History Repeats Itself
There are many case studies that have written the narrative for the colloquialism history repeats itself. This is an important message for businesses who choose to refrain from studying or recalling the past chronicle events of their industry. Ergo, they naturally find themselves among the rest of the other chewed up and spit out business models and seem to see their failures equivalently to an elephant in the room, obliviously searching for where they went wrong in their business strategy despite the solutions stated apparently in the blueprints.
This phenomenon has presented itself multiple times in each industry. Blockbuster's defeat and Netflix's uprising, streaming conquering cable, music streaming wiping out the radio star, cell phones destroying landlines, Uber dominating taxis, kindles removing tangible books, the list goes on and on and history repeats itself as innovation never dies.
They say that those who do not know history are destined to repeat it. They were referring to businesses that have failed staying up to date with competitors behavior as well as monitoring trending business strategies as far as examining what does and does not work. Currently, a prime example of a sink or swim scenario is a well known multinational retail corporation otherwise known as Walmart.
Walmart has been reigning since 1962, offering it's customers accessibility and affordability. However, all reigns do not last forever and in order to maintain the status of fierce competition, the company must predict and anticipate the impending shifts to come. But, just like the tale as old as time, history repeated itself. The retail industry is crumbling and is coming to an end of it's rule; shopping malls are closing, niche retail giants are filing for bankruptcy, (etc.) all in the wake of online presences. Walmart has to face that among the shift in shopping habits, shoppers are likely to adapt to the online delivery and shopping tools offered by companies with online presences such as Amazon. With Amazon's recent acquisition of Whole Foods, the e-commerce giant is competing directly with Walmart and it's main selling points being its grocery store and it's retail store.
If Walmart did not get comfortable and decided to review the narrative and edit the script, the company could have predicted the digital shift that is now in full swing. Amazon, on the other hand, is catering specifically to active consumers in the digital age and simplifying their lifestyles. Amazon's mission statement reads “We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience." This statement in itself holds a promise to constantly accommodate users in the ever-changing digital landscape. As for Walmart, the company must play a major game of catch-up in order to adequately compete with the now largest online retail store.
The moral of the story, it should not be considered common or inevitable for a company to have to play catch-up among their rivals. Predicting the shift, auditing businesses approaches and plans of action, and adapting to the changes can make all of the difference in the success story of your business. If those who do not know history repeat it, than know your history and stay woke.