Somehow the idea that store closings means the internet is benefitting is gaining ground, and that is too bad for people who form beliefs based on mere assertions, and not on hard facts.
My "secret" in teaching and writing on business is I refuse to proceed with hard facts, test them, and then take no risks. It is no secret, sine anyone thriving does exactly that, the only difference is instead of watching football games I like to lecture. There are countless people who can teach what I teach, know what i know, but they just aren't into teaching too. Indeed, I learned it from non-teachers.
Never mind the internet, I said so in my book a decade ago, and it still is good advice. Sure sell to ecommerce sites, but skip ecommerce yourself. eCommerce is less than 8% of all retail sales, and is likely an unprofitable segment. In any event, why go where only 8% of your customers reside? Why no go where 92% of them are, and a profitable 92% at that?
Because people want to believe that there is a shortcut to making money. And in so aspiring to money, the lose out on lifestyle. Sigh.
To the article:
Repeat after me: If the internet was going to grow more than 8%, it would have done so by now. It is not going to get larger than that. That is why Amazon etc is cannibalizing other online ventures, and not trying to convert brick and mortar to online.
Four years ago I put up a video on the topic of store closings... the lecture pointed out what people are talking about today, store closings. In the video I make the point that the products on the shelves, four years ago where boom ethos products, and stores needed busted ethos products.
What I could not see four years ago is that the state would enforce a zombification of our economy, starving our elders so they Dick Cheney and how Wall Street crew could have more cool $#!* while promising free health care. The game is Dick Cheney and his crew get their free $#!* now, and the free health care never shows up.
Now that the zombification of the economy game appears to be ending (watch the stock market bubble burst, when it bursts) there will be a flood of properties coming on the market, zero interest in the junk on the shelves of Macy's (I overheard someone say the Goodwill store present better than Macys now) and internet sales will drop as the customer base, for the internet gets laid off.
Organic (in the sense of integrated), local business will return, and the boom and zombie brick and mortar will die off, with a stake through its heart.
All of those sitting pretty with pensions, and 401Ks and other notional assets will find their lifestyles gone, and the businesses serving those notional wealth will doe out, allowing a true economy to replace this false one.
Or, we'll do what they are doing in Venezuela. The question is not whether Romney or Obama or Hillary is another Maduro of Venezuela, They are in fact one and the same. The question is if the American people are the same as the Venezuelan people. Are we exceptional? So far, we are not.
Feel fe to forward this by email to three of your friends.
My "secret" in teaching and writing on business is I refuse to proceed with hard facts, test them, and then take no risks. It is no secret, sine anyone thriving does exactly that, the only difference is instead of watching football games I like to lecture. There are countless people who can teach what I teach, know what i know, but they just aren't into teaching too. Indeed, I learned it from non-teachers.
Never mind the internet, I said so in my book a decade ago, and it still is good advice. Sure sell to ecommerce sites, but skip ecommerce yourself. eCommerce is less than 8% of all retail sales, and is likely an unprofitable segment. In any event, why go where only 8% of your customers reside? Why no go where 92% of them are, and a profitable 92% at that?
Because people want to believe that there is a shortcut to making money. And in so aspiring to money, the lose out on lifestyle. Sigh.
To the article:
"Stores will disappear and survivors will shrink, as consumers turn to the Internet for their shopping, they explain."
Repeat after me: If the internet was going to grow more than 8%, it would have done so by now. It is not going to get larger than that. That is why Amazon etc is cannibalizing other online ventures, and not trying to convert brick and mortar to online.
Four years ago I put up a video on the topic of store closings... the lecture pointed out what people are talking about today, store closings. In the video I make the point that the products on the shelves, four years ago where boom ethos products, and stores needed busted ethos products.
What I could not see four years ago is that the state would enforce a zombification of our economy, starving our elders so they Dick Cheney and how Wall Street crew could have more cool $#!* while promising free health care. The game is Dick Cheney and his crew get their free $#!* now, and the free health care never shows up.
Now that the zombification of the economy game appears to be ending (watch the stock market bubble burst, when it bursts) there will be a flood of properties coming on the market, zero interest in the junk on the shelves of Macy's (I overheard someone say the Goodwill store present better than Macys now) and internet sales will drop as the customer base, for the internet gets laid off.
Organic (in the sense of integrated), local business will return, and the boom and zombie brick and mortar will die off, with a stake through its heart.
All of those sitting pretty with pensions, and 401Ks and other notional assets will find their lifestyles gone, and the businesses serving those notional wealth will doe out, allowing a true economy to replace this false one.
Or, we'll do what they are doing in Venezuela. The question is not whether Romney or Obama or Hillary is another Maduro of Venezuela, They are in fact one and the same. The question is if the American people are the same as the Venezuelan people. Are we exceptional? So far, we are not.
Feel fe to forward this by email to three of your friends.
1 comments:
The idea that internet sales are overcoming real store sales is a delusional perception apparently. People "see" the internet as big part of their lives, they chat, online shop, surf the internet all day, etc., and this gives the false impression that the internet is bigger, more effective and useful than it really is. It seems like researchers and journalists are not immune to this false impression as well as evidenced by all of the various news articles telling that the internet is going to massively take over retail sales. The internet is indeed revolutionary and nice to have, but people seem to be getting carried away with it as a tool. How many of these various home-based, internet-webpage businesses (or even regular large business sites) are actually profitable?
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