social media

Beans, Uber and the Post Office

/ futuristpaul (Paul Higgins) / 1 Comment

This is the second post on social media versus messaging and its effects on suppliers into the supermarkets and business relationships with customers in general. The first one can be read HERE

As applications like Facebook Messenger or WeChat or Slack ( Slack Improves Slash Commands So You Can Call A Lyft And More From Inside Slack) move to have more and more activities and transactions inside their apps it is changing the nature of how people use their mobile devices and where they spend their time. From the applications point of view it is a very smart move because the more time that people spend inside the apps the more they can serve ads in their system . In addition if they become the gateway for all sorts of suppliers to the consumer and tie that contact with identification and other social data they can take a cut of all transactions through their application. A dual income business model.

The example that has been used to describe the Facebook Messenger changes is that of booking an airline flight which then creates a permanent one on one connection between the airline and then purchaser through which they can send boarding passes and notifications. Done in the right way and with subtle advertising approaches this link minimises friction for the consumer and provides information for the seller. An ideal win win.

If I move back to the subject of suppliers into the supermarkets the conversation has to be different. Either the product has to be different or the way it is delivered has to change in a way that reduces friction or reduces costs, or preferably both

Take me for example. As part of my preparation for the summer triathlon season I have been mostly pursuing a slow carbohydrate nutrition plan which involves replacing carbohydrates in bread,pasta,rice,potatoes, etc with complex carbohydrates and proteins. It also means much more salads and vegetables. As a result I have been eating a lot more canned fish and canned beans. I am not that particular when it comes to the brands of those cans that I buy and generally do a weekly stock up and buy what is on special that week.

Now if one or more of those suppliers is able to communicate with me inside my messaging app and give me a quick option on a weekly delivery or a tap on quantity option then they have a relationship with me that bypasses the supermarket and may tie me to their brand

Having solved that problem and reduced the friction they then have  a delivery problem. I have long been a believer that Uber is a long term data play rather than an alternative people transport company and that they will use the data they are gathering for all sorts of uses including package delivery. In the long term that will be automated between driverless cars but in the shorter term they are still options. Once Uber has enough data they can offer package pick up and delivery options to drivers based on their known patterns of movements.

If a driver is heading home anyway and can pick up 5 packages and deliver them near their home for an extra income that will be an attractive proposition to them and a low cost delivery system. The reason I put the Post Office in the title of this post is that the Australian Post Office (along with others all around the world) is struggling with its business model and profitability in an era of reduced letter postage and increased parcel delivery competition. Its major strategic assets are its locations and its special place in the hearts of the community. A partnership with Uber using the post offices as a pick up and drop off location would provide an extra income stream and also drive foot traffic into their locations. Customers could pick up their packages or the messaging app could sense that they were home via GPS and ask if they want their package delivered now.

The key question in all of this is whether the logistics costs of a personalised pick and pack system and delivery system can reduce costs to the end consumer compared to a direct delivery service into distribution centres , taking into account the margins of the supermarkets and the other costs they impose on suppliers.

The secondary question is one of a cultural change. I know from personal experience in the food business that a big cultural change is required to move from a make it and ship it out culture to a customer focused culture.

The changes to our digital tools throughout the supply chain make these questions worth asking and exploring.

 

Tim Tams and the Social v Messaging Battle

/ futuristpaul (Paul Higgins) / 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I did a presentation for the managers of a major global food manufacturing business on digital tools and what they might mean for their business. One of the major topics for discussion was using digital tools to connect to the consumer in order to try and level the playing field between food suppliers and the major supermarkets.

I was watching the ABC news here in Australia last night and there was a story about that iconic Australian biscuit the Tim Tam being pulled from the shelves at the major supermarket Coles because the supermarket was refusing to pay a higher price.

tim_tams

source: wikipedia

The story is a microcosm of the one that is being played out across the spectrum of products in Australian supermarkets and is now moving into new territory. You can see more detail on the story at:

Coles pulls Tim Tams from shelves as Arnotts price war goes public

In the end Coles relented because there is so much demand for Tim Tams. There are only a handful of products that can afford to go head to head with the major supermarkets in Australia because their hold in the mind of the consumer is so strong. Tim Tams is one, Coca Cola is another, Huggies nappies and Pal dog food are on the list. The rest are in a perpetual battle on price and shelf space where the supermarkets hold the whip hand because they control the gateway to the consumer.

The supermarkets hold that gateway and also now hold masses of data connected to loyalty cards and credit cards so they have a a continual view of what is working and what is not. The standard way of the suppliers to gain a greater foothold has been branding and marketing campaigns that try and catch the mind of the consumer.

Over the last few years social media has been the added tool that many have used to try and capture the hearts and minds of the consumer. That does not always work as evidenced by the disastrous taxi social media campaign (#YourTaxi campaign backfires as passengers share horror stories) here in Melbourne:

@yourtaxis Every single woman I know has, at some point, been sexually/verbally abused by a cabbie & now every single woman I know uses uber

.@yourtaxis Got kidnapped by a driver who wanted me to pay more than was on the meter. Had to call police to pull us over.

.@yourtaxis last time I caught a taxi he had no idea where he was going and stayed on his mobile the whole time. Uber from now on

Good and bad news is that messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat are moving heavily into this space as described in this great Wired article Facebook Messenger: inside Mark Zuckerberg’s app for everything .

Essentially Messenger seems to be trying to emulate the WeChat model of putting services inside the app like payment systems, airline bookings, etc in order to keep users inside the app and therefore in their ecosystem rather than elsewhere in the mobile or internet ecosystem. This is both good news and bad news for suppliers to supermarkets. The good news is that the way the apps are configured is creating a much closer one to one relationship with a wider range of customers rather than just communicating with “fans” on social media. The bad news is that if they go down this route then they will be swapping one gateway controller for a different one.

Now the supply of supermarket items is much different than the supply of airline booking services as described in the Wired article. Suppliers can think about product changes or they can reconfigure the delivery system.  In my next post I will put forward some ideas on how that might happen.

You can read that at:

Beans, Uber and the Post Office