Leadership and 2020 Vision that Sees the Future is Now
by Marc Weiss
I Googled Blockbuster store locations and a solo location popped up in Bend, Oregon, now known as the “Last Blockbuster.”
There were once over 9,000 locations, and Blockbuster employed 84,000 people. “With one store left in the world, the video rental chain’s approaching extinction is a reminder of all the things that can go wrong in retail.” - retaildive.com. They were absorbed by DISH Network in 2011.
Poor leadership is one of the primary reasons Blockbuster failed. They had an opportunity to purchase the fledgling Netflix in 2000 for fifty million dollars, and instead opted to partner with Enron. The Netflix market cap today is 144.2 billion. Enough said…
Leadership is not about being the boss; it is about leading your business into the future and not chasing the past. What are the one or two major decisions you will make in 2020 that will secure your business’s future?
How will your physical store evolve to serve your customers? In a recent interview, Retail Prophet, Doug Stephens stated that “66% of the time, when it occurs to an American consumer that they need a product, they’re going directly to Amazon to search for it. Not a mall, shopping center, or store.”
Credit: Doug Stephens, Retail Prophet
Credit: Doug Stephens, Retail Prophet
The answer for brick and mortar, according to Stephens, is that consumers crave better physical retail experiences. The retailers that birthed online, like Warby Parker, Casper, and Bonobos, are opening physical locations to acquire new customers and create an experience that cannot be duplicated online. They see their stores as another media platform according to Stephens.
You can read the entire illuminating Stephens interview by clicking HERE.
Sergio Mannino, a Forbes New York Business Council Member. wrote about transforming stores in an April 2018 issue of Forbes, ”If you need real-world examples, look no further than some of the world’s most successful brands and what it is like to enter their stores. As well as seeing their products online, you want to tour the original Dr. Martens factory with a virtual reality system by Oculus in the Camden flagship in London, try on Nike sneakers and test them out on the court or on a simulated run at the brand's SoHo store in New York City, and create your own video in the Warby Parker Green Room on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.”
The challenge for the small independent retailer is to re-examine how they create an experience in their stores, and how they message that out. They can no longer do what is safe and, in their own economies, they need to start taking risks. Last year, I wrote and spoke about change being reflected in both an iterative and innovative process. Embrace both.
Independent specialty retail requires leadership and vision for their businesses to adapt to a world that is going forward, with or without them. Show that you are not just a survivor; be a “thriver.”
ONWARDS & UPWARDS,
Marc Weiss
CEO and President
Management One™ and Retail ORBIT®