HeadCount Corporation

"I've ridden in Waymo cars twice and found the experience excellent. Waymo is conspicuously absent from this article," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "Waymo (Google owned), has not only satisfied regulatory requirements for autonomous driving services, but is already expanding coverage in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Tesla (or should I say Elon Musk), talks a good game, but self-evidently, Waymo is already miles ahead. And while both Uber and Lyft were trying to develop their own autonomous vehicles, my understanding is that both company’s have given up developing and are instead partnering with others. The reliance on human drivers remains a constant source of challenges for Uber and Lyft including recruiting/retaining good drivers, thwarting lawmakers who want to deem drivers employees and bad press/law suits that arise from rogue human drivers who do bad things. So while it may be a very long time before the need for human drivers is eliminated, it’s already begun." Check out more insights from one of the retail industry’s leading experts - https://buff.ly/3qRfPx2. More great comments on this topic by RetailWire's BrainTrust experts including: Neil Saunders, Melissa Minkow, David Biernbaum, John Hennessy, •Shep Hyken, Gary Sankary, Gail Rodwell-Simon -- Retail • Strategy • Transformation, Lucille DeHart, and Mark Self.

"Asset-light” is an interesting way to characterize these deals. I suspect that it will be light on results too," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "I fail to see what these retailers see in Bed, Bath & Beyond – a brand that is well past it’s prime and heading into Sear’s territory. Yes, in-store shops have their place, but putting weak brands together doesn’t produce meaningful outcomes. You never know how things might turn out, but I’m skeptical that these deals will deliver the outcomes the retailers believe they will."

"According to the 2nd Quarter Retail E-commerce Sales Estimate from the US Census Bureau (August 2024), E-commerce sales (web and mobile) accounted for 16% of total retail sales. While online shopping is continuing to grow, and especially shopping via mobile, the physical store is still where ~ 84% of sales are made," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "And even if the sale is not transacted in the physical store, often a store visit is a precursor to an online purchase. This is why all retailers need to execute effectively in-store and online."

"Walmart is most certainly delivering exceptional results, but it’s more than just because of scale," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "Walmart has had a scale advantage for decades, but it has done what many other retailers have not: continue to innovate, invest and create new revenue streams. They have invested in the frontline teams, increasing wages, providing productivity tools and training; they have evolved their supply-chain and logistics systems to improve efficiency; they continue to test new product lines, concepts and technologies, deploying the ones the work and terminating the ones that don’t. They don’t rest on their laurels. Many of the other retailers mentioned have had success, but due to complacency, poor strategy or execution have failed to produce consistently meaningful business outcomes."

"It’s clear that SHEIN, Temu and TikTok have had a significant impact especially with younger consumers, and the launch of Amazon Haul is Amazon’s declaration that it’s prepared to fight for some of that market," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "While Amazon Haul appears to be not much more than a ‘me too’ strategy, because it is Amazon, it will have an impact. I doubt that Amazon will capture significant market share, but it will capture some, and Amazon’s gain will be SHEIN and Temu’s loss."

"By highlighting their reviews, Amazon adds credibility and encourages shopping, especially for shoppers who haven’t shopped online, or hardly shop online," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "Customer reviews are critical, despite the credibility hits they rightly take from time-to-time. Amazon has a good idea of which reviews are likely authentic and likely fake. I have little doubt that Amazon studies reviews and customer feedback carefully, and then uses the insights to craft new messages that will resonate." Check out more insights from one of the retail industry’s leading experts - https://buff.ly/3qRfPx2. More great comments on this topic by RetailWire's BrainTrust experts including: Neil Saunders, Lisa Goller, MBA, David Biernbaum, Gail Rodwell-Simon, Scott Benedict, John Hennessy, Brian Numainville, Rachelle King, Richard George, Mohammad Ahsen (Socially Ahsen), and Roland Gossage

"A 20%+ decline in stock price is a wild overreaction by Wall Street," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "The high mix of discretionary goods is partly the reason, but anyone counting Target out this holiday season hasn’t been watching Target over the years. Target’s holiday plans have been baked in for months, and so now it’s a question of executing – and, Target knows how to execute. Heavy discounting is a big part of the play, which will almost certainly drive top-line sales. Profitability may still see some pressure given the heavy promotional activity that Target has already telegraphed. As for the stock price – as they say, under promise and over deliver, and that’s exactly what I believe Target leadership is doing." Check out more insights from one of the retail industry’s leading experts - https://buff.ly/3qRfPx2. More great comments on this topic by RetailWire's BrainTrust experts including: Neil Saunders, David Biernbaum, Melissa Minkow, Jeff Sward, and Brandon Rael.

"Changing consumer behavior is a challenge, even for efforts like reducing or eliminating plastic waste that virtually everyone agrees is bad for the environment," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "The issue here is not the ‘what’ but the ‘how.’ California took one approach, assessed the outcomes and determined that additional, stricter provisions were required to produce the outcomes they desire. It’s the government’s responsibility to enact regulations and, as a coastal state California is especially exposed to the consequences of the plastic bag pollution problem since this often ends up in the ocean. Consumers will eventually get past this, just as they have done in every other jurisdiction where plastic has been banned." Check out more insights from one of the retail industry’s leading experts - https://buff.ly/3qRfPx2. More great comments on this topic by RetailWire's BrainTrust experts including: Neil Saunders, James Tenser, John Lietsch, David Biernbaum, Kai Clarke -L.I.O.N., Joel Rubinson, David Spear, Robert Amster, Mark Self, and Oliver Guy 🚀.

"This will be the biggest test of Andy Jassy’s leadership since he took over as CEO in July 2021," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "This staff announcement is the first major tech firm requiring five day a week attendance, and there’s little doubt that workers and employers alike are watching to see what happens. In many ways, work-from-home has become woven into the work lives of knowledge workers around the world, and the threats of quitting over this should be taken very seriously by any employer thinking of making this move. Assuming Jassy holds his ground on the edict, in the short term, the company may experience an exodus of key employees. These will be difficult to fill and it will make Amazon a less desirable employer. But in the longer run, the five day a week requirement will simply become reality at Amazon and with it’s balance sheet full of AWS cash, it will eventually be able to hire the people they need – even if they are required to be in the office five days per week." Check out more insights from one of the retail industry’s leading experts - https://buff.ly/3qRfPx2. More great comments on this topic by RetailWire's BrainTrust experts including: Neil Saunders, Jenn McMillen CLMP, David Biernbaum, Dick Seesel, Lisa Goller, MBA, Georganne Bender, Clay Parnell, Gary Sankary, Mark Self, Robert Amster, Jeff Sward, Kenneth Leung, Brian Cluster, •Shep Hyken, and John Hennessy.

"I applaud Costco on this initiative, given that governments have not been able to solve housing issues that persist in virtually every community," says Mark Ryski, Author, CEO & Founder of HeadCount Corporation. "People go to Costco anyway, so why not live close? The way humans live together is evolving, and developers are creating new living/shopping/working environments like this example. Only time will ultimately tell how successful this will be, but there are plenty of great examples of mixed-use space in the world and so I expect that we will see more of this in the future." Check out more insights from one of the retail industry’s leading experts - https://buff.ly/3qRfPx2. More great comments on this topic by RetailWire's BrainTrust experts including: Neil Saunders, Jenn McMillen CLMP, Georganne Bender, David Biernbaum, 🏷 Ricardo Belmar, David Weinand, James Tenser, David Spear, John Hennessy, Verlin Youd, Jeff Sward, Gary Sankary, Kenneth Leung, Mark Self, and Kai Clarke -L.I.O.N.