Tony D'Onofrio"Technology will be your canvas and how you shape your work of art will be totally up to you." - Tony D'Onofrio
My favorite post from last week was from Mashable and it highlighted the 11 "big" tech trends that we will see in 2013. While the list was interesting, more intriguing were the interwoven fundamental business opportunities that these new technologies are driving.
"Loss prevention as a 'profession' is still underway – for many in retailing it is still viewed as being primarily about locks, bolts, alarms, catching thieves and providing muscle in uniform. However, to others it is about making a valuable contribution to the profitability of a business through understanding the root causes of shrinkage and developing solutions that are fit for purpose." Adrian Beck, University of Leicester (UK)
The above quote was on a PowerPoint chart at NRF 2013 in New York a couple of weeks ago in a session titled "Big Data, Predictive Analytics, and the Bottom Line."
"Choose a job you like and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius
In the hustle and bustle of running through life, we often forget that we are actually on a journey which has an expiration date. My favorite post this week was a reminder that the journey of life is really work in progress. Think of it as a personal resume, an accumulation of individual choices that through time build into your life's work.
THOUGHTS & INSIGHTS FROM NRF 2013 "Now, you know the rest of the story." - Paul Harvey 
Over 27,000 people from 70 countries gathered in New York this week to attend the NRF 2013 retail "Big Show." Post the holiday season, this trade event is the wrap up gift to close the previous year, think about the new year, and more importantly filter through the messages on the long term trends of the global retail industry.
"Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the future, and from the present to live better in the future." - William Wordsworth
Having just moved to Europe for three years, 2013 promises to be a year of new experiences, possibilities, and opportunities to shape the future. Timely that this move was at the beginning of a new year.
This week's post was inspired by a recent article in "Fortune" magazine where Steve Jobs and Sam Walton were compared and contrasted by their biographers Walter Isaacson and John Huey (1). Walton and Jobs were born in different eras, had very diverse backgrounds, pursued different paths to success, failed a few times along the way, and all while still chasing their career zenith by the end of their lives. In this post, we will discuss the ONE thing they both had in common that ultimately made them superstars in their respective fields.
Let's start with some quotes from both Sam Walton and Steve Jobs.
As we are near the end of 2012, let's start this week's discussion by revisiting the Apparel Magazine 2013 RFID retail predictions that were published in the October personal post "RFID's Moment of Retail Truth" (1):
2013 will be the year of the "Specialty Retailer" with a noticeable proliferation of RFID implementations."Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it." Alan Perlis (*)
Last week's post was focused on predicting the 2013 top 10 retail trends for retail. This week want to expand this discussion with some additional insights from some other sources on how technology continues to add both complexity and opportunity to our mutual futures.
"With high hopes for the future, no prediction is ventured." - Abraham Lincoln
On March 4, 1865, the above words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln in a short, yet very powerful speech given on the day of his second inauguration as President of the United States. As backdrop to this speech, Lincoln had just won a major legislative win in passing the 13th Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery (as dramatically depicted in the current Steven Spielberg movie) and the Civil War raged on taking over 620,000 lives (the most of any war in USA history) by the time it ended in April 1865. The same month the war ended, roughly one month after this speech, Lincoln was assassinated.
"51% of (consumer) respondents said that, in the next eight years (by 2020), they expect retail locations to be showrooms for selecting and ordering products." - CapGemini Study (*)
As a follower of both technology and retail, this is the season to think about what gadgets need to be on the holiday shopping list.
“What I love most of this crazy life is the adventure of it.” – Juliette Binoche
Continuing the journey to learn something new, we explore the Matterhorn in Zermatt Switzerland. Believed to be 50 to 60 million years old, this world-famous mountain was formed when the African crashed into the European tectonic plate.
The Matterhorn, in Italian known as Monte Cervino and French as Mont Cervin, is the 10th highest mountain in Switzerland at 14,692 feet (4,478 meters). The summit was first reached on July 14, 1865 by a team led by Edward Whymper. During the descent, four members of the team fell to their death. The Matterhorn is one of the most dangerous mountains to climb in the Alps with over 500 deaths to date.
The Matterhorn first appeared on the famous Toblerone chocolate in 1960. Look closely at the mountain on the packaging and you will see a bear. This is a reference to the city of Bern, where Theodor Tobler first invented the chocolate bar.
The town of Zermatt at the base of the Matterhorn bans cars to preserve the Alpine environment. The Theodul glacier which you can access from Zermatt is located at 3883 meters (12,740 feet) and offers the highest elevation ski area in Europe.
Being in nature is my go-to motivational escape to clear my mind and prioritize life priorities. Mountains are an amazing inspirational mental canvas because their massive scale makes everything around you, including your worries, feel small. The raw beauty and quiet wilderness provide perspective.
Find your special natural wonder. Enjoy its beauty. Remember that you are here for a short time, and what is around you will live on. Take chances. Setbacks are miniscule, compared to the possibilities of reaching your peak life nirvana. In the lyrics from the Sound of Music, "climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, 'till you find your dream"
What’s Next for Retail in 2026: An Industry Perspective
Confidence in physical retail remains solid this year. More than 55% of survey respondents said they feel confident or very confident about brick-and-mortar performance in 2026, while only around 20% expressed concern. - From Place AI Read more
Mapped: The Happiest Countries in the World
The Number 1 country continued lead reinforces a broader trend: countries with strong institutions, high trust, and robust social safety nets consistently rank highest in life satisfaction. - From Visual Capitalist
