How can business become more resilient to 'energy shocks' and rises in fossil fuel prices? A. Many businesses, retail for instance, rely on thousands of 1st tier suppliers and those chains may go back to Asia, where there's a lot of uncertainty over energy supply because of booming demand.
In retail, for instance, ambient applications are expected to eventually unchain retail workers from cash registers and inventory programs, freeing up salespeople to provide more one-on-one assistance.
Getting one pair of Jordan XII Wings at retail, for instance, would have netted a nearly 10x savings when the shoes were going on eBay for close to $2,000 in the resale market.
In retailing, for instance, El Corte Ingles and Carrefour's Spanish arm operate nationwide; Caprabo, with sales of over $1 billion, is essentially Catalan.
In shoe retailing, for instance, offerings targeted at the wealthy or the young are far more global than those aimed at the middle market, which remains doggedly local.
A service called Taskrabbit allows well-off busy people to hire poorer and less busy ones for errands such as doing the shopping or queuing for theatre tickets on their behalf.Meanwhile much of the work that can easily be done by those with minimal training in retailing, for instance, or wholesale warehouses is gradually being automated away.
In retailing, for instance, about half the people work in this "informal" way.
Gasoline retailing, for instance, tends to be initially more profitable in developing countries than in developed markets, but the margins start to tighten after about 18 months.
"Business owners tend to focus on the profits associated with Black Friday but they are rarely prepared for the extra expenses that come with it," says Garrett Speigel, COO and co founder of Standard Cyborg, a 3D scanning company used by retailers to ensure accurate sizing".For instance, retail stores that deal with a lot of shipping will experience a higher rate of returns during the holidays.
Retail sales, for instance, show no sign of flagging.
Hong Kong's retail sales, for instance, fell by 50% in March.
