possible. First, he would have much greater purchasing leverage with truck manufacturers and could acquire vehicles more cheaply. Second, he could close individual maintenance facilities and build a single, far-more-efficient one at the geographic center of each region. As he proceeded, the effect—greater efficiency—became the cause of more of the effect.
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Huizenga generated the resources to keep buying small garbage companies and expanding into new territories, which made WMI bigger and more efficient still. This put competitive pressure on all small operators, because WMI could come into their territories and underbid them. Those smaller firms could either lose money or sell to WMI. Huizenga’s success represented a huge increase in pressure on the system.
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Like a collapsing sand pile, the industry quickly consolidated, with WMI as the dominant player, earning the highest profits. Fellow consolidator Republic Services established itself as the second player, earning decent profits. Several considerably smaller would-be consolidators earn little to no returns, and lots of tiny companies mainly operate at subsistence levels.
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The industry today is structured as a Pareto distribution, with WMI as winner-take-most. The company earned more than $14 billion in 2017. Huizenga died a multibillionaire."

Recordar este postal (2017).

Ou daqui:

"Imaginem só o que lhes poderia acontecer se fizessem batota, que é quando a gestão de topo de uma empresa pára e reflecte no porquê do sucesso e, resolve abusar, carregando a fundo nas vantagens competitivas específicas."

Ou daqui (2012):

"E, quando alguém descobre que tem uma vantagem competitiva, o que deve fazer?
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B - A - T - O - T - A!!!!!!
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Agir de forma a abusar da sua vantagem competitiva!!!"

Ou daqui (2012):

"- Mas o que fazes na vida?
- Ajudo as PMEs a fazerem batota!
- A fazerem batota? Mas o que é que isso quer dizer? Tem algo a ver com fugir aos impostos?
- Não, trata-se de ajudar as PMEs a abusarem e tirarem partido de algo a que se chama a imperfeição do mercado, a concorrência imperfeita. Lembras-te da história de David e Golias?
- Sim, mas o que é que isso tem a ver com as PMEs?
- Tudo, tem tudo a ver com as PMEs que fazem a diferença."

Há dias publiquei outro exemplo desta batota (atenção, a batota não se aplica só à competição pelo preço). Batota é o acto, a arte de abordar o posicionamento no mercado com inteligência e constância de propósito, algo muito raro de encontrar.

Ainda a batota

"The problem, experts say, is that a lot of companies don’t set clear objectives for the experiences they create. “You have to figure out what people need,” said Sarah Hall, co-founder and partner of experiential marketing firm Harley & Company. “Then you have to decide if you want to create a deep emotional connection or push them towards a transaction.”
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Many brands run into trouble by mimicking competitors’ strategies instead of figuring out which experiences make the most sense — and sales — for them. A café is only worth operating if its regulars are also purchasing margin-driving products. A successful restaurant won’t save a struggling department store chain unless diners hit the shoe floor afterwards. An in-store panel discussion will only create goodwill if the mission of the panel meets the mission of the brand.
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“It's about questioning and redesigning every aspect of how the store works and how it sells what it sells,” said retail industry futurist Doug Stephens. “It's an intensive process that begins by breaking down the entire customer journey into its smallest micro-moments and then, within each of those moments, designing experiences that are surprising, unique, personalised, engaging and, most importantly, repeatable.”[Moi ici: E recuar a 2008 e ao primeiro e ao segundo texto sobre a batota]
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Remaking the in-store experience often means a significant (and expensive) overhaul.
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Experts underscore that good experiences are only worthwhile if they are accompanied by good products."

Trechos retirados de "The Pitfalls of Investing in Experiential Retail"

Ainda mais temas para o futuro do retalho e da produção

Parte I e parte II.

"The decline of Payless can be attributed partly to broader trends in the market. The brand’s stores were largely located in malls, and there has a general decrease in the amount of foot traffic at large shopping centers over the last few years.
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But there’s also an important shift happening in consumer behavior. People are moving away from poorly made, inexpensive fashion items. For decades fast fashion, epitomized by brands like H&M and Forever21, churned out cheap, fashionable clothes that customers could wear a few times before chucking out. But as I’ve reported before, many fast fashion brands are now on the decline.
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Payless was the shoe equivalent of fast fashion. The brand was not known for the quality or durability of its product, but competed largely on price. As a result, customers could buy whatever boot or heel was in season, and expect to throw it away months later. Consumers appear to be tired of this approach, partly because it is so environmentally unsound. While Payless has spiraled downwards, a flock of brands making high-quality, eco-friendly, durable shoes like M.Gemi, Allbirds, and Rothy’s have been thriving."

O impacte desta evolução no retalho, nas marcas, na produção, nos materiais e design - pense nisso!

Trecho retirado de "What the Payless bloodbath says about the death of fast fashion"

Mais temas para o futuro do retalho

Parte I.

"Payless ShoeSource this week filed for Chapter 11 protection and said it would be closing all 2,500 store locations across North America as well as its e-commerce operations. With over 16,000 jobs lost, it is one of the largest retailer liquidation to date, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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 we need see these closings as a sign of change and heed the lessons wisely, because what "killed" all three [Moi ici: Payless, Toys R Us e a Sears] is not just Amazon or the internet, but a new business paradigm."

Ontem vi este video sobre o Revolut e N26 e é o mesmo fenómeno: "a new business paradigm". Ter especial atenção às palavras do economista Vinay Pranjivam e os trechos que se seguem, retirados de “Unlocking the Customer Value Chain” de Thales S. Teixeira.

Ontem de manhã li estes trechos:

"The Concept of Decoupling
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Wondering precisely how disruptors were unsettling small parts of incumbents’ businesses, I turned to a basic framework that my colleagues and I teach our students: the customer’s value chain, or CVC. A CVC is composed of the discrete steps a typical customer follows in order to select, buy, and consume a product or service. CVCs vary according to the specifics of a business, industry, or product.

Traditionally, consumers completed all these activities with the same company in a joint or coupled manner.
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What I realized, as I thought about these examples, was that disruptors had posed a threat by breaking the links between some of the stages of the CVC and then “stealing” one or a few stages for themselves to fulfill.”

Trechos iniciais retirados de "Valuable Lessons Learned From the Closing of Payless Shoes"

Também por isto sou um contrarian (parte II)

Parte I.

A propósito de "Robôs destroem 440 mil empregos na indústria e comércio até 2030" e do pormenor:

"Indústria, comércio, transportes, funções administrativas e de públicas e agricultura. Estão entre os sectores onde o impacto da automação na destruição de emprego mais se fará sentir."

Sorrio e vou buscar "Report: Retailers have zero clue what shoppers really want":

"Hey, retail executive. It’s very nice of you to suggest I speak with your robot, but no, I’ll pass. It looks like there is a fully functioning human standing in the corner of your shop. Would it really be too much trouble to speak with him instead?
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I’m not the only one who feels like this. In a report that comes as a surprise to absolutely no one but overeager retail execs, 95% of consumers don’t want to talk to a robot when they are shopping, neither online nor in brick-and-mortar stores. And 86% have no desire for other shiny new technologies either, like artificial intelligence and virtual reality. I, for one, don’t want to pop into a store to quickly pick up that alpaca sweater I saw online, only to have some sort of weird headset shoved in my face.
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The vast majority of retail executives believe that AI and VR will increase foot traffic and sales, but 48% of shoppers say these technologies will have zero impact on whether they visit a store, and only 14% say they will make a purchase because of these technologies. This also applies to online technologies like chatbots. Seventy-nine percent of retail execs believe that chatbots are meeting shopper’s needs by providing on-demand customer service, while 66% of consumers disagree, with many respondents noting that chatbots are, in fact, more damaging to the shopping experience than helpful."

 Até parece que a batota da interacção entre humanos passa por robôs?!?!?!?!

E recordo a economia das experiências, "The experience economy is booming, but it must benefit everyone":

"The only companies that will exist in 10 years’ time are those that create and nurture human experiences. This learning and growth will come from maximizing opportunities, including the reinvention of retail spaces, new models of engagement, and an understanding of experiences as perhaps the most important form of marketing."

Acerca do papel da estratégia (parte I)

Quatro empresas:

1. empresa em crescimento rápido, a sair da fase de atelier/oficina para a de pequena fábrica - ainda não arranjou tempo para parar e perceber porque está a ter tanto sucesso e como tem de se organizar para o futuro;
2. empresa a zombificar, em deterioração lenta com tendência para piorar, por causa da exaustão do modelo de negócio que tanto sucesso lhe trouxe no passado - ainda não arranjou tempo para pensar em alternativas para mudar de vida;
3. empresa em crescimento de quase dois dígitos, enquanto o sector passa por crise, devido à adopção de um novo modelo de negócio - ainda precisa de pensar nas implicações da alteração do modelo de negócio na metade esquerda do canvas (parcerias, recursos e processos);
4. empresa a querer mudar de concorrentes, sinónimo de querer subir na escala de valor - ainda precisa de perceber que existem diferentes tipos de clientes e que recusar encomendas não é pecado.

Quatro exemplos do papel da estratégia, de como tem sempre um prazo de validade, de como a sua formulação deliberada permite uma oportunidade para mudar de vida, de como a sua ausência dificulta o aproveitamento integral do que está a dar (o que chamo de batota).

Gente que não percebe a importância da batota

"Uma garrafeira deve organizar eventos para mostrar aos clientes a dinâmica criativa que ocorre em todas as regiões vitícolas. É isso que as deve distinguir dos hipermercados.
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Depois de uma vista de olhos às prateleiras, dois vinhos chamaram a minha atenção: o Edmun do Val 2009 (Alvarinho) e o Puro Talha 2015, da Adega José de Sousa. Como quem não quer a coisa, perguntei à funcionária se o Alvarinho de 2009 estaria em condições. Resposta: "Está sim, senhor." E acabou a conversa. Quanto ao vinho de talha, a senhora só sabia dizer que o mesmo tinha sido apresentado há uns meses numa feira de vinho. E fim de conversa.
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Se estivesse numa grande superfície, ainda era como o outro. Mas numa garrafeira especializada exige-se mais. Exige-se que os funcionários tenham capacidade de contar uma história por cada marca que vendem. Afinal de contas, os produtores, que são o suporte do seu negócio, confiam neles.
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Com as honrosas excepções da praxe, poucas são as garrafeiras que mostram dinamismo e criatividade na exposição e comunicação das marcas aos clientes. Limitam-se a encher prateleiras divididas por denominação de origem e esperar que alguém entre pela loja a pedir um conselho para uma garrafa destinada a um jantar disto ou daquilo em casa de um amigo.
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Num país tão pequeno, mas com perfis de vinhos tão diferentes, uma garrafeira bem gerida deveria criar eventos temáticos de todas as formas e feitios, captando a atenção dos consumidores que gostam de vinhos que não se vendem na grande distribuição.
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Se um tipo disser ao dono de uma garrafeira para fomentar a procura, desafiar os consumidores, apresentar uma oferta diferente das garrafeiras dos hipermercados ou - como nalgumas cadeias de livros e música - apresentar regularmente uma selecção de vinhos dos próprios funcionários, ele reconhecerá, por educação, que temos razão, mas encolherá os ombros e voltará ao "business as usual". Como dizia o outro, é a vida. Infelizmente."

E recuo a Maio de 2008 e à apologia da batota...

Trechos retirados de "Garrafeiras mais dinâmicas precisam-se"

"time, attention, and money"

"But no matter what business you think you are in, recognize that because of the rise of today’s Experience Economy you now compete against the world. You may think your competition is only with other retailers, or only with other companies in your geographic area, but in fact you compete with every other company in the world for the time, attention, and money of individual consumers. There is a reason we use the word “spend” in front of each of these three nouns, for they are the currencies of the Experience Economy.
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And time is limited. We can only experience twenty- four hours a day, seven days a week – and we have to fit
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 you need to understand a fundamental principle of the Experience Economy: the experience is the marketing! The best way to generate demand for your retail stores – the mission of marketing – is to create an experience that is so engaging that consumers cannot help but spend time with you, give you their attention, and then buy your merchandise as a result."

Trechos retirados de "Your competition? The world"

Batota e modelos de negócio

"it has been found that business models cannot be static.
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business models can be conceived as a set of relations and feedback loops between variables and their consequences, and recommend that strategic management should aim at developing these to create virtuous cycles, leading to an evolution of the business model.
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it has been argued that business models cannot be anticipated fully in advance and that they rather must be learned over time through experimentation. Such experimentation could lead to business model innovation through trial-and-error learning. In line with these findings, one capability we identify as critical for fuelling business model change is to identify, experiment with and exploit new business opportunities.
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business models can generate virtuous cycles e positive feedback loops that would strengthen parts of the model over time. They consider such virtuous cycles to be crucial elements in successful business model operation, and thereby suggest that different aspects of managing business models can reinforce their consequences. Similar to their conceptualization, we found in our study that the strategizing actions together with the critical capabilities worked as complementarities, meaning that in combination these elements fuel more sustained value creation through successful business model change over time.

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The role of strategic management is then to develop such virtuous cycles."

Como não pensar no papel da batota. Tomar consciência do que está a funcionar e forçar a nota.

Trechos retirados de "Dynamics of Business Models e Strategizing, Critical Capabilities and Activities for Sustained Value Creation" de Leona Achtenhagen, Leif Melin & Lucia Naldi, publicado por Long Range Planning (2013).

As interacções como a base para a criação de valor

"As business becomes more system-like with "business ecosystems ("BE") ... becoming the norm and  not the exception, value and its production requires more system-like, networked, and emergent conceptual frameworks.
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In the strategy frame we use in this book, we place interactivity as the focus for where value is created and assessed. Interactivity is, of course, also a major source of risk as well of value.
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Our argument is that this central concern with the interactivity that has become so ubiquitous inescapably leads strategists to rethink value creation and strategy.
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Attending interactivity also involves thinking of value as contingent, always located in a setting - no longer as isolated in things or individuals or groups - and dependent on those whom it connects and who co-create it as well as in termos of those it affects positively or negatively.
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patterns of interactivity that enable the production or co-creation of value and values arise or can be designed.[Moi ici: Aquela situação da empresa que toma consciência que está bem e pretende perceber porquê, para fazer batota!!!]
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So perceived patterns of interactivity do not therefore require any intentional design on the part of any particular actor, though they might arise in part because of such intent - and often do arise in this manner in business.
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the notion of value arises for the strategist when one takes the perspective of an actor within a pattern of interaction.
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how actors choose which interactions to privilege over others, and how they relate one interaction to another.[Moi ici: Como não recordar tantos postais deste blogue, como estes de 2007, 2012, 2013 e 2014]
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An organization's managers express its intents - and thus its values - by configuring interactions to establish (more or less) continuing patterns of activity with other actors. Are interactions with employees more important than those with customers? are interactions with shareholders more important than those with employees? For which of these interactions is the strategy primary constructed? These senior managers take views on what possibilities for value co-creation their organization is providing for which actors, and make choices that reflect and reinforce their values.
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We consider this configuring of interactions as a design activity. We use the term Value Creating System (VCS) for the pattern of interactions intentionally configured by the strategic planning carried out by an organization. The designed interactions become manifested as "designed" offerings.
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if the key to creating value is to design and co-create configuring offerings that mobilize others (who may have the role in the interaction of customer or supplier or partner or employee or investor, etc.) to co-create value, then a key source of success is to conceive the VCS and make it work.
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value is not simply "added", but is mutually "created" and "recreated" among actors with different values. These multiple values are "reconciled" or "combined" in co-creating value, and as we shall see bellow, cannot be reduced to a single metric, like the price of a commodity.
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We characterise VCS as designed activities that are part of much broader business ecosystems or business ecologies ("BE")
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we consider strategy as entailing reconfiguring roles, actions and interactions among economic actors through designed configuring offerings that result in a given VCS.
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In co-creation, it is the co-created offerings and the relationships these manifest, not the "business unit" actor, which becomes the central unit of (competitive and collaborative) strategic analysis.
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Designing co-creation requires the strategist having the role of ascertaining and ideally defining the engagement and the dialogue that underpins designing novel and distinctive value creation."

Trechos retirados de "Strategy in a Networked World" de Ramírez & Mannervik.

BTW, como não recordar Storbacka e Nenonen:

• Não é armadilhar, é criar harmonia, é construir uma sinfonia... 
• Os mercados como configurações (parte III)
• Scripting markets

Acerca da batota

Caro J, espero que esta missiva te vá encontrar chei@ de ganas e de ilusion:

"One of those questions comes up every time I talk with startups: How do you protect yourself from giants who might copy your idea?
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For those of you who are up against incumbents, which is most everyone, here’s my answer:
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Don’t compete, Out-think
Play the game you know you can win.
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How?
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Create a space for yourself that only you can own by doing what everyone else is unwilling to do. This is how all innovators win.
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challenges a giants assumptions and beliefs. You want to do things that they find uninteresting, challenging and outside their experience. The added benefit is this gives your audience a surprise, you reset their expectations.
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Giants are not disruptive by nature, rather they wait until it’s evident something is happening and react. So, if an idea has disruptive potential, it should make your competition uncomfortable; and that’s your space of opportunity.
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Giants rarely put resources into ideas that challenge their assumptions and core business model because they don’t want to mess around with something that already works for them. Stability is too important for them, so their resources are focused on maintaining the status quo rather than exploring alternatives.
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It’s very simple: Big companies have resources, what they don’t have is courage. By optimizing for their current business model, they set themselves up and ignore anything that is outside their model.
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 If the game is designed for you to lose, don’t play that game. Play a different one. As a leader and entrepreneur, remember to always challenge assumptions, because it isn’t simply about being faster and cheaper, it’s about being different."

Trechos retirados de "How Startups Slay Giants"

"achieving strategic Agility"

Onde se lê "Strategic Agility" leia-se concorrência imperfeita, leia-se batota:

"While most large organizations are still learning how to master operational Agility, the main financial benefits from Agile management will flow from the next Agile frontier: achieving strategic Agility.
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Today, the practice of Agile management (and its analogs, such as “Lean” and “design thinking”) still reflects a preoccupation with achieving operational agility... with efficiency gains or quality improvements.
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“We tend to confuse capitalism with competition,” [Moi ici: Procurar criar uma situação de concorrência imperfeita é fugir da concorrência em busca de um monopólio informal] says Peter Thiel, the creator of PayPal and a lecturer at Stanford. “We tend to think that whoever competes best comes out ahead. In the race to be more competitive, we sometimes confuse what is hard with what is valuable. The intensity of competition becomes a proxy for value…Instead of being slightly better than everybody else in a crowded and established field, it’s often more valuable to create a new market and totally dominate it. The profit margins are much bigger, and the value to society is often bigger, too.”
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This is the dark secret of the Agile management revolution: the major financial gains from Agile management will come from the next frontier of Agile management: moving beyond operational Agility to strategic agility—namely, through mastering market-creating innovation."

Trechos retirados de "Beyond Agile Operations: How To Achieve The Holy Grail Of Strategic Agility"

Tendências que estão a mudar o mundo da moda

Em "No More Athleisure, Brick And Mortar, Made in China? How Fashion Will Change In 2017" algumas notas sobre as tendências que estão a mudar o mundo da moda. Saliento a decadência das marcas do passado e a ascensão de novas marcas nascidas no online.

"These companies are offering something different from the flashy designers of yesterday: the insight into their supply chain and sometimes even a breakdown of their sales margins, providing the customer with a better understanding of the quality they're getting for their money.
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Over the next year, we'll see how these online brands continue to transform the fashion landscape. We'll see big shifts in brick and mortar stores, fashion supply chains, the athleisure trend, and the idea of value.
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1. Brick And Mortar Makes A Comeback [Moi ici: Atenção! Estas lojas físicas não são as tradicionais lojas físicas que tentam subornar os clientes com descontos]
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"Brands are thinking about what the internet cannot give you,"
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the one thing the internet does not provide is human contact. She predicts that in 2017, customers will increasingly visit stores to get curated experiences from shop representatives. For brands to meet this demand, they need to have well-trained staff who understand products inside and out and can offer personalized advice.
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We will also see a rise in experiential retail, ... To encourage consumers to spend time in their stores browsing their products, brands will get more creative, adding amenities like bars, coffee shops, and yoga classes. In other words, stores will become more like entertainment spots for people who share similar lifestyles and interests to spend time together. "There will be an emphasis on physical brand experiences that will enable consumers to engage with not just product, but brand ethos and community," she says. "The main objective of this kind of blending will be brand awareness, but the scope and reach will be much more than what’s been traditional. These experiences will be leveraging what is happening with social and taking it offline."
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3. Value Matters More Than LabelsCustomers are smart and want to know what they are paying for.
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[Moi ici: E relacionado com o reshoring, com a flexibilidade, rapidez e pequenas séries] Gallardo believes that over the next year, companies that build their business model on making large wholesale margins will struggle to compete with this new flock of brands. Consumers are also losing interest in big discounts since they often come paired with lower-quality products. Gallardo says that brands struggling to survive in this shifting landscape—including J.Crew and the Gap Brands—will need to rethink their entire supply chain so they are making high-quality products with the best materials, then selling them at the best possible prices. This means not only being "direct-to-consumer" but also "direct-to-supplier.
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4. Made In AmericaMore production is returning home.
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The majority of U.S. fashion brands have moved production to Asia, where labor costs are lower. But there's been a shift in recent years as a wave of startups have chosen to make products in U.S. factories because it allows them to better monitor quality and take advantage of the most recent manufacturing technology.
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More and more brands are focusing on smaller, more timeless product lines," he says. "We're not trying to make the cheapest white T-shirt, but the most well-constructed, best-fitting, softest T-shirt, at the absolute best price.""

Uma novela sobre Mongo (parte X)

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

O trecho que se segue é muito interessante, ilustra bem o que é a explosão de tribos, o aumento da diversidade e a vantagem das empresas com gente apaixonada:

"In a type of paradox, cities are becoming more alike and more different at the same time. Let me explain.
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Cities are experiencing a move to niche, yet global, trends - interest by interest, social group by social group - into a massive subset of connected communities that exists in most geographies. People are self-organising themselves into groups around passions. [Moi ici: Há tantos anos a falar aqui da vantagem de ter gente com paixão... como não recordar "A paixão nas empresas é inversamente proporcional ao seu tamanho"] They can do this now because they can connect easily and find each other, but more importantly because the culture vultures (mass-market tastemakers) have finally left the building. It’s a fragmentation into subcultures that are replicated on a global scale, facilitated by the network connections people have.
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People are self-organising themselves into groups around passions.
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There are now more niches in every city maintained by a group itself, not by mass marketers looking for the next pop-culture hit. In fact, niches can now build themselves sustainable micro-economies around their interest. The community itself becomes the designer, producer, promoter and end user. They can do this because the barriers to entry are inconsequential.
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But at the same time each city has never been more fragmented and differentiated within its walls. Figure 6.1 depicts this fragmentation of cities."

Agora imaginem as empresas grandes, viciadas na produção em massa a tentar interagir com com estas tribos bots e algoritmos, tomando-as por plankton ... tudo para dar errado.

E volto ao:

-Tu não és meu irmão de sangue!

As PME deviam estar a pensar em como fazer batota com esta maré:

"We must redefine strategy not as a means of control, but as a means of understanding control."

Em terra de cegos quem tem um olho é rei!

Vale mesmo a pena ler na íntegra "Where is Retail Headed?". Tive de me conter para não copiar tudo para aqui:

"“Forbes” tells us that shopping malls are being killed by online shopping and Nordstrom’s CFO says it’s only going to get worse.
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Do we want to shop in the real world, or not?
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The answer can be found in an old-fashioned notion: community.
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to create places where we want to explore, hubs to which we want to belong. This goes beyond being hobbled by our location.
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No, these intrepid A, A+ and A++ venues are creating a “shopping destination,” one that is ripe with excellent restaurants, clean and exciting movie theatres and chock-a-block with confident retailers staffed with professionals who encourage my odyssey of discovery. I enter to embark on an enchanted experience that leaves me feeling informed, indeed educated, and joyously lucky to have found what I was looking for, even when I didn’t quite know what I was looking for. It isn’t easy to deliver this experience, but hey, there is serious money to be made. Why is that? Because the experience transcends price. We’re no longer in the world of commoditized branded retail with its scripted sales pitches, bored staff and cluttered floors.[Moi ici: É horrível entrar numa loja e a funcionária simpática vir ter connosco para nos anunciar que a loja está com uma promoção de 20% até 26 de Dezembro... só confiam no preço para nos seduzir e convencer a comprar]
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What we’re talking about is what we’ve probably experienced most often in a good wine shop, when the fellow behind the counter is actually obsessed by the varietals and producers. He’s the guy who cares about what you’re having for dinner and thinks there’s a beautiful marriage to be made. Remember that guy? He didn’t try to sell you an over-priced bottle, but rather gave you three choices at various price points with the knowledge that seemed informed by actual experience. He wanted you to have a great meal, a great experience. He wanted you to thrill your host, or celebrate your friend’s promotion. When was the last time you experienced that in any other setting? At a bike shop? At an art gallery? It happens in places where the people selling the goods love the goods."[Moi ici: Depois o autor lembra-nos que a maior parte dos vendedores é "just a warm body" sem paixão e sem formação sobre o que vendem e sobre como vendem]

Há anos que falo disto. O exemplo que dou não é de uma garrafeira nem de uma loja gourmet mas o de um funcionário da loja Valentim de Carvalho em Aveiro no Forum quando este abriu há mais de uma década e meia.

Um festival de batota

Batota é um termo que usamos desde 2008 no nosso trabalho relacionado com o retalho. Certamente influenciado por esta linguagem de 2007:

"Se quiser, o parceiro que joga a vida pode fazer batota e influenciar o resultado.
.
E o parceiro é quem? Somos nós mesmos?É o protagonista da vida, somos nós mesmos"

Um artigo com um sumária de várias técnicas em "Why You Bought That Ugly Sweater":

• "“we perceive prices to be lower when they have fewer syllables and end with a 9”

• “one recent study found that, compared with friendly salespeople, rude clerks caused customers with low self-confidence to spend more and, in the short term, to feel more positively toward an ‘aspirational brand’”

• “when a customer who feels badly about her appearance tries something on and spots an attractive fellow shopper wearing the same item, she is less likely to buy it”

• “One paper now under peer review shows that cooler temperatures indoors lead to a more emotional style of decision making, while warmth contributes to a more analytical approach”

• “One study found that popular music leads to impulsive decisions, while lesser-known background music leads to focused shoppers”"

Impressionante!

Será que estes resultados são reprodutíveis?

Acerca da maldição dos descontos

"said department stores have fallen back on sales promotions whenever business begins to slow.
.
“Sale[s] cannot be the only driver, it has to be a part of it. But product, presentation, excitement in the stores, the salespeople in terms of servicing the customer” all need to be part of the value proposition for department stores to succeed, he said.
...
“The dilemma all department stores face is that, while they would like to wean themselves from the heavy use of promotions, they run the risk of losing their customer base as long as their competitors continue to emphasize sales promotions,” Mr. Montgomery said. “Can it be done? The answer is yes, but to do so would require repositioning themselves in the marketplace.
...
“Stores fall back on discounts because discounts are simple and tend to meet short-term KPIs for the executives,” said Doug Garnett, founder and CEO of Atomic Direct. “It’s too bad because these other values [product, presentation, excitement in the stores, the salespeople …] build long-term success.”
...
“As it turns out, our recent data tells us that retailers are being run by Generation X, for Generation X,” Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at RSR Research. “So Millennials are turning out to be something like the weather — everyone talks about them, but there isn’t much anyone (besides the fast fashion guys) is doing about them.”
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“Most department stores have thrown Boomers under the bus and have expected us to respond to endless coupons and trim-fit shirts with abandon,” said Bob Phibbs, president and CEO of The Retail Doctor. “You have to earn our business — we’re not rats to the Velveeta cheese of discounts. We’re hungry for something better.”"

BTW, esta altura do ano é terrível para apanharmos o lado negro do retalho. Ontem à hora do almoço com cerca de 80 € de livros na mão desisti. A fila para pagar não era grande mas era apenas uma funcionária que fazia os embrulhos e tratava do pagamento. Para cúmulo, outra funcionária estava nas traseiras a arrumar não sei o quê. Já no feriado, numa loja Zippy estive uns 3 minutos na fila sem funcionário junto ao balcão de pagamento. Depois, lá apareceu uma funcionária muito lenta e que teve de refazer um embrulho duas vezes e tratar do pagamento. Entretanto, outra caixa estava fechada porque a outra funcionária "namorava" com amiga que estava na fila atrás de mim. Tanto esforço para atrair clientes e, depois, morrer na praia...

Trechos retirados de "Can Department Stores End Their Addiction To Discounting"

Pinta de Mongo!

Ontem, via Twitter, o @joaops chamou-me a atenção para este artigo "Top five retail trends to watch in 2017" dizendo que tinha a minha cara. E tem mesmo! Pinta de Mongo!

Recuo a 2008 e a um dos primeiros postais com o marcador: batota.

Para quem acha que isto é treta, recomendo a leitura de "Comércio eletrónico. Portugueses são os que mais compram além-fronteiras".

"1. “Retailtainment” will take off.
Watch out for the newest aspect of the in-store experience trend to start gaining popularity in Australia in 2017 – “retailtainment”. This is the fusion of retail and entertainment — making the in-store shopping experience enjoyable, entertaining, and encouraging shoppers to step away from online browsing at home and into the shops instead. [Moi ici: Recordar da passada segunda-feira o tema da falha na experiência]
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2. Personalisation will become increasingly important.
According to an Accenture Interactive study, 56% of consumers are more likely to shop with a retailer that recognises them by name. [Moi ici: Ainda ontem na loja da Springfield no 8ª Avenida em São João da Madeira fui surpreendido por duas pessoas que sabem como receber um cliente, mesmo não sabendo o seu nome. Faz toda a diferença]
...
3. Smaller shops are in, larger shops are out.
When it comes to store size, less will be more in 2017.
...
4. Specialty stores will be more popular than department stores.
Specialty stores that focus on categories such as beauty products, like Mecca Cosmetics, will have an advantage in 2017 as consumers focus on curated selections.
...
5. Retailers that promote product quality and sustainability will flourish.
Customers today want to know more about the goods they’re purchasing – where they’ve come from and how they’ve been sourced and produced. The proliferation of transparent, sustainably conscious companies has initiated a radical shift in the retail industry — one we can expect to gain greater traction in 2017. Shoppers are gravitating toward retailers that reveal the inner workings of their operations."

"De tão concentrado no corte dos custos"

Uma outra tendência para o futuro.

Até que ponto as PME podem abdicar dos intermediários e usar a internet e as suas plataformas para chegar directamente ou quase aos consumidores?

Em vez de:

B2B2C ou B2B2B2C

Apostar em:

M2C

Não esquecer os números: 10 para 30 para 90.

O que nos propõe "Manufacturer to Consumer Retail in 3 Trends":

"A recent trend in retail is making waves in the industry. Manufacturer to consumer retail (M2C) is helping new brands enter a competitive space and consumers are adopting it faster than could have been imagined. M2C companies espouse high-quality products at lower prices because they make direct relationships with manufacturers rather than working through the traditional importer to brand to buyer relationships. With the rise of mobile tech for retail, companies in the M2C space are leveraging technology to increase their reach.
...
most M2C companies tailor their products and shopping experiences to women and moms. "In our experience, Mom's have been an incredibly engaged consumer group. By creating social communities for sharing, focusing on the right product mix, and creating intentional customer service initiatives, we've had success connecting with mom's in the M2C space."
.
If you search manufacturer to consumer brands online, you will find that a majority of them serve a female audience. As these trends make it easier for manufacturer to consumer brands to enter the market, it is important to remember that innovation and solving a need in the market are what drive the success of fledgling companies. M2C companies are well positioned to take increasing percentages of market share from traditional brick and mortar retailers."

O retalho tradicional de tão concentrado no corte dos custos, descurando a experiência, coloca-se no campo mais fácil para ser trocado pelo e-commerce.

No entanto, convém fazer bem as contas.

Um optimista é uma espécie de batoteiro

"Visualize positive outcomes: As Daniel Goleman argues, positivity is part and parcel of focused attention. “Pessimism narrows our focus,” he writes, “whereas positive emotions widen our attention and our receptiveness to the new and unexpected.” Organizational leaders can benefit from imagining organizational “end-states” during strategy sessions. This can be as simple as posing a variant of the question Goleman suggests— “if everything works out perfectly for our organization, what would we be doing in ten years?”—and taking time to contemplate."

Recordar os media e os seus comentadores encharcados em cortisol:

• Lidar com a incerteza (Abril de 2016) 
• Curiosidade do dia (Outubro de 2015)
• Optimista crente no poder dos anónimos (Setembro de 2015)
• "Siga em frente, homem" (Março de 2015)

Trecho retirado de "Mindfulness Can Improve Strategy, Too"