An Inconvenient Truth: How Will Convenience Stores Survive the Conversion to Zero-Emission Vehicles

Let’s talk about electric vehicles … and convenience stores.

What do the two have to do with each other? Quite a bit, it turns out: the majority of convenience stores in the U.S. are either part of a larger gas station or offer fuel services themselves. If GM achieves its recently announced goal to convert its manufacturing output entirely to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035, that will shake up and transform the convenience store industry in ways only few have begun to imagine.

In-Store Media and Merchandising: The Digital Renaissance Cometh

Barrows "Connected Store" endcap units

Let's talk about digital in-store media.

More specifically, the future of engaging shoppers digitally inside physical stores to make their shopping experience smoother, more productive and delightful, while also seizing the opportunity to serve them advertising and promotional messages sponsored by brand manufacturers.

Two-Way Street: Growing a Two-Sided Marketplace Through Supply and Demand Promotions

Let’s talk about two-sided marketplace promotions.

More specifically, the crucial marketing tactic two-sided marketplace platforms, such as Uber or Doordash, deploy to drive engagement and growth by stimulating both demand and supply among their network participants. 

The Talent Stack: Differentiating Between Values, Abilities and Skills When Evaluating People

Let’s talk about talent.

More specifically, how to identify and assess people who are best suited to ‘click’ seamlessly with your corporate culture, deliver meaningful impact and results effectively and quickly. The Talent Stack is a powerful framework that helps focus your attention on the right people attributes and candidate qualifications, and in the right order of strategic priority.

I was first introduced to the concept of “Values, Abilities and Skills” by Ray Dalio during my time at Bridgewater. One of his (now famous) “Principles” was that we should look at people as having these three very different tiers of qualifications or attributes that should not be commingled together, with values being most important and skills the least.

Settling for Less: The Challenges and Opportunities of Manufacturer Coupon Clearing

Let’s talk about coupon clearing.

More specifically, the last stage of the Life of a Coupon process that delivers the processing of the coupon and the settlement of face-value funds between the manufacturer who issued the coupon and the retailer who accepted it.

A recently announced partnership between Quotient Technology and Mandlik & Rhodes, a smaller coupon clearing house, promises to shake up the duopoly Inmar Intelligence and NCH Marketing Services have enjoyed for decades, and to provide better services and lower costs for CPGs. Will that come to pass? We’ll see. But to really understand what’s possible and what it would take to disrupt the coupon clearing industry, let’s take several steps back for a brief overview of the business of issuing, processing and clearing of manufacturer coupons.

Life of a Coupon: The Industry Value Chain That Powers Manufacturer Coupons

Let’s talk about coupons.

More specifically, the full value chain of activities and industry players that constitutes the ‘Life of a Coupon’ – from the CPG manufacturer to the consumer to the retailer’s checkout register and back to the manufacturer.

The Strategy Checklist, Part 2: A Closer Look at Each Step of the Strategy Process

Let’s talk some more about strategic planning.

More specifically, the detailed steps comprising the end-to-end process of developing and executing a compelling and cohesive corporate strategy.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, I introduced The Strategy Checklist framework (see Figure 1). And in this article, I delve into each step of the process to demonstrate how it can be used by strategy executives and business leaders to orchestrate an end-to-end strategy process that connects a company’s values and vision with its strategic plan, and drives results that advance its long-term objectives.

The Strategy Checklist, Part 1: A Recipe for Running a Top-Notch Strategy Process

Let’s talk about strategic planning.

More specifically, the end-to-end process of developing and executing a compelling corporate strategy. Strategy is a process - from the highly personal, nebulous stage of defining a company’s values and vision, to the long-term planning stage of setting goals and priorities, to the unglamorous and overlooked stage of execution, coordination and results-tracking. And like every process, it has proven formulas, best practices and predictable flows that can be harnessed to develop winning strategies and deliver strong results.

This article is Part 1 of a two-part series. Here, I introduce The Strategy Checklist framework. And in Part 2, I delve into each of its steps to showcase its practical application.