Published on: January 9, 2020
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Published on: January 9, 2020
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Published on: January 9, 2020
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Published on: January 9, 2020
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Published on: January 9, 2020
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Published on: January 9, 2020
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Published on: January 9, 2020
This commentary is available as both text and video; enjoy both or either ... they are similar, but not exactly the same. To see past FaceTime commentaries, go to the MNB Channel on YouTube.
Hi, Kevin Coupe here, and this is FaceTime with the Content Guy.
It seems obvious to say that shoppers have a vastly expanded range of options when it comes to acquiring product, and one of the iterations that I have been most impressed with is StitchFix, which essentially is a clothing subscription service.
Here's how it works. You go on the StitchFix site and answer a series of questions about your size and clothing preferences, and then sign up for regular deliveries of clothing based on the profile the company is building. The idea is that with every new shipment, the profile will get more nuanced and so the selection will become more and more, you'll excuse the expression, tailored your needs and taste.
Each shipment has five articles of clothing, and if you keep all five, you get a 25 percent discount on the total. If you keep fewer, you pay straight retail, in addition to the small styling fee. If you keep none, you're just paying the styling fee. Returns are free.
Now, I was persuaded that this is a business model with real potential by the fact that my wife and two of my kids quickly became members … and my wife and daughter also signed on for Nordstrom's Trunk Club, which offers a similar service. None of them particularly like clothing shopping, and so services like these definitely had appeal.
My 30-year-old son remains a big fan of StitchFix - it is like they totally got him, and almost everything they sent him was something he liked. And I don't think he'd mind my saying that StitchFix has helped him improve his game when it comes to clothing. It has been more of a mixed bag for my wife and daughter - they tend to like Trunk Club more than StitchFix, and it seems like they send back more than they keep, but both services have managed to help them avoid going to stores. So that's a win.
I'm not sure why, but I sort of resisted the StitchFix lure, even though everyone else in my house is a customer. But a few months ago I decided to give it a try and see if the business model would work for me.
I got a deal - three shipments over three months, and only one styling fee - and I was curious to see how it all would play out.
I'm here to tell you that in my case, StitchFix batted about .400 … an average that will get you into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but was lower than I expected from the company. The first box was a big win - I liked and kept all five items, but I sent everything back from the second box and only kept one out of five items from the third.
On the plus side, I discovered a jeans brand - Mavi - that I absolutely love (but that I can get from a number of other sites, including Amazon). I also learned that I don't really need as many clothes as StitchFix wants to send me, and so I've changed the frequency to quarterly, and we'll see what they come up with in April. (To be fair, I took a lot of things off the table in my StitchFix profile - I didn't want them to send me any outerwear, shoes, belts, or dress clothing. So I probably was something of a challenge.)
Having gone through the experience, though, I wouldn't say that I am any less persuaded that a StitchFix-style model has real applicability and viability. In essence, it is an automatic replenishment model, which for me makes sense when it comes to the consumables I buy via Amazon's Subscribe and Save, but not for jeans and shirts.
But the real lesson I take from my StitchFix experience is that it isn't for everyone - but that's okay. In fact, it is the point … that it is critical for retailers to be more targeted when it comes to understanding the needs and wants of their specific customers, and not create one-size-fits-all models that inevitably will prove disappointing to a lot of people.
Some people want to go to the store, some people want pickup services, some want delivery, and some will want automatic replenishment services … and a lot of people will want to use all of the above, depending on the day and the time and the circumstances.
Which is why a nimble distribution system is critical … making sure you have the products people want, and making sure that you have a variety of ways to get those products to people in a timely, efficient and effective manner.
You know. Sort of like a consumer-centric ecosystem. (I wonder what big company has that as job one?)
That's what is on my mind this morning. As always, I want to hear what is on your mind.
Published on: January 9, 2020
Walmart yesterday unveiled what it is calling Alphabot, which Bloomberg describes as "an automated, 20,000-square-foot warehouse that could make its grocery pickup service faster and more efficient."Published on: January 9, 2020
MSN News reports that regional grocer H-E-B has topped a new Dunnhumby ranking of the top US grocers that evaluated seven categories through the prism of consumer responses: price, quality, digital, operations, convenience, discounts and rewards, and speed.Published on: January 9, 2020
The Memphis Business Journal reports that Memphis shoppers are all excited about the possibility that Publix may be opening stores there, prompted by the fact that many of them received mailers from the retailer, which has been expanding in the mid-Atlantic but has not yet announced that it is coming to Memphis.Published on: January 9, 2020
Quartz reports that "Amazon plans to launch its own digital platform for luxury fashion," essentially operating "similar to the concession model seen in department stores and specialty retailers, where brands effectively lease space or pay a percentage of sales to run their own mini-shops within the store."Published on: January 9, 2020
Excellent story in the New York Times about high-profile chefs who currently are running some of the nation's most prestigious and gastronomically adventurous restaurants, but who got much of their training and early experience working at the likes of Applebee's, IHOP, and Wendy's.Published on: January 9, 2020
• Bloomberg reports that Amazon's Ring subsidiary has fired "at least four employees for improperly seeking access to customer data over the last four years." Specifically, the firings took place because the employees watched more customer video shot by Ring doorbells and cameras than was appropriate for their jobs.Published on: January 9, 2020
• Westchester Magazine reports that Wegmans has determined when its new store in Harrison, New York, which will serve both suburban Westchester County and southeastern Fairfield County, will open: Sunday, June 7, 2020.Published on: January 9, 2020
• Stater Bros. Markets announced that Keith Thomas, the company's group senior vice president of retail operations and a 39-year veteran of the company, has been promoted to the role of executive vice president of retail operations.Published on: January 9, 2020
Buck Henry, the actor. writer and director, has passed away at age 89.Published on: January 9, 2020
MNB the other day took note of a VentureBeat story about how Procter & Gamble is at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas showing off "a connected baby care system … It updates traditional baby monitoring by combining a video monitor with an activity sensor to offer parents a real-time holistic view of their baby’s sleep, feeding, and diapering patterns — all in one place. The company said Lumi transforms the data into tangible, personalized insights and actionable tips to support parents as their baby develops and grows. By blending real tracking insights with their own intuition, parents can know, at a glance, how their baby is doing and anticipate their offspring’s needs."