The commercial world is already saturated with vendor messages of data being the new oil, we get all that. Amazon is scaling new peaks of revenue based on its entire business model being driven by analytics. Financial Services organizations have long exploited the speed of data analysis to gain competitive advantage. Social Media companies are efficient data manufactories that drive their advertising revenues. The upsides and downsides are now becoming apparent and with it a new opportunity.

30th October 2018

Last week’s press reported retailers visibly quaking in their boots at Amazon’s proposed purchase of Wholefoods. The Amazon machine is not just in the backyard, it’s climbing up to the roof ready to unceremoniously kick the tiles off. (June 2017)

Over the last few years there have been a number of stories, ideas and postings regarding selling personal data. I thought I'd gather them up in one place because they are defining a requirement that needs to be fulfilled - probably within the next 12 months. Original post from 2007, updated Feb 2018.

Recent trajectories of three retailing behemoths are indicative of another sea-change in the industry. Sears Holdings facing certain demise within the next 12 months, Walmart desperately trying to re-invent itself and Amazon steadily marching forwards eating everything in its path. What are the lessons for the rest of the retail sector?

Sears is a dying retailer, with a business model that is unable to adapt and compete in the new digital-first world. As it sells off its real estate, retail nameplates and product brands, it clears the way for a new breed. LIke the wolves of Yellowstone, Eddie Lampert is doing the industry a favor. (March 2017)

Walmart's interest in Jet.com led me to a 2013 Patent that might describe the e-commerce infrastructure that enables Jet to offer 'Gain Sharing'. Jet is able to take a large number of independent variables from a broad range of systems and bring them together to set a discounted price at the the cart. (August 2016)

There is an asymmetry between personal data held by companies and by the individual consumer. Companies know a lot about us, we don't know much at all -- even about what they know. What's the right balance and are we on our way there? (June 2013)

Omni-Channel retailing seems to be all the rage these days - aligning assortment, centralizing inventory and providing a seamless customer experience. However, there are a number of interesting startups that are innovating beyond the current Omni-channel paradigms (March 2013)

The growth of Social Media has elevated identity, privacy and big data to become vital topics for CIOs and CMOs of online businesses. Looking deeper into legislative, consumer and technology trends, I see the challenges for the post-digital organization as: Privacy, Ownership and Persistence. 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' provides a handy metaphor to describe the challenges faced by post-digital businesses. (January 2013)

Why would a retailer care about the semantic web, surely this is just another technology fad that the IT department can distract itself with instead of delivering faster transaction systems or more accurate and up-to-date reports? Not so. If fact it turns out semantic technology may enable robust solutions to your retail business users' most pressing problems. (December 2011)