Why Retail Lags

I've been having a back-channel talk with Dennis Howlett at Bazaarz, a blog focused on European IT. The gist of the matter is around the paucity of large retail blogs.  He wonders why that is and so do I.  Ironically, Dennis is based in France, where we had several good retail stories including Vichy, a L'Oreal division who started a character blog, then made it better and La Fraise, a blog that sells more t-shirts than you can imagine. Over in Japan, you have Nissan selling city cars and P&G enticing housewives to try a new detergent.

But overall, retailers are lagging in blog adoption, particularly in the US where blogging has taken off at the world's most rapid rate. When Robert and I researched Naked Conversations, we only heard "not now, not ever" from two Major entities, both of them among the most prominent retailers in America.  We didn't even bother approaching Wal-Mart because we could not picture them blogging.

Why is that, we wonder.  And we have no definitive answer. Big retail has always lagged in technology or so it seems. It took a very long time before retail chains had PCs on most desktops, and then not until they were tied together with inventory control and purchase data systems. When the Internet came along, Bank of America beat Macy's to having a website by nearly four years.

Part of it is cultural. Macy's really does hate to tell Gimbell's anything.  The fear is that competitors will steal ideas,employees, promotions all sorts of information.  But then, so to large enterprises like Boeing, General Motors, EDS, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, the Dallas Mavericks  and a rising number of other non-retail corporations.

In the end, it is probably a cultural thing. Retailers like to keep card so close to their vests that they become tattoos. Mid-level managers are pressured to keep their eye on the bottom line.  They are not encouraged to take the time to get into blogging as other sectors might.  There's also the question of how interesting the content would be. There is a huge difference between a product manager writing about the struggle to bring something new to market and a shoe department manager explaining why the white shoes are displayed prominently at Easter.

I don't think the top retailers will e the first of sector to blog.  I think it will become the act of a desperate, failing entity such as K-Mart, Sears or another tailspinner.  The blog will be started after all else seems to have failed to bring customers back in.  Upper management, will say, aw screw it, and give some kid a chance to try.  If the blog gets traction, and the blogosphere amplifies it, then the press will notice it. Next, mainstream media will report on this odd but interesting blog.

The one day, someone at WalMart, Target or Costco will notice that the blogging companies just gained back a quarter point in a certain category, and they determine they had better start to blog as well.

Perhaps this will all happen.  Perhaps not. We shall see.

Comments

[FMF]

This post is spot on! A couple months ago, I had an article sold to a trade magazine on retailers blogging if I could only find a few good examples. I talked to several people in the blogoshere who are very well connected and they couldn't find any great examples of retailers blogging.

I'm interested in why this is the case too. I hope your readers will help solve the "mystery".

[Evan Erwin]

Your assessment in my mind is correct. It's simply culture (those who speak out essentially put their head on the chopping blog), and bottom line (those who would make great bloggers are too busy).

Of course, the big wigs aren't, but they're busy making, spending, or managing. I don't believe there will ever be a Wal-Mart Scoble.

[Dennis Howlett]

I've since done a lot more research on this Shel. My feeling is that there are a combination of factors in play. Despite my original thinking, it seems that apart from a few exceptions, where technology is pretty advanced, most are 'behind the curve' as a result of internal cultures.

But my original thought that retail is driven by supply chain issues appears to hold up. At least from what industry analysts report and what I see on the ground from vendors in that space.

Therefore, to 'sell' them into this means addressing blog value from a supply chain perspective rather than trying to get them talking from the 'pure' customer perspective because the latter approach doesn't make a lot of sense of them.

What would be very interesting would be how brands respond over time and then how that impacts Big Retail. Brands are absolutely concerned about customer intimacy but only get 'contact' when, either they get flayed or are in promotion mode - unless they have a direct delivery model - which most don't.

I'm sure this will be an evolutionary theme rather than revolutionary - that's a lot more palatable for large scale business methinks.

[Tom Guarriello]

Shel, I've spent the last 15 years consulting to the retail apparel industry on matters of organizational effectiveness, social innovation and customer intimacy.

Two years ago I started beating the drum, trying to get my clients (very large retailers) to blog. No dice.

Why?

My take: this is an industry of copiers. Follow the leader. Fast seconders. When someone breaks out with a great blog, probably a second-tier company, like someone said, then they'll all jump on board.

[/pd]

Is not english cut a retail blog ?

[shel Israel]

Pete,

Yep, it is in a way. I would call Thom more of an artisan-craftsperson, writing about the skill it takes to produce a great product. That would be different than a Macy's Blog or one by Target or Harrad's or Costgo.

[ANIL CHAUHAN]

Dear Sir,
We would like to introduce ourselves as one of the leading exporters from Moradabad (India).

We are specialising in Brass, Aluminium & Glass wares and have earned a very good reputation in the overseas market for exporting our products to various clients all over the world. Some of our major clients are Wal-Mart, Habitat, Williams Sonoma , Tuesday Morning etc.

We have our own factory set up right from the sampling department to shipment under one roof. Also we have a very professional managed team & skilled labour who look after the merchandise right from manufacturing till packing.

We would really be highly obliged to work with your esteemed organisation.Kindly let us know if you are interested in our products, we are sending you some images of our items.

We would like to bring to your notice that even if you have your own designs to be made we are always open to it and be rest assured that yr designs would not be shared with any other client.

Also put us through to your buying team to enable us to get in touch with them for further developments & commencing business with your organisation. Kindly let us know if your buying team has any future plans to visit india we can show you our factory and show room with full range of products.

Looking forward for a favourable reply.

With Best Regards

Thanks/Regards

Anil Chauhan
(Merchandiser)
A.A. International
Delhi Road, Lakri Fazalpur,
Mini Bye Pass, Moradabad-244001, India
Ph- 0091 591 3255423/24 Fax- 2484718

[Kate]

Its really hard to make a living in retail with so much competition for market share. Now, thanks to sites like Ebay, individuals are getting in on selling retail goods. Some people are even re-selling at a profit. (http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/318572/Life+and+Leisure ?c_id=kg )

It’s a scary world out there when your trying to make a living. Managers have to be cautious.

[Heather Strang]

You are so RIGHT ON about retailers and blogs. It needs to happen and would seriously up the consumer interest factor. Yahoo! & Comscore recently reported that 89 percent of consumers "pre-shop" online before purchasing in store. (ck out my blog on this topic) How cool if retailers had blogs that gave consumers scoop on deals and the latest clothing/product lines.

I write a twice-weekly blog for Retail Design Diva and would love to be blog buddies. Let me know if you have info you think would make good blogs for our site and vice versa.

http://retaildesigndiva.blogs.com.
Check it out - we post daily.

-Heather