Working in the retail business means I often stand back and look at my shopping behaviors.  With the Christmas shopping season now gone I wanted to make a few notes on how my shopping behaviors changed for this season.  This year I can honestly say that I had a big shift in the way that shopping was done.

It all comes down to three things: Amazon Prime, my iPhone, and RedLaser.

I’ve had Amazon Prime for a couple of years now.  It is very convenient to look something up on Amazon, click the “Two Day One-Click” button and whamo!  Two days later it shows up on my doorstep.  And during the holiday season it is really worth it.  We had boxes arriving every other day.  It’s even convenient to send to people who are out of state.  I don’t have to buy a present and take it to the post office to ship — I just buy it from Amazon and have them ship it.

By my estimates about 60% of this years gifts came from Amazon.  That’s a lot more than in years past.  Why so many more than before?  Easy… my iPhone.  I made an earlier post about all the things I could do with my iPhone.  The following are all the things I did just with my shopping this year using the iPhone, RedLaser, and the Amazon app:

• During a conversation with someone about a gift idea I looked it up on Amazon, clicked one button and ordered it.  Showed up two days later.
• In looking at a gift at a store I wanted to see reviews on it.  So I looked it up on Amazon and read the reviews (which were good).  I also saw that the price in the store was slightly better than Amazon (rare) so I bought the item.
• At Target I went to get an item that they had on sale.  They were out of them.  Looked it up on Amazon and they had it for the same price.  I ordered it right there.
• Several times while looking at items in the store I used RedLaser to scan the barcode to see if it was cheaper online.  Sometimes it was and I’d just order it instead of buying it.
• Several times I used the iPhone to look up a store to call them and get hours or information.

So what can I learn from all of this?  For me, having inventory at the best price is what it takes.  With an online shipment only two days away and free shipping it makes it hard for the brick and mortar store to compete, especially with things that are the same everywhere — books, movies, electronics, video games, toys, etc.  (Oh… and did I mention that you don’t pay sales tax when ordering from Amazon?)  Welcome to 2010 ladies and gentlemen.

Yesterday I put in some time at the Deseret Industries thrift store as part of a service assignment from church.  I admit, I am terrible at getting out to do service projects.  There is always something that is either in the way of the schedule or something.  I’m not often the first to volunteer — a fault I should try to improve on.

So I had a three hour shift, and while I would like to say it was a fantastic experience and I did a lot of good work, it just didn’t turn out that way.  Honestly it didn’t seem like they needed the extra help.  There were plenty of people there, many of them employees.  But I said I would help for three hours, so I did.  I spent the entire time “merchandising” the floor.  Which essentially means waiting for carts of items that have been sorted in the back room to come out to the floor and then sort items and put them on the shelves.  It certainly wasn’t glamorous work, but I didn’t expect it to be.  But I did expect it to be work, and it just wasn’t.  Slow paced and just trying to pass the time.

So to help pass the time I spent a lot of time observing people.  The DI is certainly a good people watching spot.  So I make note of the items I saw here, for future reference:

• I had not one, but two people approach me and try to haggle on prices.
• One little boy (probably 7 or 8 years old) went down the toy aisle and immediately found a robotic dinosaur right after I put it on the shelf.  He picked it up and spent the next 15 minutes or so following his mom around with it, every now and then pausing to make the dinosaur “roar”.  It didn’t look like he could get any happier.
• There were not one, not even three, but five singing fish on a plaque.  Ughhh… I never want to hear Bobby McFerrin or Talking Heads again.  They should both be punished for licensing their songs to a singing fish.
• The phrase “one man’s garbage is another’s treasure” is so true… absolutely true.
• A mom came up to me with her little girl (about 7 or 8 years old) and asked where the bikes were, so I pointed back to the doors and told them there were plenty.  The smile on that little girl could have lit up a room.
• I watched a little boy pull a Mouse Trap game off the shelf and set the whole thing up on one of the coffee tables.  He was still playing when I left.
• I’ve decided that there is a lot of unused Tupperware in the world.  Lots of it.  Please recycle it people.
• I met a lot of employees who thanked me for volunteering.  They all seemed to like their jobs a lot.  I think that’s the real reason for Deseret Industries.
• They have a lot of books.  However, I think some of them just need to be pulled off the shelf and recycled.  They had reference books for Windows 3.1, DOS 6.0, and Lotus 123.  Even at $0.75 those ones aren’t worth it.

Being involved in the retail business, and more importantly in the technical side of the retail business, I’ve often been amazed at the breakthrough of gift cards and the upsurge in their usage. I’ve seen the retailer side of the story first hand. Most of the retailers that my company deals with have implemented them in one way or another, and if they haven’t, they are going to very soon. Why do the retailers like them so much? I’ll give you the top reasons they get implemented:

• They drive brand loyalty - after all, you can only use the money at that store
• They drive revenue - you’re 80% likely to spend in excess of the gift card amount
• They can use them to return funds to you, instead of giving you cash
• It’s possible to sell them in other locations. Companies like BlackHawk and InComm are making a fortune doing this.
• They are a liability, but an interest free liability.  May as well use it to generate other income, right?

So it’s a given for retailers. But why have consumers taken to them in such huge numbers? Did you know that by buying a gift card from a retailer you are actually extending them an unsecured loan for the $50 you are buying? Recent problems with The Sharper Image moving into bankruptcy are what have prompted me to write this blog entry. The Shaper Image suspended the redemption of their gift cards, so if you had one, you’re out of luck. They have now reinstated gift card redemption, but with new rules. You must use the entire card in one transaction and the transaction amount must be at least double the value of the gift card. Well, what do you expect from loaning money to a company without a formal payment plan?

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I’ve always been a big fan of Costco.  From a retail execution perspective they are one of the best around.  If you want a lesson in running large retail, they are an excellent example.  They take care of their customers and their employees.  And as a result, their shareholders are often taken care of (which is good for me as well, as I own Costco stock).  And I recently read this article regarding Costco installing solar panels on its stores in California to save energy costs.  It’s great for both the environment and for the bottom line.  I would love to see more retailers do it.

But the main thing is that I love shopping at Costco.  I’m not sure exactly why, but for whatever reason, it’s just entertaining.  There is always some bargain to find.  Thanks to our family size, we’re in Costco about once a week.   Maren and Emma love to go.  They eat up as many of the samples as they can and they always want to eat at the food court.  Always good entertainment.

So there ya go.  A quick little post to let you know how mundane our life can be where Costco is great entertainment.

More quotes from yours truly end up in trade publications. This time in an article by Digital Transactions entitled “Gateways Step into the Future”. The article contains a lot of good information on how payment gateways are building acceptance among retailers for electronic payment processing.

“[Payment] gateways centralize things so that retailers can get the best rates from banks and processors and they don’t have to go from one bank to another,” says Andrew Lawrence, product manager at Salt Lake City, Utah-based Tomax Corp. “They get us out of the payments burden of having to deal with banks and do all the necessary certification and specialization work that is required for payments.”

The entire monthly publication can be found here. The quotes from me start on page 37.

The last three weeks at work have been hectic, and it all came to conclusion today. Tomax held its annual Visibility User Conference. I was assigned to present in the big initial group session for about 10 minutes (turned out to be 3 minutes), and then I had three 1 hour sessions that I was in charge of. If you were to ask people at Tomax “What does Andrew think of Visibility?” they would give you the same response that I have been saying for the last three weeks… “Andrew hates Visibility”.

It’s not that I don’t think it is a good idea. It’s just the level of preparation is high. And it is inevitable that things are constantly changing. People are always saying “talk about this”, or “why don’t you mention that”, and it just becomes overwhelming. And then even though the conference is only on Thursday and Friday, all of the customers start arriving early so it is nothing but meetings all week.

But I am happy to say that all of my presentations went very well. There was good enthusiasm for many of the things I presented. I was able to talk with a lot of Tomax customers and vendors and was able to give and receive a lot of good information. Things start off great when after my first 3 minute presentation (which was supposed to be 10) in front of about 150 people, I am told:

“Andrew, you have a really great direct approach to presenting that the audience really identifies with. You did really well.”

And there’s the double-edge sword. I prep for two weeks. I tell the truth while I’m up there. I try to bring some humor to the environment. And I lay it all out there for everyone to ask questions. I’m brilliant. The presentations go fantastic. So what will come as a reward? That’s right, you guessed it, I’ll probably get asked to give more presentations.

And so the cycle will continue. Honestly, I don’t mind giving the presentations as long as I get to control their content 100%. As I have told many people — I am not a salesperson. I can talk about things that I know exist. And I can talk about things that I know will exist in the next 6 months because I am controlling their fate. But I cannot “do the dance” and talk about grand visions for the future. It’s just not my style.

So with that… now I can get back to real work. Well… on Monday, at least.

UPDATE:  I have now been told that I was the “top rated” speaker/presenter at the conference.  Woo hoo!  Oh… wait… curses!  That just means that the back-swing on the double-edge sword is even more powerful.

Note: As part of my effort to become more “retail product management centric” (expanded role at work), I have decided it would be a good idea for me to make regular posts to the blog on things I see and can comment on in the retail tech space. I know it sounds boring, but it’s what I do. And publishing things here can at least begin to make me look like I know what I’m talking about

So… let’s start with this article I found regarding retail customer aggravation with the ever increasing length of a point of sale receipt. I found the article really hitting home with me at work as we are in the middle of writing a new receipt generation engine.

Why are we writing a new receipt engine? Well, frankly, we’re doing it so that our retailers can do exactly what the people in the article are complaining about. We’re doing it so that we can give complete control to the retailer for what they want to put on the receipt:

• Want to put a survey request on the receipt? You can do that.
• Want to print coupons on the receipt? You can do that too.
• Want the items to be categorized by department, print a special thank you message when you spend more than $50, print a survey to every 10th customer, print a message to apply for a store branded credit card to save 10% only if the customer paid with a credit card, print a customer signature line because you purchased a hazardous item, and print a gift receipt - all at the same time? Well sure, you can do that too.

So essentially, we are about to unleash the capability to our retailers so that they can make the aggravating receipts that are mentioned in the article. I designed a good portion of the new software. So I am about to be indirectly responsible for the aggravation of millions of people.

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Tomax has been making changes in regards to a new “product management” focus. Seems funny that I’ve been labeled a product manager since my return, but I guess now they want to move everything in that direction.

What does it mean for me? The biggest thing is that I’ve been given an even longer title than I had before. Before I was just the “Product Manager for Customer Management”. I am now “Product Manager for Merchandise Management, Store Operations, and Customer Management“. Whew! Let’s see if you can say that three times fast. Nah… forget that, let’s see if you can even say it once.

But what it means is that I am in charge of product management for any Tomax products that deal with store inventory, purchasing, receiving (merchandise management), store handheld applications, transfers, loss prevention, cash management (store operations), point of sale, order management, and multi-channel (customer management).

That’s a lot of stuff. As you can see here, Tomax only has six product areas. Now I run three of them. My plan for world domination is slowly coming to fruition! Not really. I’m not real sure what my benefit is… more work and better domain experience, right? It will be good for Tomax. I’m interested to see how it goes over the next year.

I have to post this because it is the first time it has ever happened. A recent article in Multi-Channel Merchant, a retail trade magazine, features some minor quotes from yours truly. They are very minor quotes, but it is my name in print.

“But those days are over, and retailers now need systems that are open and can connect with each other, says Andrew Lawrence, product manager of customer management software for Tomax.”

You can read the full article here.

The new wave of “guerrila marketing” might just be a fad, but you have to admit sometimes it is pretty cool. (Of course, other times it’s not thought through completely.)

Office Max will be revealing their new logo using GPS and a mobile projection system to have a giant rubber band ball bouncing down the streets of Chicago.

The ball will be seen, at various points, spinning in place, bouncing off sidewalks and soaring several stories high as it careens down Michigan Avenue into such Windy City landmarks as the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Sounds pretty cool to me. I wonder what else they can project? Oooo, I got it! How about a 100 foot tall Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man!