Cyber Wow!

Yesterday appears to be a day of cyber wow!  

Early reports are saying that Cyber Monday shopping topped $2B in sales, achieving a 17.5% increase over last year.  For those not used to keeping score, that is a huge year over year gain.  Without a doubt we have crossed over the online hurdles and even with sales tax being collected in most states, and no Amazon drones delivering our packages yet, we are firmly okay with search, buy, and wait.  

Traditional retailers were scratching their heads after the lackluster days on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but when they add it all up, it might just be okay. That is, unless Amazon took the biggest bite from the apple.  I know anyone reading this has already accepted that online is the future, now the question is how that future unfolds.  On this post Cyber-Monday Tuesday, I'd be thinking now about what we can do for next year to further engage and ready our consumers for next year so that we are their first choice.  

To do that, we have to go well beyond the lowest price or the the most extensive choices.  We have to create (and yes this will feel so 1999) "community" that brings them back over and over.

Thankfulness

There is a quote in the TV show, Game of Thrones, that stuck with me.  The Queen Mother says to her young son, who has just become King, that he better needs to understand the commoners. She says to him, "People not like us expect to lose important things in life."   What she was saying is that those not in royalty can find themselves living their life expecting to lose, not always holding a manifest destiny to winning.  The business world is the same.  

Those on top, expect more.  Those who are struggling, smaller, and trying to keep their head above water, appreciate and look at their business differently. The front page of the New York Times business section today, reminds us of a time in Silicon Valley, 1999, when all was great and nothing could get in our way to success. We knew no risk.  We expected only the best.  And, when it went away, and we were humbled, we appreciated and became more thankful of what he had, what we had learned and what we could expect going forward. 

The lesson?  

We need to keep ourselves in check and recognize that losing will bring greater appreciation and thankfulness, so how can we cultivate that spirit of humility and gratitude, even in the best of times?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones.