Why I Really Like Amazon’s Strategy, Despite the Crap Consumer Experience (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)

For the past five years, I’ve been watching Alibaba pull farther and farther ahead of Amazon in its consumer offerings. Alibaba’s ecommerce products have integrated with entertainment, especially live-streaming (which is fantastic). Payment, credit and wealth management products were built upon Alipay. Ecommerce services, like food delivery and hotels, have been added with ele.me Social […]

What Amazon Should Copy From Alibaba and Pinduoduo (Tech Strategy – Podcast 124)

Amazon can learn a lot from Alibaba and Pinduoduo in terms of how to improve its consumer experience. Alibaba has integrated its ecommerce products with entertainment, payment, credit, and wealth management products, while Pinduoduo has focused on social commerce and group buying. Amazon could benefit from adopting some of these strategies in order to stay ahead of the competition.

What Amazon Should Copy From Alibaba and Pinduoduo (Tech Strategy – Podcast 124)

Amazon can learn a lot from Alibaba and Pinduoduo in terms of how to improve its consumer experience. Alibaba has integrated its ecommerce products with entertainment, payment, credit, and wealth management products, while Pinduoduo has focused on social commerce and group buying. Amazon could benefit from adopting some of these strategies in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Alibaba and Intersport: Why New Retail Could Be Powerful in Sports Apparel (3 of 3)

In Part 1 and Part 2, I gave some background on sports apparel in China and detailed my visit to the first Tmall – Intersport store in Beijing. It was pretty great. With lots of new digital initiatives. Note: the above picture is what happens when you change the gender setting on the magic mirror. […]

3 Lessons in Digitizing Sports Apparel from Intersport and Alibaba (2 of 3)

Several years ago, I got a message (via LinkedIn) from Robin Trebbe, who was at that time the Managing Director for China / Asia Pacific for Intersport International. They had a new project with Alibaba that was trying to digitize the sports apparel business. I jumped at the chance to do a visit. Note: I […]

Digitizing Sports Apparel: My Visit to the Tmall – Intersport Store in China (1 of 3)

Will “new retail” change sports apparel? It turns out it’s a really interesting question. Sports apparel retail is people buying running shoes, Nike gear, yoga pants, sweatshirts and so on. At first glance it looks like pretty standard apparel retail. Requiring lots of stores, good inventory management and effective marketing. So that certainly presents lots […]

Alibaba, WeChat and How Nike Won as a “Platform Participant” in China (Tech Strategy – Podcast 118)

In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses how Nike has successfully built a competitive advantage in China by participating in the large platform businesses of Alibaba and WeChat. He shares insights on how other businesses can do the same. Towson argues that businesses need to focus on providing a great customer experience and building strong relationships with platform partners. He also emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making.

Alibaba, WeChat and How Nike Won as a “Platform Participant” in China (Tech Strategy – Podcast 118)

In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses how Nike has successfully built a competitive advantage in China by participating in the large platform businesses of Alibaba and WeChat. He shares insights on how other businesses can do the same. Towson argues that businesses need to focus on providing a great customer experience and building strong relationships with platform partners. He also emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making.

New Retail in Furniture: My Visit to the JD-Qumei in China (2 of 2)

In this article, Jeff Towson shares his experience of visiting the JD Qumei Furniture Store in China and discusses the future of new retail. He highlights the importance of creating a seamless online and offline shopping experience for customers and how JD.com is leading the way in this regard. Towson also talks about the role of technology in the future of retail and how it can be used to enhance the customer experience.

The Secret Engine of Alibaba’s New Retail Is “Uni-Marketing” (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)

“New retail”, coined by Alibaba, was probably the least creative business term ever. But it was a big idea. You combine online and physical retail into a seamless, data-driven consumer experience. It is giving rise to new business models, from transformed supermarkets and cashier-less convenience stores to automated package pickup centers and re-imaged department stores. […]