Channel Mastery - Ep. 58b: Carter Jensen, Amazon & Walmart
“The brick and mortar experience also has to be some of the best it's ever been. Right? Invest in your people.”
- Carter Jensen
EPISODE PREVIEW:
The news that walmart.com had launched a premium online outdoor shop rocked the outdoor markets. Specialty retailers cut orders with brands that were selling to Walmart. Brands pulled their products, with Black Diamond going so far as to send a cease and desist. Walmart-owned Moosejaw, who curated the online shop, pushed back that the outrage against Walmart was hindering inclusivity in outdoor activities.It’s at once an age-old story of distribution and brand equity – and a new playbook cautionary tale of resistance to change. In Episode 56, I interviewed Wes Allen for the specialty retailer’s take right after the news broke. In this 3-part series, I interview:
John McCoy, e-commerce specialist and retail industry value engineer
Carter Jensen, digital ad expert and trend spotter, and
Mike Massey, retailer and founder of Locally.com.
The conversations with all three center around the fundamental question: Why is the Amazon marketplace OK for the outdoor markets, but Walmart’s marketplace is not?John, Mike and Carter provide nuanced and informed opinions that may surprise you. Enjoy!
SELECT QUOTES:
“It's the new consumer experience. They're looking for that one-on-one personal touch concierge experience that they're not able to replicate.”
“You're seeing a lot of those big box retailers have a really hard time figuring what their identity is, and ultimately failing because they're not able to get to one side or the other…quickly enough.”
“I love to show Target as an example [of a brand that] has been able to actually achieve both ends of the spectrum that we talk about.”
“There are tools at our fingertips where - no matter what the scale may be, no matter how many products you might have on the shelf, no matter big or small your brick and mortar retailer is - you're able to capture this new consumer in the way that they want to be captured.”
“The point is that we now, as retailers, have ways to meet the new consumer, meet the demands of the new consumer in incredible ways that should not just be limited to the biggest companies in the world.”
“The brick and mortar experience also has to be some of the best it's ever been. Right? Invest in your people.”