Posts Tagged by Costco
Green Consumer Products Gain Market Share – But Which Supply Chain Partners Are Best?
| January 30, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
I’ve been writing a great deal about the power of strategic business partnerships recently. And, until this moment, I’ve forgotten to mention one of my most trusted allies and best-respected friends, John Tyson, CEO of Amerivon.
Imagine if you will a conversation between Costco and one of its umpteen thousand (million?) potential suppliers. Costco, with its 600 stores and $53 billion in annual revenues, gets plenty of attention from purveyors of everything from CFLs, vitamins, and smoke detectors to lawn chairs and Newcastle Brown Ale.
But how can the two — a megaretailer and a fledgling supplier — actually connect? And, once they connect, how can they both win? Read More
Big Box Retailers and Clean Energy Products
| December 28, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
“The good news is, you got an order from Costco,” my good friend John Tyson says, explaining the discussions he has with his clients. “The bad news is, you got an order from Costco.” He then elucidates, laying out the great many things that could qualify as “bad news” about receiving an order for millions of dollars worth of whatever it is the client happens to be selling: brutal negotiations, ridiculous delivery schedules, oppressive logistics, and, at the end of it all, the threat that, if you’re one iota off in any way, you’ll never get another chance.
To be honest, I hadn’t thought too much about John’s big box retail consulting and finance company, Amerivon, in quite a while until just the other day. I received an out-of-the-blue phone call from an old high school friend who wants my participation in his organization that will be producing extremely high-tech LED-based lighting products for both business and consumer markets. One of the possible channels, it seems to me, is places like Costco, Home Depot, Walmart, etc.
So I’m coming back up to speed on all the issues associated with these outlets, which are legendary for their strength in manipulating and ultimately crushing vendors. I want to be able to tell my school chum, “Here’s the good news …. and, by the way, there is no bad news.”
Toyota's Plug-In Hybrid
| December 15, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
Not to harp on the obvious, but without vigorous grassroots efforts to the contrary, the migration to renewable energy and clean transportation will be slow and arduous. In news that underscores this point, Toyota unveiled its new plug-in hybrid, promising sales in 2011 at an “affordable” price. Executive vice president Takeshi Uchiyamada told an eager audience that Toyota’s plug-in travels 14.5 miles as an electric vehicle on a single charge.
Not everyone agrees with me on this, but I find this product — and the timing of its launch — a considerable snooze. Toyota could have had a plug-in hybrid with 30 – 50 mile electric-only range in the market many years ago. Why didn’t they? Because it wasn’t in their interest to do so. They were already perceived as “green” (with the Prius), and there was nothing in it for them to move this along until they absolutely had to.
This offering is good for Toyota in every way. The small battery pack will be easy to build, support, sell – and ultimately replace with new technology as soon as it comes along. The fact that most drivers will be disappointed in that they will continue to use gasoline on a daily basis is apparently not a significant part of the equation.
I’m reminded of shopping at Costco, the experience of which always leaves we thinking: I’m not buying what’s good for me; I’m buying what’s good for Costco to sell me – whatever they can source inexpensively, and sell in quantities that are almost always far greater than its customers want. Need a canister of salt? Think you can get it at Costco? No, if you want salt, you get a 25-pound sack – sufficient to last a family of four about 30 years.
But is it fair to expect altruism from Toyota — or any other corporation, when their sole purpose is to make money? Today’s corporate titans think of themselves as “customer-focused,” though that’s for business reasons, not out of true concern for fulfilling customers’ needs. If that weren’t the case, we woudn’t have planned obsolescence — products that are built to wear out and fall apart, necessitating replacement by new ones.
The bottom line is this: at the end of the day, electric transportation will not come from the “push” of the OEMs; the only thing we have going for us is the “pull” from customers like me (and, I hope, like you) who simply refuse to buy another 25 MPG planet-buster.
