Walmart is struggling in China. Four reasons why.
Leave a CommentTag: Retail Operations
A few days back James Surowiecki had a question about where the COVID vaccine inventory is located and how many doses we have in each location. It is a pretty good question as it is one of the things that “seems obvious” that we should know, but is just vexing problem in inventory control.
Leave a CommentWhen I heard the story of Tony Hsieh’s tragic passing, the meaninglessness of the tragedy struck me deep. The death not only cut short his young life but also culled the dynamism of his ideas and a promise of a better future. I did not know Mr. Hsieh, but many whom I respect knew him and held him in high regard. Om Malik wrote a beautiful, heartfelt essay on what Tony Hsieh meant to people pursuing their ideas. I will write about the brilliance of Zappos, which was perhaps the biggest e-commerce acquisition of Amazon (1.2 billion USD in 2009), the first of their billion-dollar acquisitions. Zappos was not a run of the mill internet retailer. It was a strikingly…
Leave a CommentIn the true style of an armchair researcher, I write about furniture. I evaluate the goals and purpose of the IKEA’s buyback program. In the name of fighting “excessive consumption”, IKEA makes a serious attempt to rejuvenate their stores in the Covid world.
Leave a CommentI explore the natural boundaries of Amazon’s customer obsession – tracing the notion from Aesop’s Fables to the Theory of Moral Sentiments.
Leave a CommentEvery one is worried that monopolies are getting large. FTC is worried too.
This is not a post on Facebook and Instagram, or another commonly directed invective at the Amazon, YouTube and other platforms that are pervading our lives. After a long lull, FTC has decided that they need to step in and prevent the most pernicious monopoly that has cut many people: Razor Blades. Also, not in the way you think.
I write about things FTC got right, and what they got wrong, in their unanimous decision to sue to block the Edgewell-Harry’s merger.
Sometime back, I talked about grocery retail history, and as Trader Joe’s is in news recently, I think that it is a good time to visit the grocery landscape on this blog. I write about the history of Aldi and TJ’s and what makes TJ’s click: Supply Chain Integration, Product Curation, Staffing and Design Aesthetics.
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