March 27, 2023 Launching a retail media network is the path towards riches. Put simply, retail margins are measured in the single digits compared to double digit media margins. Retailers have jumped on this opportunity as site traffic has grown two, three, four, even five times higher compared to pre-pandemic.Of course, it’s smacking them in the face. […]
February 20, 2023 Brands think retail media is simply a math problem. Something that can be solved and optimized with the right metric or software or agency. After all, it’s performance marketing. It’s measurable. It’s closed loop. It’s calculable. But people aren’t math problems.Retail media creates people problems. It blurs roles and responsibilities, creating fear, uncertainty and an underlying fight […]
December 7, 2022 You may have heard the term “infinite shelf”, which is meant to describe the unlimited number of items Amazon (and increasingly Walmart) sell. Searching for “ice cream scoop” returns 1,000+ options on Amazon compared to the 14 results at the local Target store. But “infinite shelf” misleads digital practitioners.99% of the 1,000+ options don’t matter. […]
November 21, 2022 In January 2022, Stratably analyzed the digital experience of board members across 30 CPG companies finding that, on average, there was only one director per board that had digital experience. Stratably recommended consumer brands add digital expertise to their boards to help develop and execute a digital vision to maximize firm value. The biggest surprise […]
November 10, 20222 minute read It’s tough out there for Amazon Aggregators…LayoffsLawsuitsValuation cuts Pessimism has taken over….you might hear things like the model is “unworkable”, “stupid”, “dead”. But maybe not. Roll up models (i.e. “aggregators”) exist all over.Car washesPhysician officesEven cemeteries! It’s a common way PE firms go about their business. Another example – big CPG companies that are a combination […]
October 8, 2022 We went on an incrementality journey this week… Talking about why it’s a complicated question to askDeveloping a framework to answer it with rigorApplying it to real-world case studiesThe framework considered incremental SALES as the focal point. That largely makes sense, but it’s not necessarily the FULL picture. There are other incremental benefits that […]
October 7, 2022 On Monday and Wednesday, we laid out a six-question framework to help more cleanly answer the common question digital leaders get – “Is it incremental?”. To refresh, the framework included asking:Does it enable us to create net-new assortment?Does it reduce friction in the buyer journey?Does it create new consumption patterns (or dayparts)?Does it reach […]
October 5, 2022 On Monday we laid out the challenges that come when asked “Is it incremental”? To refresh your memory, this question is often posed to digital leaders in the context of investing into a new retailer or new model, such as a marketplace or quick-commerce or shoppable recipes, and so on. It’s challenging because:We have imperfect […]