Evolution of the Thesis

In 2007 I wrote a book arguing that customers overwhelmingly preferred the online channel, and that the online channel would eventually capture most orders. When that happened, many traditional catalog strategies would begin to falter.

In 2010, I argued that the organic percentage could be measured, and if measured properly, allowed companies to save a fortune on advertising expense because orders were going to happen anyway and were being incorrectly attributed to catalogs and paid search and online marketing. 

In 2011, I argued that the online channel had "won", cutting catalogers off from younger customers. 

In 2013, I argued that without a healthy focus on new merchandise, we are slowly starving our customer files from growth. 

In 2014, I argued that the omnichannel thesis was dead on arrival, simply because customers do not spend more when they have access to many channels, and that this would ultimately cause sales to transfer online and cause stores to close and cause expenses to rise until the stores were closed (at which time sales declined, of course).

In 2016, I am arguing that we need Brand Response Marketing to plant enough seeds so that we can acquire enough new customers at a low cost to fuel our future success. 

The secret to success ultimately comes down to profitable management of new merchandise and new customers.