Where has all the innovation gone?

This is not a stagnant era with regard to advances in technology, sciences, and other related areas. The internet continues to change on an almost daily basis, and how we communicate seems to evolve almost as fast. So where are the real innovations in retail? And why aren't we seeing any? Is the entire industry so mature that any form of innovation, continuous or otherwise, simply isn't probable? Or is there something culturally limiting within the industry that keeps innovation from being adopted?

As a retailer, a senior marketer selling products to retailers, and as an entrepreneur selling services to retailers, the most common question I can recall when something "new" is in question is "who have you sold this to?". And in the past decades, the world of retail contained sufficient pioneering smaller companies that new things could get bootstrapped up to the attention of the big players....often simply because the product or service WASN'T being sold or used by one of the big boys. So adoption of innovation followed a chartable path, generally beginning with small, niched or accounts needing to/able to take more risks. If the product or service performed, and performed well enough to catch the attention of someone in the big leagues, one of the major players could usually be induced to try it. From there, the public got to vote.

Today, that chartable path doesn't really exist. Yes, there are a few pioneer type retailers, but by and large, the "sell it into specialty and then broaden distribution" strategy isn't viable. Which means that innovation is becoming an endangered species in the merchandise mix. Sad, but understandable. What about the rest of the organization? Why isn't there innovation there?

What new marketing methods have been developed by retailers? Wouldn't you think they'd be prime and fertile grounds for new ways to communicate with consumers? After all, communicating with consumers is the sole objective of retail marketing. Adoption of social networking...yes....but is any of it innovative?

I think one of the critical questions to ask of any organization isn't "why aren't you producing innovations" but rather "what have you done to intentionally create and sustain innovation". Really.... if you can't articulate a specific and measurable approach to stimulating, nurturing and incorporating innovation....then you don't have one. And if you are not innovating, you are following. Followers reap lower returns, fight over scraps, and generally lead dull and limited brand lives.