Category Archives: WayPoint Analytics

125. Rent An Analytics Champ To Jumpstart a Renewal

AmazonBusiness, Big Data, Core Renewal, Cost-to-Serve Math, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Profit Analytics, WayPoint Analytics

Baseball’s Lessons For Distributors

Two books document the rise of game-changing analytics within major league baseball (MLB): Moneyball (’03) and the highly-recommended, Astroball (7/18)[i]. The 2018 MLB playoffs featured the best, most analytically-empowered teams (along with big-talent payrolls).

Studies on MLB analytics departments from ’03 to ’18 reveal that: Continue reading 125. Rent An Analytics Champ To Jumpstart a Renewal →

123. Teach Customers To Be Better, Win-Win Buyers

Big Data, Concierge Customer Service, Cost-to-Serve Math, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, WayPoint Analytics

Customers Aren’t Equally Effective Buyers

Customer profitability analytics reveals a wide range of buyer effectiveness. And, SKU profitability analytics measurably pinpoints the root causes for their variances in hidden, unnecessary buying activity and servicing costs.

Customers also vary in their openness to changing how they buy to achieve: Continue reading 123. Teach Customers To Be Better, Win-Win Buyers →

122. Amazon News; Uberization of Local Deliveries?

AmazonBusiness, Concierge Customer Service, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Profit Analytics, Service Value Innovation Guidelines, Supply Chain Partners, WayPoint Analytics

“The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” – William Gibson

AMAZON’S LAST MILE, LOGISTICS NEWS

    1. (Oct. 10) “The USPS seeks a 12.3% price increase” on the 40% of AMZ’s packages that it delivers. AMZ suggests that the projected $1B cost increase won’t matter in 2019. (?)
    2. (10/17) Hiring “Seasonal Delivery Associates” (for $17.25/hour). Doesn’t this compete with AMZ’s new “Delivery Partners” (6/28)? The Partner start-ups will use the 20K (initially 4.5K) of leased Mercedes Sprinter Vans. Perhaps: a) shipments are growing faster than total delivery capacity. Or, b) AMZ believes it can innovate lower last-mile costs than the USPS, etc.
    3. (11/5/18) Free holiday shipping for all (matches Target’s promotion). AMZ will win any battle of fulfillment-cost attrition because: a) It has best customer clickstream advertising income and b) most efficient warehouse costs.

Continue reading 122. Amazon News; Uberization of Local Deliveries? →

121. Full-Employment Woes? Reinvent Service-Value!

2020 Companies, Concierge Customer Service, Core Renewal, Cost-to-Serve Math, Index, WayPoint Analytics

Nov 2, 2018 Employment News

 250,00 new jobs were added to the economy in October. Unemployment dropped to 3.7%: a 40-year low. Yearly wages increased 3.1%: the biggest gain since the financial meltdown 10 years ago. The best young employees are starting to job-shop and hop. Besides more pay, smart ones want:

  1. A believable and engaging vision, strategy, and culture – that will reward all stakeholders.
  2. And, personally: job security, pride, education, growth – all with great team satisfaction.

Continue reading 121. Full-Employment Woes? Reinvent Service-Value! →

120. Your Best Cloud-Commerce and the Mythical Cassandra

2020 Companies, AmazonBusiness, Core Renewal, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Service Value Innovation Guidelines, Supply Chain Partners, WayPoint Analytics

THE MYTHICAL CASSANDRA

…Was a beautiful princess of besieged Troy who enchanted Apollo. To win her charms, Apollo gave her the gift to foresee the future. But, when she reneged on romance, he compromised the gift so that no one would believe her predictions. She begged fellow Trojans to not take the Wooden Horse (left behind by the Greeks) into the city’s walls, but to no avail. Continue reading 120. Your Best Cloud-Commerce and the Mythical Cassandra →

119. Will Commissioned Reps Be Un-Bundled?

Big Data, Concierge Customer Service, Cost-to-Serve Math, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Service Value Innovation Guidelines, WayPoint Analytics

Traditional-Markup, Service Bundles

Many distributors mark-up goods to hopefully cover the costs of their “free services” that come with the product. These include service-costs like: outside and inside reps, fulfillment, delivery, free returns, and trade credit.

What happens when digital-buying millennials increasingly take over B2B buying, and they find lower prices for equal or better goods from online sellers (with zero outside and inside rep costs)? Continue reading 119. Will Commissioned Reps Be Un-Bundled? →