Consumer electronics retailer RadioShack recently filed for bankruptcy after 94 years in business.
Once known as THE place to buy the latest in electronics from CB radios to one of the first computers (the TRS-80), competition and an ever-changing retail industry ultimately forced the company to shutter the business.
But, it was inability to innovate and employ Design Thinking concepts that kept it from remaining on the leading edge … and from celebrating a 100-year anniversary.
For example, RadioShack made moves toward e-commerce, including a ship-to-store option in 2006, but Amazon was already a massive force in Internet retail, and Best Buy and Walmart had been running e-commerce sites since the 90s. Instead, RadioShack was mired in store problems and left customers without the ability to conduct any level of commerce on their site.
Had RadioShack been more iterative, and paid more attention to what was happening with their customer base (Design Thinking), it may have seen its business go down a very different path.
Is that to say that you should take the Amazon.com approach of throwing every concept you can think of at the wall to see what sticks? Not necessarily. Instead, I’d suggest engaging in the practice of Design Thinking when it comes to building your next big idea.
That approach is exactly what International Carwash Association has been using in the last year as it continues to innovate and evolve its product portfolio.
The most recent examples center on Wash Count, our operator benchmarking program, and The Car Wash Show 2015.
Wash Count gets an injection of sophistication in the most recent quarterly report as we took conversations with current and former program participants, and used those data points to bring innovation to the program. We’ve partnered with ITR Economics to bring additional layers of economic analysis to produce a report that is rich in data and information to help program participants make better business decisions.
The Car Wash Show 2015 sees a number of new offerings this year, including Emerging Leaders and Executive seminars and Emerging Leaders and Women in Car Washing receptions. We’ve incorporated what we’ve heard in to reach a new, younger demographic of car wash professionals and connect more women leaders in the industry. In addition, we added several Education Session topics, and multiple styles of presenting information to meet different learning styles. Everything from lectures to interactive to peer-to-peer.
From ICA’s perspective, the only way to move smartly forward, is to have open conversations with your customers, gather data, and conduct your innovation in an iterative manner, ensuring you keep yourself on the leading edge and enabling you to remain nimble and adaptable.
In this issue of CAR WASH Magazine, we dive in to ways you can up your game when it comes to moving your business forward. From an in-depth look at Design Thinking to covering how to take a fresh look at risk vs. reward we’re bringing a variety of articles to inspire innovation in your business.
You’ll also find the executive summary from our 2014 Consumer Study, which indicates that more people are choosing to use a professional car wash. And, of course, there is our usual array of industry information, professional profiles and a marketing missive from our friend, Champ Savage.
As always, if there is something you’d like to see covered that we haven’t already or if you have a suggestion for how we can make this publication more valuable, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
Sincerely,
Matt DeWolf
