If you stock they will come
New York City, 5th Ave: 4 to 5 hours
New York City, Soho: 4 hours
New York City, 14th St.: 3.5 hours
Beverly Hills, CA: 30 minutes to 1 hour
Seattle, WA: 3 hours (out of stock)
Knoxville, TN: no line (out of stock)
Honolulu, HI: 20 minutes (out of stock)
Minnetonka, MN: 1 hour (out of stock)
Glendale, WI: 10 to 15 minutes (very little stock)
West Des Moines, IA: no line (very little stock)
If you are wondering what that was all about, the DVICE had this wonderful piece on the lineups for the 3G iPhone from Apple which now, we are reliably told, is out of stock with atleast a 12 day lead time for delivery.
The exotic apple iPhone is not the only product out of stock this week, the Morning Sun had this rather grim story of the Central Michigan Chapter of the Red Cross food pantry being out of stock.
The out of stock problem assumes significant proportions if one were to take a broader view of the Retail Industry. In a white paper on "Winning at the Shelf", Shirley Jackson from O4 Corporation frames the problem eloquently
All investments in marketing plans, advertising campaigns and trade promotions are worthless if the product isn’t there when the consumer reaches for it on the shelf
But then hasnt the industry been trying to solve the out of stock problem for decades now ?
What is the missing piece of the puzzle ?
Once again Shirley Jackson puts it very well
To win at the shelf and turn a purchase decision into a purchase, leading CP companies are recognising the need for more immediate insights into the particular circumstances in each store. Swift decision making based on direct and specific information is the best way to ensure constant presence on premium shelf space.
"Direct" and "specific" are the operative words here.
So how does one get "direct" and "specific" ?
The white paper talks about a Mobile Handheld solution, but there is something more profound here that is being suggested
small, sharp, smart technologies are the only way to win at the ‘moment of truth’: when the shopper enters a store or stands at the shelf ready to make a purchase.
When we started this series of blogs we posed the question on what disruptive innovations can unravel the mind of the value conscious shopper. Subsequently we also posed the question on how these disruptive innovations could provide a corral to checkout view of the value conscious shopper's activity in the store. What this white paper is suggesting is to take this 360 degree view beyond the Shopper's pedestrian activity to shine some light on which shelves and displays attracted her attention.
So what small, smart and sharp technologies are out there to accomplish this ?
Item Level RFID Tagging is not going to happen anytime soon, atleast not on low value grocery products.
Are there non-RFID disruptive innovations out there that can provide "direct" and "specific" information on how shopper "interest" in a product at an endcap or promotional display converts into an actual purchase ?
How can these disruptive innovations also help Retailers and CPG Manufacturers prevent out of stocks of while ensuring compliance during high opportunity cost promotions ?
