FedEx, Powered By Hope

Supply Chain
Written By Rick Watson

Fred Smith has said it was "fantastical" to think that Amazon Air is a threat. This initial article was from 2018, but it’s still worth analyzing this reaction.

An organization takes its cues from its leader. When the leader tells a company to focus and be serious, the organization follows suit.

When a CEO dismisses a threat, most employees assume the CEO must know something they don't, and if the CEO dismissed it, it isn't going to affect their bonus anyway.

You know what else is fantastical? The story of the Internet and of Amazon itself. An unprofitable dot bomb company challenging anyone at all.

Yet challenge it did. Inventing and/or popularizing not only affiliates, product reviews, compute-as-a-service, voice computing, allowing competitors to sell on your own product pages. It moved from selling books to selling most things, and doing it well. It's built one of the largest logistics networks in North America. The only thing fantastical is dismissing Amazon at this phase in its development. If they put their mind to something, they can accomplish it.

Amazon's only worry is its blind spots, and that does not include supply chain.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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