Amazon 30 mins delivery by DRONE - in Bezos dreams?

Jeff Bezos has announced the online retailer has secretly been testing drones that can delivery packages directly to people's doors.  However, the project is at least five years from reality due to still-to-be-determined FAA regulations.

As you know, an octocopter is a type of rotorcraft - or drone - that is powered by eight rotor helicopter blades. Each of the arms are operated by their own motor. For this reason they are designed and used to lift 'heavy' objects. It is also makes them less likely to breakdown if there is a problem with one of the blades. Amazon say their self-made octocopters will be able to carry packages weighing up to five pounds, which accounts for about 86% of the items the company delivers.

Whilst the drones may be a PR stunt, and selling books online seemed  a 'no-go' a few years ago, Jeff's drone-dreams may become a nightmare for competitors...

...leaving time for a few what-ifs for those that feel they can still stay in the game...?

Every Lidl helps? - making do at the top…

The Squeezed Upper Shopping List

Lidl: Parma Prosciutto di Parma
90g, £1.99
- Ocado: Parma Ham, 85g, £3

Lidl: Vitasia Coconut milk, 400ml, 79p
- Waitrose: Essential Coconut Milk, 400ml, £1.89

Lidl: Vitafit Cloudy Apple Juice, 1 Litre, 99p
- Sainsbury’s: Copella Apple Juice 1.25 Litre, £2.80

Lidl: Deluxe British steak & ale pie, 540g, £2.49
- Tesco: steak and ale puff pastry pie, 550g, £3.50

Lidl: Barella Pesto Alla Genovese, 190g, 99p
- Tesco: Sacla Classic Basil Pesto, 190g, £2.20
(on offer at two for £4 until Jan 2)

Source: The Times, Thursday 28th Nov 2013

Problem: How can we get them back in segment, when they have lived a Lidl…?

China thief sends iPhone owner handwritten numbers

The pickpocket is believed to have taken the Apple handset from Zou Bin when they shared a taxi, the Xinhua news agency said.

Zou had nearly 1,000 contact numbers in the device and with no backup copy - like millions of other people around the world - he was more concerned about losing the data than the phone itself, it added.

Given Zou’s business involvement in the pub industry (a tough-guy business in most places), and aping Liam Neeson’s approach in the movie ‘Taken’, Zou’s text to the thief had the desired effect.

"I know you are the man who sat beside me. I can assure you that I will find you," he said in a text message to the thief.

"Look through the contact numbers in my mobile and you will know what trade I am in," he added. "Send me back the phone to the address below if you are sensible."

The thief painstakingly wrote out 11 pages of telephone numbers from the stolen iPhone and sent them and the sim-card to the owner within days…

NAMs outside the pub industry might find it more convenient to back up their phones occasionally…

Champagne vending: Moët goes multichannel?

The world's first Moët  & Chandon vending machine, which has just been installed in the Christmas Shop on the fourth floor of Selfridges, comes stocked with 350 art deco-inspired Swarovski crystal-adorned mini-bottles, a snip at £17.99 each….

Scope for provision of chilled flutes - and perhaps party-hats - to complete the instore theatricality for impulse-tasters…?

Face and barcode scanning a little passe? Ground-Breaking project to brain-scan shoppers...

Dr Paul Mullins and Dr Helen Morgan from the School of Psychology put a shopper through the fMRI scanner.

Psychologists at Bangor University are to brain-scan supermarket-shoppers to test their reactions to promotions and special offers in a major cutting-edge project  with one of Europe’s leading shopping behaviour specialists.

The project, to be carried out jointly by UK-based SBXL and the respected School of Psychology, will ask selected shoppers to simulate an £80 grocery shop in a supermarket, while going through a £3m 20-ton medical fMRI scanner.

A full range of supermarket products are displayed on a screen in front of them and they are asked to make normal shopping choices from a shopping list while faced with a wide range or promotions and special offers. The aim is to identify which part of the brain is involved in making choices by measuring blood flow and brain activity.

Early research suggests that around 23 minutes into their shop, customers begin to make choices with the emotional part of their brain – which can only guess at value for money – rather than the cognitive part of the brain which is capable of computation and logical decision-making. Results also show that after 40 minutes – the time taken for a typical weekly shop – the brain gets tired and effectively shuts down, ceasing to form rational thoughts.

Previous SBXL research that the brain behaves illogically when faced with the sort of information overload that shoppers are faced with in a typical supermarket. Previous research has shown us that nearly 20 per cent of shoppers are likely to put special offers in their basket even if they are more expensive than the normal product, and we know that nearly half of shoppers ignore buy-one-get-one-free items and only choose one.

Given that approximately a quarter of all products on supermarket shelves are on some kind of offer or promotion, this indicates that many millions of pounds at stake in lost margins if the supermarkets are getting it wrong. SBXL estimates that supermarkets and brands consistently give away 23 per cent more margin than they need to.

Hopefully, the research will help suppliers and retailers get to a closer realisation and satisfaction of real shopper 'need', rather than 'want'...

In other words, although the shopper is behaving illogically in selecting a 'special offer' that is more expensive than the normal product, there is perhaps more mileage for the retailer in pointing out the shopper's 'error' than making a few pence extra on the 'mis-purchase'...

A Quality Street in Tesco?

                                                                             pic: Tesco, Church St Hove, Brian Moore 24-11-13

The Squeezed Upper feels the pressure?

                                                pic: Waitrose, Marylebone High Street 23-11-13
Half Price Salmon & Champagne...

Entomophagy - Insect eating - crawls on to Paris menus

In the hip Montmartre neighbourhood of Paris, Le Festin Nu (The Naked Lunch) bistro gives customers the chance to select from a variety of entomological treats.

To accompany your glass of vin naturel (organic wine), you can try palm weevils with beetroot and oil of truffle; water scorpion with preserved peppers and black garlic; or grasshopper with quail's eggs.

Although insect snacks are relatively new to Europe, here's a taster of some of the world's delicacies:

• Colombia - roasted "hormigas culonas" (large-bottomed ants) are popular in certain regions
• Japan - "hachinoko" (boiled wasp larvae) and "zazamushi" (aquatic insect larvae) are two of a number of insect-based Japanese treats
• Nigeria - in some areas people feast on insects including termites, caterpillars, and compost beetle larvae. Queen termites are considered a delicacy and are only eaten by adults, according to the University of Kentucky
• Mexico - grasshopper tacos are just one delicacy to come from the country's estimated 300 to 550 species of edible insects

A report this year from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was seen as a call to action.

So even global KAMs in far flung places can entice the buyer with local delicacies…
…while their UK counterparts experiment on partners and colleagues before introducing it as a negotiation ploy…