Tony D'Onofrio
Blog
Have been debating for some time the top 3 retail technology inventions of all time. From history, a few of the candidates considered:
Shopping Mall - The first shopping mall was built in Milan between 1865 and 1877. The Galleria is named after the first King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II.
Coupons - In 1888, Coca-Cola created the first coupon that could be redeemed for their new beverage.
Loyalty Card - American Airlines is credited with the development of the first loyalty program in 1981.
CCTV - Germany used CCTV systems in the development of V-2 rockets to monitor launches during World War II.
Credit Card - John Biggins, a New York Banker, introduced the "Charge-It" card in 1946.
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The Innovation Ascendancy of Asia
A favorite annual report is AT Kearney's Global Retail Development Index (GDRI). The 15th annual edition is titled 'Global Retail Expansion at a Crossroads'.
2016 GDRI Emerging Markets Insights
"Retail in developing countries has seen excellent growth. While the developing world population has grown 21% to 6.2 billion, retail sales in those markets have grown more than 350% and now represent more than half of total global retail sales." China, India, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia are the top five countries in the 2016 GDRI index. Driven by large populations and high growth, four out of the top five countries are in Asia.- Details
Last week had the pleasure of being the Master of Ceremonies at the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Sensormatic. Over 300+ current employees and a large number of alumni gathered in Boca Raton to honor the legacy of a very successful retail loss prevention brand.
I must admit that I was initially skeptical on the need to celebrate the past as my focus has always been on driving a positive future. This hesitation was reinforced by a recent article titled 'Why Steve Jobs Turned Down The Idea Of A Big 30th Anniversary Party.' "Apple is focused on the future, not the past," said Jobs.
50 years is a major milestone. Reflecting on the history of Sensormatic and its impact on retail loss prevention, it's an important time to assess the lessons of the past and celebrate the promising future ahead.
Vision, customers first, and teamwork are the strategy elements to the Sensormatic brand successful first half century.
Vision
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Last week, I had the pleasure to attend a two-day Executive technology briefing at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. A highlight was the retail technology tour where the latest 
technologies were integrated into a mock multi-store mall. In each of the store formats, lots of digital sensor solutions were feeding a growing computing cloud.
Concurrently to my visit to Microsoft, Pokemon Go continued its meteoric rise in becoming one of the most successful mobile games of all time. As of Monday, July 11th, Pokemon Go was seeing about 21 million daily active users, making it the biggest mobile game in USA history.
Just as impressive is the amount of time that each individual is playing with the app. The average iPhone user spent 33 minutes on the Pokemon Go app, "whereas only 28 minutes on the Facebook app, 18 minutes on Snapchat app, 17 minutes in the Twitter app, and 15 minutes in the Instagram app."
The Psychology of Pokemon Go
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Highlights from Two New USA Retail Theft Studies
NRF's National Retail Security Survey
The 2016 USA National Retail Security Survey (NRSS) is jointly conducted by the Dr. Richard Hollinger of the University of Florida and the National Retail Federation (NRF). This year's survey had responses from 80 retailers.
In 2015, the average overall shrink rate was 1.38% of sales which cost the USA retail economy $45.2 billion. For the grocery sector, retail shrink increased from 3.2% to 3.6%. Specialty men's and women's apparel shrink was at 1.2%. Discount, mass merchandise, or super center retailers shrink was at 1.1%.
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"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain
Over the last several years, I have embarked on a focused journey to develop a global personal brand. The initial inspiration was Apple's discerning attention on simplicity in both their hardware and software which disrupted multiple industry sectors and revolutionized personal computing.
The insight was transitioning Apple's level of continuous innovation to the personal level. Formula elements that coalesced to shape my brand definition included constant career re-assessments, an interesting mix of personal passions, global leadership skills, and the recognized importance of staged goals for success.
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As the internet is the primary foundation for industry disruption, every year I look forward to Mary Meeker's latest trends report.
Global Internet Growth is Slowing
The internet global population is now at 3 billion. Overall growth is flat at 9% year on year. Excluding India, global internet growth was only 7%. This contrasts to 2009 when the internet was growing at over 15% per year.
India now has 277 million people on the internet, growing at 40% in the last reported year. In 2015, India passed USA to become the number two global user market behind China.
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"A business based on brand is, very simply, a business primed for success" - David F. D'Alessandro
Forbes recently published the latest list of the Top 100 World's Most Valuable Brands. By the numbers, following are key insights from the 2016 edition:
Top countries: USA (52 brands), Germany (11), Japan (8), France (6), Switzerland (4).
Top Industries: Technology (17), Financial Services (13), Automobile (12), Consumer Package Goods (10), Luxury (8), Retail (8).
Biggest Gainers: Facebook (44%), Netflix (31%), Google (26%), Amazon (25%), Citi (19%).
Biggest Losers: IBM (-17%), Coach (-13%), Caterpillar (-11%), Siemens (-8%)
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"Customers attach value to a product in proportion to its perceived ability to help solve their problems or meet their needs. All else is derivative...There is no such thing as a commodity. All goods and services are differentiable. Though the usual presumption is that this is more true of consumer goods than of industrial goods and services, the opposite is the actual case." - Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School
The future of retail requires:
Immersive interactive customer experiences across all channels, both virtual and in the store. Store associates as passionate brand ambassadors that engage a mobile educated shopping consumer.Back to retail basics, this means that store employees need to spend the majority of their time on the actual sales floor interacting with consumers. All tasks that detract from the actual retail selling process need to be either totally eliminated or highly minimized.
Recently, I had the pleasure of introducing a new Tyco evolutionary technology solution branded "Source Tagging as a Service" (STaaS). On multiple levels, this new innovative service delivers a secure and profitable future of retail.
What is Source Tagging?
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Are Department Stores the Dinosaurs of the Digital Age?
In March, I had the pleasure of speaking at an Intercontinental Group of Department Stores (IGDS) industry conference in Amsterdam. My topics included a retail industry update, the future destiny of the department store, and the sector's RFID adoption trends.
A November 2015 article proclaimed "The long, painful death of the American department store."
Are department stores stuck in the middle trying to serve all consumer segments? Are the stores too big and missing the industry trend of stores getting smaller? Is retail sales growth possible for department stores? How can department stores evolve and thrive in the future of retail?- Details
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Chain Store Age
Harvard Business Review
It is a Small World
“Even monkeys can fall from their trees.” – Japanese Proverb
Continuing our global learning journey, our next stop is Tokyo Japan. Founded, in 1603, this city was once a small fishing village called Edo. In 1890, it became Tokyo which means Eastern Capital in English.
In Tokyo, you will find the world’s busiest intersection, the Shibuya crossing where 2,500 people cross the intersection, every time the lights turn green. This city also holds the record for the most Michelin starred restaurants at 212 places to enjoy amazing food.
Tokyo is the most populous city in the world with 37 million people. Uniqueness is everywhere, even in vending machines, where you can buy hot meals, fresh produce, and even umbrellas. There is one vending machine in the city for every two people.
Have lost count on the many times I visited Tokyo to experience their modern retail industry. This picture is from the New Otani Hotel gardens, a favorite during multiple visits.
As the Japanese proverb that opened this summary reminds us, no matter how accomplished we become, you can always make a mistake. Overconfidence can lead to missteps. Life is one sweet ride and Japan provides many reminders on how to enjoy it.
Categories
Brilliant Research
World Happiness Report 2024
The top 10 countries have remained much the same since before COVID. Finland is still top, with Denmark now very close, and all five Nordic countries in the top 10. But in the next 10, there is more change, with the transition countries of Eastern Europe rising in happiness (especially Czechia, Lithuania and Slovenia). Partly for this reason the United States and Germany have fallen to 23 and 24 in the rankings. - A partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board. Read more
Smart Infographic
ChatGPT Statistics - Users, Revenue (March 2024)
ChatGPT has over 180.5 million monthly users as of March 2024. Nearly 15% of the ChatGPT users are from the United States. More than 92% of Fortune 500 companies are using ChatGPT. atGPT is forecasted to generate a revenue of $1 billion in 2024. 53% of the readers failed to identify ChatGPT written content as AI-written. – From Demandsage.com
Insightful Videos
The World Ahead 2024: five stories to watch out for
From the biggest election year in history, to how to control AI and even taxis that fly, The Economist offers its annual look at the world ahead. Read more
