Retail Forward Conference in NYC

Some of my cohorts from Insight and Strategy are in NYC this week at the Retail Forward Conference. They are tweeting live some interesting tidbits. Check them out: http://twitter.com/ShopperCulture

Alice.com Delivers

The very definition of in-store is changing, even for the most basic of products. For buying something as simple as shampoo, opportunities are both real and virtual. The growth of services like Peapod and Amazon Fresh as well as online ordering for brick and mortar stores like Safeway and King Sooper have changed the game.

At this point, Alice.com has received a decent amount of press, and I have been following them for a while. First on their blog, anxiously awaiting their beta to end and for them to open to the public. Then when the opportunity finally arrived, I registered for my account. The registration process gathered smart and select details about my household (number of adults, children, their ages, etc.). Enough to be useful, but not so much as to slow the process.
I went online and pulled together my first order last week. The process was simple and the site easily shoppable. I would have like to have seen a little more cross-merchandising though, but I'm sure, as they gather more info about their shoppers, they will better provide recommendations. Anyway, I received my first order 4 days. Everything I ordered was in the box, intact and great. In pack sampling, however, I hope is something they start doing.

The question this raises for me is... will shoppers start brand switching because only limited brands are sometimes available through these new, highly convenient services?