Who Will Displace the Mighty AMZN?

Submitted by gammydodger on Sun, 01/13/2013 - 08:33

Amazon has not only created the model of online retail, but as they continue to broaden their assortment through Marketplace, but went further to create Amazon Web Services and Fulfillment By Amazon that make it simple to display, promote and ship their products. This is how they will maintain their dominance at least in the medium term

The Universal "Want" Button

Submitted by gammydodger on Sun, 07/22/2012 - 04:12

Yesterday's photo of Mark Zuckerberg at Walmart Stores in Bentonville prompts speculation around a potential partnership between the two giants. However, we at First Retail are encouraging speculation of a different sort - that Walmart might be the vendor that will respond when a consumer hits a Facebook 'Want' button.

The Web is the Market

Submitted by gammydodger on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 14:25


Consumers and businesses are quickly embracing the new forms of retail, a trend that further hastens the demise of the traditional retailer. Brick and mortar turned into online retail which when combined with social media has become Social Commerce. First Retail's tagline, "the web is the market" begs the question, 'How will Social Commerce mature from early attempts at recommendations, likes and influencers?'. Here's how we are thinking...

Future Trends Forum: The Six C’s of Social Technologies

Submitted by gammydodger on Fri, 05/25/2012 - 10:44


On December 14-16, 2011, the Fundación de la Innovación Bankinter held the XVII Future Trends Forum in Madrid. The distinguished conference brought together some 50 participants across industries who were eager to understand the relevance of social technologies to their companies. The Social Data Lab and First Retail Inc. were invited to participate as thought leaders for this meeting.

Semantic Retail

Submitted by gammydodger on Sun, 12/18/2011 - 02:47
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. In fact it turns out semantic technology may enable robust solutions to your retail business users' most pressing problems.

First Retail Consultants - what to expect

Submitted by gammydodger on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 15:35

When you hire First Retail consultants, we want to make sure that they deliver on promise and that you gain the maximum benefit. Although we hire mature and experienced consultants who have exceptional client-facing skills, we still like to provide a set of guidelines for to help them help you - and there's no harm in sharing this with everyone.

Value Added Aggregators

Submitted by gammydodger on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 16:57
Value Added Aggregators
Retailing has been with us for as long as we can remember. Aggregation and Comparison Sites are today's drivers of traffic and how consumers search for products. Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) has yet to take off bringing the ability for consumers to interact with vendors of products. Do retailers need to behave more like aggregators, particularly as they grow their marketplaces? How are retailers gradually and perhaps unconsciously beginning to adopt VRM practices?

Data Analytics - from Big to Huge to Streaming

Submitted by gammydodger on Wed, 07/06/2011 - 01:53
Data Analytics - from Big to Huge to Streaming

Data has always been the driver of successful retailing whether that was in the head of the store owner or delivered from a vast data warehouse. New technologies mean that there is more data being created and stored - and competitive advantage will be gained from the analysis of that data

Payments - The Re-Statement of Currency

Submitted by gammydodger on Wed, 07/06/2011 - 01:50
Payments - The Re-Statement of Currency

Retailing has always been the exchange of goods for money. However the social web, the semantic web and the internet of things is opening up new possibilities as to how this exchange can be made. Barter, new currencies and new economies will create new forms of exchange

Global Markets - When Supply and Demand Move Offshore

Submitted by gammydodger on Wed, 07/06/2011 - 01:44
Global Markets - When Supply and Demand Move Offshore

Globalization has been with us for a while - the next few years will see more expansion into new markets where supply and demand both exist. What will the role of the new entrant retailer be in those markets and will new retailing forces appear from those quarters?