December 3, 2016 by berniegoll

RealTailor’s Sentiment Regarding Amazon

Brick & Mortar retailers (RealTailors) understandably are reticent to even say the ‘A’ word, lest some bad curse befall them even more.

Yet, as difficult as it is for RealTailors to compete against their arch nemesis, there are technology tools that can be used to retain market share.

Have faith that the one true dictum in life is the pendulum. It will swing back to your side of center eventually. But there are techniques and technologies you can use today to stem the wall of revenue erosion.

Depending on the Tier of retail you are in (Enterprise, Mid-Market or SMB), the vertical market (Specialty Retail, Hospitality, Grocery, etc.) and your location – you can choose a tactic/tool that best works within your budget.

All of these technologies require appropriate staff to run them, and studies show the associate is more important than the tool itself – so best to pay for a senior associate as your results and revenue will vary greatly based on that factor.

Some technologies being used by RealTailors to combat, err, ‘A’ and other online retailers are:

Mobile Store Apps

Mobile Commerce

iBeacons

Big Data Platforms

Bluetooth and NFC Devices

Digital Signage

Gameification

Sales & Marketing Lead Nurturing

Content Marketing

Engage organizations that have a history in retail, sit down and have the discussion and don’t count too much on that Death Star.

November 30, 2016 by berniegoll

Dash & Drone – Can Amazon’s March Be Stopped?

So Thanksgiving is behind us now – let the mad Holiday Season begin – not that the Thanksgiving Day date really stopped many retailers from advertising before that period anyway. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have both passed, or did I hear it’s Cyber Week now!

Brick and Mortar retailers hope to hold same-store-sales figures as close they can to fiscal 2015, but many are hoping not to see too large of a SoS (Season Over Season) percentage drop. Online retailers are of course more encouraged as their numbers steadily raise YoY and SoS. But can anyone really stop Amazon?

As physical retail stores try to remove the ‘friction’ in the patron buying experience, Amazon is taking almost all of the barriers to instant buying gratification away with its relentless pursuit toward long term, happy clients.

Take the example of the Amazon Dash Button. Stick it next to where you shave, and when you feel you’re on your last shave with that blade, well, you can make it last 1 more day until the new ones arrives – all you do is push the Gillette Dash button and you’ll have replacement blades inside 48 hours. No driving to go get them. No getting online and walking through a Cart process – even if it is on your phone. No taking a Keep or Note message to add to your grocery list. Just push that button on a chin shaving down-stroke and you can contemplate more important things in your life.

If the FAA finishes its drone public input phase, and I have a feeling that may move a little faster after our President Elect gets in there, we may not even have to wait 48 hours. It would be down-stroke, push Dash button and by the time you’re finished dressing to walk outside, the package should be there. Any less friction in that transaction and you may just slip and fall while shaving.

If Amazon can keep you in their total supply chain ecosystem, they win big. And good shopping experiences only build more loyalty and client expectations as to how all their retail interactions should be.

With all of these positives going for Amazon, brick & mortar retailers, I call them RealTailors, must capitalize on the human interaction when a store visit is paid. People want people, you can only be so amused by technology for so long – and then it becomes so seamless your human tendencies are to make a change. RealTailors – you better be ready when that happens. Today’s shopper comes into the store with high expectations.

October 26, 2016 by berniegoll

Denial of Service Attacks

Original Post: October 26, 2016

At the end of the day, it’s always the human factor that will make the difference in thwarting DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. Our systems all have holes that can be exploited with enough human thought behind it, but it is those same human efforts that can be used to stop the exploits. The final game comes down to the same thing any competition does – who wants the prize more. It’s never the equipment or the amount of money you spend to bolster your network infrastructure – it’s also the people you have in place that make the final difference.
Huge Denial-of-Service (DOS) attack against CNN, Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest and others last week is proof that IoT (Internet Of Things) devices are vulnerable to takeover by botnets. The Mirai botnet that flooded the ISP (Internet Service Provider) that fed Internet to CNN and others took over control of surveillance cameras (CCTV Cameras), webcams and DVRs by the tens of millions and fed this stream of data to clog the Internet – and thus the companies that rely on it to do business. The problem lies in a default credential called ‘Root’ that many of these IoT devices, well, default to – essentially broadcasting their model numbers and software version information which allows them to be taken over. Where do people come in to aid in blocking this type of attack? The traffic all routes to a DNS (Domain Name System) managed by the ISP in this case. When an ISP deploys DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions) for traffic to flow, it needs to deploy Best Practices in DNSSEC-signing so authentication is verified – then use people to watch, filter and limit bandwidth they observe when a DOS attack has been identified. It’s that combination of tools, people and process that can thwart these attacks. The human element always wins out over the technology.

RealTailor’s Sentiment Regarding Amazon

Dash & Drone – Can Amazon’s March Be Stopped?

Denial of Service Attacks

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