I'm Baaaaaaaaackkkkkk - Hot Takes From January

Breaking News: Industry Insights and Hot Takes From January

Lost in the fog of diapers 🐣 and bottles 🍼 , I'm officially back in action and ready to hit 2024 running. Taking any time off is difficult as I've never done anything like this in my career literally ever, but I'm also terribly sad to miss the new little one during the day.

Shopify Shines in Diverse Arenas:

Coming strong for Enterprise (Mirakl, Manhattan) and B2B/AI (Editions).

They have more fishing lines in the water than a genuine fishing rodeo (you guys forget I grew up in the South), but are the fish biting? 🎣

The sneaky story of Shopify that is still not being told enough is actually Point of Sale.

Shopify and the case of the Flexport "Lender of Last Resort":

Another $250M - we broke it, we bought it. We would rather our investment have the chance to be worth non-zero someday than nothing immediately.

Will the last employees left please turn out the lights? 💡


Amazon and Walmart: Titans Clash in Retail Arena:

Tough time to be looking for work with so much senior talent on the market. It's not over, folks. Not by a long shot. Fatten up those emergency funds, too, because severance payouts are going down faster than the Titanic. 🛳

Amazon:

We about to crush some earnings here today. Ya'll give me a minute.

Also, we have enough robots.

Walmart:

Hold my beer. 🍺 How's that grocery strategy going?


Retail Giants Face Off: H&M, Forever 21, and Shein:

Shein roadkill. Did someone catch the license plate on that bus? If you can't beat them, better join them.


Temu and Macy's:

Temu:

Maybe money can buy happiness. Marketshare too. Staying power is another question, however. They need to crack more than just the boomers to do that.

Macy's:

Seriously, guys, we are just negotiating at this point. Haven't you seen Miracle on 34th Street? What you are going to shortchange Santa Claus?


BigCommerce and PayPal:

BigCommerce:

The curious case of the vanishing President. Now what?

Paypal:

The only shock they have brought to the world is their steadily declining relevance. Their new features lack creativity and show they are looking over their shoulder at Shopify.


Expert Consulting: How Will You Grow Your eCommerce Company?

When growth is elusive, I am an expert at asking incisive questions to surface the real issues and then present straightforward ideas that your team can actually implement.

Mistakes are expensive. They cost money, of course. What’s worse is the opportunity cost. I work with investors and management teams worldwide to help them get a handle on their digital business plans to execute a clear path forward.



Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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