Several weeks back I was asked to write an article for a then 'soon to be launched' new business blog for 99 Designs.

Coincidently, around this time, I had several spirited discussions with a friend over an article on E-Commerce that had appeared in one of Australia's major business newspapers.

I was frustrated by the overly one sided tone of the story, effectively stating that E-Commerce in Australia was growing very slowly and that major retail brands and their landlords had little to fear 'now' at least from the growing threat that online shopping would one day become.

Now, while the one sided nature of this story shouldn't have been a shock (its source information was provided by parties directly connected to big retail) I did feel that the alternative point of view, that is that online retail is growing rapidly (in some verticals significantly faster than is being reported) and that it is a much larger threat to traditional retail in the short term, is not being reported.

At least thats how I see it.

I decided then to focus my story for the 99 Designs Business Blog on the very real and very immediate threat to traditional retail that online shopping presents.

The article follows...

Customers will shop anywhere, anytime.

It’s something all business owners know, and has given rise to all sorts of weird and wonderful ventures. But, a business located in one place and only open sometimes is missing out on a world of potential customers. An important distinction is beginning to emerge with the rise of online shopping: the retail experience is becoming divided based on factors such as utility and experience. Whilst online stores deliver great utility (pricing, availability, etc), they tend to lack experience. The traditional touch it, feel it, surround yourself in it, sensory aspect of the shopping experience is sorely lacking online… but for how long?

Currently, physical retailers who focus on enhancing and delivering experience by making their customer service a key value proposition continue to buck the online trend and bring customers back, but it appears that soon it will not be enough.

Lets look at bookstores. For all the media hype, niche and independent book stores still continue to do well. Example: Tattered Cover in Denver Colorado just celebrated their 40th birthday, and deliver a “book buying experience” including specialist catalogs, cafes to meet up in, and author talks and signings. However facts are facts, booksellers days are most certainly numbered as online shopping begins to flex its muscle, and its only the traditional players that ramp up the experience meter that stand a chance.

According to Hitwise, currently 7-8% of all U.S. shopping is conducted online, with other major markets (UK and Australia) showing dramatic growth and similar figures. This growth is due to the customer exposure provided by online shopping opportunities, despite recent attempts everywhere to quash online shopping’s impact on traditional retail. In this climate, pure online retailer upstarts such as ASOS plan to challenge the supremacy of big box retail players. Playing the utility card by adding safety incentives such as unconditional returns and by focusing on customer service, online entities are pushing the boundaries of what people would consider buying online.

For the time being, retailers embracing both online and traditional storefronts are perhaps best positioned to ride this wave. Australian retailer Haul maintains a highly integrated online and physical store presence allowing them to take advantage of a global reach for their online operations. This translates into a good volume of sales coming via that channel, while still maintaining a local grassroots customer engagement via their physical store which helps them build buzz and street credibility: keys to the success of their service offering.

Keep in mind, it may be slightly premature to declare main street completely dead in the water. A recent report titled “Main Streets Across the World” by Cushman & Wakefield showed that 81% of countries surveyed had retailer rent prices increase in the last year. It will be interesting to see if physical demand remains strong in the face of the growing online presence, or if statistics are just lagging behind reality.

Small businesses need to realise that the benefits of global choice for customers also translates to a global customer pool for them. Looking forward, be ready for a rise in flagship retail stores complimented by robust online platforms (pioneered by companies such as Apple). Additionally, for niche retailers with limited product ranges, developing an online shop with global reach with a local storefront is their recipe for success.

Using techniques to place emphasis on paying for experience to offset the “try here, buy there” trend will be one of many ways to flourish. Examples of this are already being modeled by retailers selling ski boots where a “fitting fee” is charged to customers wanting to try on boots that is refundable against purchase.

The fact remains that whilst the verdict is in and online shopping is here to stay, the current impact on the physical retail is still being significantly understated (mainly by those interested in maintaining the status-quo). It is safe to say that a move towards online buying (as a percentage of overall retail spending) will continue to outpace expectations, and the day that online shopping will overtake traditional main street is coming much faster than many think. Physical businesses best begin learning the online world if they wish to grow and maintain their current relationship they so enjoy with their physical customer base!

The complete version of the above story including reference links and imagery can be found on the 99 Designs Business Blog

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Bonjour mon nom est Dean Jones… Vous pouvoir me dirige à la barre la plus proche s'il vous plait?

Well I haven’t quite managed to fit learning French into my hectic schedule (www.freetranslation.com) so my polished English will have to do at the Midem conference 2010 in Cannes.

Midem (short for Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale) is the world’s largest trade show for the independent music sector.

Since 1967 Midem has been held annually at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. To give you an idea of it’s scale Midem 2008 was attended by 9,093 delegates from 4,545 companies (of these 2,233 had stands or pavilions of their own) and 482 journalists, from a total of 88 countries.

With my return to music production and also my recently appointed position of Managing Director for Swish Group Ltd, Midem will be an invaluable networking opportunity.

For Swish I hope to meet digital music businesses that are looking to have their products/services represented in the Australian and South East Asian regions.

An extensive conference schedule providing 5 days of back-to-back keynotes, seminars and tradeshow, it’s set to be a very busy trip.

If you’re reading this and have plans to attend Midem 2010, drop me a line and let me know. Lindy is in the process of scheduling meetings on my behalf in between the many keynotes and networking op’s I plan to attend.

Avoir un grand jour!

Is it really that time of year again…?

With projects as varied as the contents of Santa’s sack, 2009 has been a very productive year.

This year Whodeani has managed to somewhat live out his dream of becoming a rock star with his first commercial musical release in around 15 years titled ‘Tweet Me’.

Dean has re-discovered his passion for music so in 2010 expect to see some more Whodeani tunes come to life including a 2nd single due for release February/March 2010 and 'hopefully' an album which he has half written and expects to complete over the Festive Break.

On the movie front, the film Dean is producing and co-writing has made some steady progress this year. With completion of the story due early 2010, fingers crossed the movie will shoot mid next year for a late 2010 release.

In other Whodeani news the printed version of the Better Sports Pocket Golf Guides was released to retail late in the year so you may notice them popping up on the counter tops of Golf Clubs and various stockist around Australia. The iTunes version of the guide is also quite popular and if you haven't downloaded it as yet, head over to iTunes now, it's available for free (http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/golf-guide/id305594968).

The Marketing e-Book, written by Dean along with co-writers Richard Mataska and Tim Giles, is nearing completion and will be available 2010.

On the corporate front, yesterday it was announced on the Australian Stock Exchange that agreement had been reached to recapatilise The Swish Group (ASX:SWG) and that Dean is as of now the companies new Managing Director. Damian London, a long standing partner in many of Dean's ventures, also joined the board of the company.

Lastly, Dean has recently invested in a stealth start-up company by the name of HotShot Media based out of the US. We could tell you what it's about... but it wouldn't be stealth then would it. Watch this space in the New Year.

For Whodeani in 2010 there will never be a dull moment. The New Year is shaping up to be a biggie creatively, personally and corporately.

Merry Christmas and we say cheers to much success, good times and great health for you all in 2010.

Whodeani has an idea…

Actually Whodeani has hundreds, maybe thousands of ideas and I’m the lucky one who gets bombarded with them daily.

Some ideas are genius. Some are hilarious.  And some are well… Some are just a reflection of the weird and wonderful world of Whodeani… I often need to get inside his head to understand him, so I can say this and not be fearful of losing my job ;-)

If you’ve stopped by the Whodeani site you’ve had a taste of the often hard to ‘put into words’ world of Dean Jones.

If you haven’t checked out the site, hurry up, it’s almost Christmas so you should head there right now.

The idea behind the Idea’s Book was to showcase and put some of Dean’s idea’s out there.  A point of difference, a point of controversy, it adds some spice to the common Entrepreneurs websites you may come across.

As I am the filter of these ideas, there are some strict guidelines around what I will and won’t publish.  The so called ‘genius’ ideas (and he has an absolute doozy ‘beer’ idea) I keep closely guarded, to some day run away with, make millions and purchase my custom white on white Maserati (a girl can dream). Whereas the amusing and weird I’ll happily share with you all.  Scrutiny and criticism is welcomed as long as you can make us laugh out loud or maybe provide an alternative point of view.

And because I love to stroke my Bossman’s ego, I’ll sometimes publish ideas that ‘he’ came up with before ‘someone’ took it to the market and made it what it is today. (Check the date markings for each idea to see when they were originally created.) So I open the vault and bring to you the latest round of Whodeani ideas…

At the top of the list I introduce the concept of ‘Onedoms’ (yes, that’s a one handed condom to avoid timely interruptions).  An ingenious idea that both men and women could be thankful for…

The ‘Next Generation Medical Bracelet/Jewellery’ is a new school take on the traditional medical bracelet.  It transforms into a world of knowledge of the wearer in an easy to access and read format by designing a USB device into the bracelet or necklace.

I often think pampered pooches are treated better then human beings.  I know of pug dog that only eats Osso Buco (any other meat is frowned upon) and Magnum ice cream for special treats.  I once tried to feed him a McDonalds chicken nugget only to receive his snout in the air of disapproval.  So this idea of Dean’s would be ideal for the pooch elitist of this world… Recyclable, disposable ‘Dog Water Bowls’ conveniently packed in a batch of 7.  A pooch on parade cannot just drink from any old water outlet.

For those of you who have never had a beer with Dean, you won’t know that he is a serial label un-dresser.  Read into that what you please.
So it was only natural that he came up with the ‘Removable Beer Labels’ idea using the back as a space for special promotions and competitions, cross advertising, marketing messages - what ever you like. The possibilities are endless.

Last… Well that’s not entirely true as there will never be an end to his ideas… Is the ‘Pen Shaped Perfume for Men’.  Not everyman can confidently carry the ‘man bag’ and more and more men are taking on womanly practices.  Running from meeting to meeting a man needs to spritz and refresh just as much a woman right?  Slide one of these babies into the inside of your suit jacket and you’re sorted.  Just remember its contents before you pull it out to sign that all-important contract and seal the deal.

Sharing is caring and I hope you’ve enjoyed the latest offerings of Whodeani’s ideas.  Always a delight to hear your thoughts so drop us a comment.

But wait there’s more… Well next month that is.