McKinsey & Company. John Straw, a senior advisor to McKinsey based in London, a serial entrepreneur and technology expert. In this McKinsey article John Straw is focused on larger corporations but there is much in what he says that is applicable to entrepreneurs and not only in the retail sector. Mr. Straw recounts a story when he was talking with a Silicon Valley investor who said “You know what I’d really like from one of my startups? I’d like a dollar in revenue with a hundred users engaging a thousand times a day with a product, rather than a thousand dollars in revenue with a few hundred users engaging once, because that is where I am going to place my bets – that level of engagement. The point this investor was making is that a high level of engagement shows you have got the product right. Where people come only once it is the marketing you have got right. And marketing does not scale but products can.

Continuing with the theme of getting the product right Mr. Straw mentions the value of prototyping. In this case this does not mean a prototype that does not see the light of day beyond a design studio. These are prototypes that you get into the hands of consumers early in the development stage and judge the level of the consumers engagement. Use feedback to improve the product. Producing some prototypes need not be prohibitively expensive there are many design and build companies that can help. Do not try to get the prototype perfect, get a functioning version and get it into consumer’s hands. You may want to consider setting a self-imposed deadline for the launch date. There is nothing like a deadline for focusing the mind. Backward planning will help in this regard. I talked about backward planning in Show 4 Season 4 as part of the series on strategic planning. In summary you identify when you want to launch your prototype and all that needs to be done to get there. You then work backwards to today and build what is effectively your to do list with milestones. If you are disciplined this will keep you on track and enable you to celebrate as milestones are reached. Based on his experience John Straw says the first lesson he would draw is to be sure that in the early days you have something tangible to show. Show and tell is very important if you want to gain financial traction. Show, tell, engage. Augmented Reality AR and Extended Reality XR are creating opportunities for retailers. John Straw recounts how IKEA quickly took advantage of the AR feature on iPhones to create an App that enabled customers to see how a piece of furniture would look in their own rooms. IKEA went further by finding company whose technology could measure a room and allow the consumer to see how a complete range of furniture would look. The big news is that Apple is rumored to going to launch a range of XR glasses. Based on Apple’s track record these glasses will be a significant advance on anything that has gone before. If you sell high priced items it is time to start thinking of what AR/XR can do for you. You can be sure there are developers working on Apps for Apple products already. If you could work alongside a developer as a beta test site, you could be the coolest retailer in your town. The progress in virtual assistants and chatbots will provide opportunities for retailers to allow customers to interact with virtual assistants with no limits on their knowledge and experience. Chatbot technology is not where it needs to be today. I am sure you have had frustrating conversations with chatbots. Where you ask a question, get an unsatisfactory answer, so you try to ask the