Walmart to lower prices on a million online-only items if you opt for store pickup over shipping

(4/12/2017) If you can get discount from online-only items on Walmart.com but you have to pick up at Walmart store, will you do that? You may try. That's what Walmart is trying to have a close fight with Amazon.com in online shopping. Walmart wants to lure millions of online shoppers who visit Walmart stores but never try to shop on Walmart.com.

However, I don't think that will work for Walmart. Why? Because I did shop at Walmart.com and I don't have the confidence. But there is several other reasons that I think Walmart 'underestimates' the complexity of online-and-real-store retailing and how consumers will react to any shipping issues.

1. The service time @ Walmart is terrible and it's well known. You may save several dollars, but at the cost of waiting for 20 minutes in Walmart's long lines? 
2. Think of a situation: a consumer has a shipping issue (say wrong items, or cannot find the package while it's said 'arrived' on notice) or the consumer remembers the wrong store to pick up. Since the consumer is at the store already, he will ask what's going on (At Amazon, the buyers will trace and figure it out by themselves, at consumer's own time). It's an extra burden on Walmart's employee's service time. 
3. Imagine a situation in point 2. How many Walmart employees do you think are capable to solve the complex logistics problem, capable of using sophisticated corporate computer to figure it out? Many of Walmart associates have less than $10 hour-wage, don't have computer and broadband Internet at home? With minimal employee training, do you think they can solve online shopper's problems? 

I don't think so. 

US Retailers Are in Big Troubles

(4/8/2017) The brick and mortar retailers in the US are in big troubles. When the US economy remains strong, the number of retailer bankruptcy reaches post-recession (2008) high. As online retailers (or those traditional retailers with good online stores) gains more market share, traditional retailers have to figure out their survival strategies. One thing is for sure, those low-pay retail clerk, salesperson jobs will shrink!

Next industry to watch: restaurants in the US may scale back due to overexpansion

Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-03/2017-retail-bankruptcies-soar-great-recession-highs (4/8/2017)

Wind Farm in China Is Mostly Idle

(03/08/2017) There is a famous sentence in the movie of Kevin Costner "Fields of Dream": If you build it, he will come. Now Chinese built a lot of wind farm and solar farm harnessing energy from Mother Nature, but nobody comes (from NY Times).

Several key problems in the alternative energy market in China: (1) lack of logistics shipping excess energy to the market of demand, (2) there is no marketplace trading alternative energy (and no clear guidelines for regional governments to work together), and (3) lack of infrastructure.

This video below is made before the dream becomes a reality. (ironic, isn't it?)

Amazon Wants to Get College Students Addicted to Prime

(10/11/2016) Some people worry about the future of US Republican party or conservative. The reason is that in the last two US Presidential elections younger voters have leaned to Democrat party. In many social issues, young generations also support a more open and liberal perspective instead of conservative. The political views, once formed, is often fixed for a long time. This year, all polls show that young voters will lean towards Democrat party again. Definitely the Republican party should worry.
       Will our purchasing behavior be cultivated like our political views?
       If so, then Amazon's pursuing young shopper should make many retailers really worry about their future. Amazon has provided college students with free limited-time Amazon Prime account for years. Now they will go further to cultivate young shoppers in their shopping habits by setting up Amazon virtual store in college campus. The really scary part is: there is no real competition in the market place. Jet.com, Newegg.com, Buy.com are, or Walmart.com are even way too smaller in terms of the services and benefits from their membership. Do you think the retailers should worry about their future?

Analyst Calls Fire At Gap Distribution Center “A Fortuitous Reduction In Inventory”

(10/06/2016) Well it is embarrassing. Gap's warehouse in NY got fire last month. Normally this type of disaster to business causes various degree of damage. But  an analyst thinks that fire will be just fine to Gap since their sales was down over the years and the fire may just slashed some unwanted inventory level. However, WSJ had a report saying that the fire will slow down the delivery of Gap's online order. In fact, the share price of Gap just jumped more than 14% today, so maybe the analyst's perspective is correct.

Who will win US presidency?

(2016/09/28) This is a question circulating in the US every four years. This year the stake is more interesting: Hillary Clinton (D) vs Donald Trump (R). I found 538 has done a very good job in data visualizing. I will copy several of them and paste here. You can find the original report here.

Date: 2016/09/28

It shows the probabilities of states that is going to determine 2016 US Presidency.

This one looks like a strategy war game on my phone.

Tug of War

The tipping point chance is interesting.

Hanjin's Bankruptcy Will Impact Retailers, Port and Other Logistics Provider

(09/06/2016) South Korean Container Liners, Hanjin, filed bankruptcy on 8/31/2016 and it may cause some X'mas shopping disturbance. Due to Hanjin's financial troubles, those firms facilitating the movements of containers and commodities worry about their payment. As a result, the cargo that are currently on Hanjin's vessels might sit there for a long while before a clear solution can be achieved.