PROFILE
Chris Petersen, PhD.
President, Integrated Marketing SolutionsPresident of Integrated Marketing Solutions
Chris Petersen is a founding partner of Integrated Marketing Solutions (IMS). He currently serves as President, and Senior Partner focused on building strategic relationships that produce measurable results. Dr. Petersen has over 30 years’ experience consulting in business analytics, retail metrics, scorecards and measurement. After measuring hundreds of retail pilots around the world, Dr. Petersen has a very simple and fundamental retail change management philosophy – Results Count … everything else is conversation.
Founder of IMS Retail University
Dr. Petersen is the founder of IMS Retail University. He drew upon his training in psychology and measurement to develop pragmatic processes, tools and analytics that can be applied to improve retail performance. The IMS Retail University curriculum has evolved from foundational courses, to strategic briefings on best practices attended by top Executives. Over 15,000 “graduates” from 43 countries have attended an IMS Retail University workshop.
Speaker, Writer and Photographer
Dr. Petersen has extensive international experience working with both retailers and manufacturers. He shares his experiences, knowledge, with and wisdom through his weekly retail blog, Results Count (www.IMSResultsCount.com). He is also a regular blog and feature article contributor to RCE (www.RetailCustomerExperience.com). Dr. Petersen is worldwide speaker on retail trends, best practices, and critical success factors.
As a function of his extensive worldwide travel, Chris has become an avid photographer. He shares retail photos on www.IMSResultsCount.com and posts his personal photo favorites on www.chrishpetersen.com.
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- Posted on: 09/17/2019
Barnes & Noble College goes to school on Gen Z
If there ever was a need for knowing a very specific target segment, it would be in college book stores. The article indicates that BNC is doing the "right stuff." The litmus test comes from the Gen Z workforce in BNC stores. Gen Z is not inherently harder to please if you make the time to understand their perspective and needs. They are just "different" as a segment. And in many ways, that makes it easier to differentiate their experience in-store. - Posted on: 09/16/2019
How profitable is online selling?
The challenge with the term "online selling" is that it quickly degrades to competing on price. Customers are well equipped to compare prices if that is the only value proposition. Online does not have to be "inherently unprofitable" if is part of an omni-strategy which builds on market basket and relationships. The biggest challenge for pure online retailers is customer acquisition that leads to some kind of relationship. - Posted on: 09/12/2019
In power move, Walmart expands Delivery Unlimited
Brilliant move to leverage Walmart's installed store base strengths. It's very hard for Amazon to compete with this model on fresh produce of any kind. Win the annual subscription for delivery and you win the household for much of the food cart, and the real bonus is the extras that can be delivered to expand the market basket. - Posted on: 08/20/2019
Is technology really making stores more like the web?
Customers no longer see "channels" or types of stores. The consumer experience now is an interactive journey weaving in and out of stores and the web. The customer has become their own "POS" - Point of Sale. They can shop anytime and everywhere … including using their mobile device in-store. The key right now is reaching customers when, where and how they want to shop. The two operative words for success are: convenience and choice. Making shopping convenient means making the experience seamless, and giving customers as much choice as possible in: how they buy, where they buy and where they take delivery. Effective technology should not be about making stores more web-like. It is all about making the experience better for customers. - Posted on: 08/19/2019
Kroger’s trucks roll into food deserts
If grocers knew the answer there would be no reason to test. A key to success is local partners that know the needs and the areas. Mobile grocery stops need to be reliable and consistent. Even if this turns out to be a goodwill initiative, it is a home run in terms of demonstrating what is possible. Kudos to Kroger and Dare to Care. - Posted on: 08/14/2019
Can H-E-B win the autonomous delivery vehicle race in Texas?
Whether by drone, autonomous vehicle or humans … the customer criteria are the same: reliable, safe on-time delivery of exactly what was ordered. - Posted on: 08/13/2019
Grocers develop their own tech responses to Amazon Go
There is no choice. Customers are driving the demand for a better end-to-end experience. All retailers need to come up with their solutions to improve their experience in-store. There is no one best solution. The operative word at this stage is "pilot." All of these different options can be tested and measured. When in doubt, simply ask the customer about whether it improved their experience. - Posted on: 08/12/2019
Is FedEx smart to say goodbye to Amazon’s U.S. business?
The race for the last mile got much more interesting. It will also be fiercely competitive. While one should never underestimate Amazon, it takes time and considerable investment to build logistics to serve delivery 24/7/365. The big winners in this might be the other retailers who need FedEx's capacity to compete on delivery, especially during peak periods. - Posted on: 08/01/2019
Has dynamic pricing hit a rut?
The biggest and best online retailers have been using dynamic pricing for years. Their advantage opportunity is "real time" feedback on clicks and conversion. Competitive price comparisons are also easier online. The challenges are much more significant in-store where data is "not connected." While Professor Sanders is right about retailers leaving money on the table, the question facing most physical retailers is the ROI on the substantial investment required to execute dynamic pricing. - Posted on: 07/31/2019
Who will seize the opportunity to turn stores into fulfillment centers?
Using stores for fulfillment is not just a question of utilizing excess space. Using stores as distribution points requires state of the art systems and inventory management. The days of monthly inventory management are long past … store fulfillment requires "real time" inventory management all the way to the SKU level. Walmart would be at the top of the list in meeting the requirement for logistics and systems required to optimize stores as fulfillment centers. - Posted on: 07/23/2019
How long is the customer journey?
The question is not how "long", but how many connection points are there in the journey. The real tough question for retailers is to develop a cost effective strategy to connect on the relevant touch points that they can leverage. - Posted on: 07/16/2019
CEO says Walmart’s stores are the answer to Amazon – at least for groceries
The future is not either/or - it is "multi-channel." Those that win will leverage a unique combination of their strengths. Walmart's strength has always been its stores and traffic built upon groceries/consumables. Mr. McMillon's strategy leverages core strength in an area where Amazon is weakest. While Walmart may have lost $1 billion, they will improve efficiency and proficiency. Losing the billion now is a small price to pay versus losing core customers to Amazon. - Posted on: 07/08/2019
Is Walmart at an online crossroads?
There is no choice. The "e" in e-commerce now stands for everywhere everyday. Consumers no longer separate channels. - Posted on: 06/24/2019
Where are the pain points for suppliers engaged in drop shipping?
He who owns the relationship with consumers makes the rules. Retailers adept at online don't just sell, they create and maintain ongoing customer relationships. Suppliers benefit by leveraging drop shipments with retailers who have the best consumer relationships. However, suppliers must choose partners wisely! If the retailer mismanages the drop ship it can create a customer experience which reflects negatively on the supplier and retailer. It is never wise to put all the eggs in one basket. Suppliers need to develop their own routes to market to compliment drop shipments. - Posted on: 06/13/2019
Will same-day delivery flexibility give Target an edge over Amazon and Walmart?
Delivery is not "free." Never has been and will increasingly cost retailers more as they up the ante for speed. Not every customer needs same-day delivery for every order. Target's approach seems to be an emerging hybrid model where the customer pays some of the cost when they deem same-day to be important. The sane part of this model is that the cost charged to the customer can be adjusted based upon demand. The other critical aspect of this story is "one thing" or "same-day" will not win the war. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Target is going a good job of diversifying choices of delivery, click and collect, as well as curating third party products that help differentiate Target's brand and experience.
