No Retreat, No Surrender
Analyzing and commenting on the hot topics in business, politics, and economics globally
I do not play favorites nor do I criticize to be malicious or disrespectful. My goal is simple: Provide opinions that help cut through noise, educate, uncover lies and half-truths, and provide clarity.
Reality Check: Amazon Should Shut Down Their Drone Program
There comes a point in time when individuals and companies must face the facts and accept reality. Amazon, for example, has been touting since 2013 that they would become the leader in delivering packages that weighed five pounds or less via drones. Amazon isn’t close...
First Look at Amazon’s Automated Grocery Warehouse System from AutoStore
A recent Bloomberg article about Amazon written by Matt Day, contained this paragraph: "In the New York area the company is testing a new, fully automated facility in Bethpage, on Long Island. The warehouse, which will open later this year or early next year, relies...
First Look at How PepsiCo is Using Tesla’s Electric Semi Trucks in their Business
Tesla has only delivered a limited number of its electric semi trucks, and most of them are in operation in PepsiCo’s fleet – primarily in its Sacramento facility, which has been completely electrified and is solar-powered. Tesla's semi truck has a list price of...
A Simple Plan Gone Awry
My compliments to Caroline O'Donovan of The Washington Post for this article. Amazon’s simple plan for groceries has gone awry. After acquiring Whole Foods Market in 2017, Amazon lost all momentum by FOOLISHLY competing against themselves by scaling Amazon Fresh...
This is Why Logistics and Velocity Matter
Amazon has announced that it has already delivered 1.8B packages to U.S. Prime members the same or next day, roughly four times what it delivered at those speeds by this point in 2019. For comparison, UPS delivered 24.3M packages per day in 2022 for a total of 6.2B...
The Mobile Store will soon be a Reality
I first started writing about the concept of mobile stores in 2010. I coined the phrase, "Hail a store" because I thought consumers should be able to access groceries and other products as easily as hailing an Uber. When I wrote an article about Robomart, many people...
When Anger and Egos Collide
According to reports, the Norwegian robotics firm AutoStore™ will pay $257.1M to the British online fulfillment company Ocado Group as part of a deal between the companies to settle all outstanding patent litigation claims. AutoStore filed a lawsuit against Ocado in...
The Missing Ingredient
According to this article by Jinjoo Lee, supermarkets are losing market share and customers to big-box retailers like Costco Wholesale who has a highly efficient operating model and leans on membership fees and sales volume to generate revenue and profits. Walmart,...
What Could Have Been
What do Lowe's Companies, Inc., Walmart, and The Home Depot have in common other than the fact each is a retailer? All three companies have corporate policies and initiatives designed to make the environment better where their customers live, and to practice...
Understanding the Cold Chain
This is a well-made video from Andrea Miller of CNBC. The video outlines the importance of the cold chain on the ability of consumers to purchase and eat frozen foods, and the challenge of managing products. The purpose of a supply chain is to do one thing - enable...