There are a million little ways retailers can screw you on what you buy. But maybe nowhere is this more common than in the world of high-tech gadgets. 5 Ways Hi-Tech Retailers Are Secretly Screwing You article gives examples how high tech opens up whole new realms of screwing the customer. Examples of this can be found on printer inks, premium HDMI cables, warranties and “optimization”. Many electronics and electronics shops have a notoriously narrow profit margin, so all of the shady stuff is just helping them trying to stay afloat. On-line retailers have pushed down the consumer electronics products margins a lot from what the used to be.
Read also 8 Retail Ripoff Tactics and Top 10 Retail Ripoffs Exposed! Learn sneaky snake sales tricks and avoid being BIT!
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Tomi Engdahl says:
How Companies Learn Your Secrets
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
“If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didn’t want us to know, can you do that? ”
As the marketers explained to Pole — and as Pole later explained to me, back when we were still speaking and before Target told him to stop — new parents are a retailer’s holy grail.
But Target sells everything from milk to stuffed animals to lawn furniture to electronics, so one of the company’s primary goals is convincing customers that the only store they need is Target.
“We knew that if we could identify them in their second trimester, there’s a good chance we could capture them for years,” Pole told me. “As soon as we get them buying diapers from us, they’re going to start buying everything else too.
The desire to collect information on customers is not new for Target or any other large retailer, of course.
“If you use a credit card or a coupon, or fill out a survey, or mail in a refund, or call the customer help line, or open an e-mail we’ve sent you or visit our Web site, we’ll record it and link it to your Guest ID,” Pole said. “We want to know everything we can.”
Andrew Pole was hired by Target to use the same kinds of insights into consumers’ habits to expand Target’s sales. His assignment was to analyze all the cue-routine-reward loops among shoppers and help the company figure out how to exploit them.
Vicente Weissert says:
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SWAT Team Would Like to See Your says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Nearing Bankruptcy, Fruugo Burned Through €40 Million to Generate €100K
http://www.arcticstartup.com/2012/04/16/fruugo-financials-bankruptcy
Fruugo was one of the most talked about companies in the Finnish startup scene, perhaps due to the fact that the company was able to attract the top executives of the Finnish business world.
Fruugo has tried to innovate in the space of e-commerce through a multi-retailer site where consumers would be able buy goods from numerous stores on one site and pay in their own, local currency through one check out.
We’ve gotten our hands on Fruugo’s 2010 financials and they’re not pretty. The company generated less than €85 000 in commissions, revenue, while running a loss of around €8 million, taking the cumulative losses to around €37 million (as of the end of 2010). The figures also reveal that the company is basically bankrupt.
As Fruugo slides towards bankruptcy (unless it is able to take care of its finances), the company’s journey will most likely become difficult for many people to understand.
While we don’t know exactly which management decisions took place, Fruugo is a great reminder that the processes in place at larger companies seldom work on a startup level. Larger companies can usually afford to work through the uneffective waterfall model where as startups need to iterate constantly and be in contact with their users, clients and customers to better understand the need in the market. Fruugo burned a lot of money in the couple of years leading up to its launch when perhaps it should have gone live earlier and responded to the needs of its users.
If you’re not able to understand the market and consumer behaviour – you’re bound to head to the wrong direction for years while burning through a lot of cash in the hopes that your hypothesis and expectations will carry through.
COMMENTS:
IMHO: very bad steering group, poor VC market knowledge, ignoring the market rules and customer feedback. Sad to hear and read this.
How much from the €40 million was from tekes? I don’t mind old boys club losing their bonus in a investement, that’s just life. But I cringe of the waste of tax payer money.
The employers were clearly the winners. They got a salary and experience (eg. how not do things).
Startups either succeed or fail, there is not much middle ground.
The merger happened towards the end of 2010, so it should be no surprise that 2010 results were not stellar. It would be wise to wait and see what happened after the two firms started working together (2011-2012).
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Perfect storm’ drives electronics stores to EXTINCTION
Supermarket and web rivals will eat retailers alive – analyst
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2012/04/19/consumer_electronics_retail_devastation/
The window of opportunity for traditional bricks-and-mortar consumer electronics retailers to catch up with web-based and supermarket rivals has closed and many more will go the way of the dinosaur.
So says channel beancounter Canalys, which predicts others will follow in the footsteps of monolithic consumer outlets such as Best Buy Europe, CompUSA and Circuit City.
Retailers were “hit by a perfect storm”, with supermarkets and etailers selling tech at lower prices and could not match the stock variety, more favourable returns policy, peer reviews and free delivery of online rivals.
“Consumer electronics retailers now offer very few benefits to consumers,” said Canalys principal analyst Alastair Edwards.
He said they appeal only to a rapidly shrinking group of individuals that are “unable or unwilling” to jump on the web with credit card in hand, or to impulse buyers who want to pick up a products immediately.
Canalys said consumer electronics retailers “failed spectacularly to respond” to the warning signs of the last 15 years and the accumulative effect can be witnessed on the High Street.
“The window of opportunity has closed,” said Edwards, “they will never catch up with the internet specialists. They started late, under-invested and could not build a culture to excite talented programmers.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t Buy This Stuff Right Now
http://gizmodo.com/5903704/dont-buy-this-stuff-right-now
Former Gizmodian Brian Lam has a site called The Wirecutter, whose singular goal is to decide which gadgets to buy or not to buy. Today, he looks at a handful of product categories you should wait on before plunking down a stack of cash.
TV, home theater: Wait until when? Mid Year 2012
iPhone: The new one only a few months away!
Laptops: Wait until when? Windows 8 (Fall 2012) and Ivy Bridge (Late Spring 2012)
High End Mirrorless Cameras: Mirrorless cameras, a still new kind of camera type has interchangeable lenses like DSLRs but in a body only a little larger than a big point and shoot. They’re light.
TV technology trends and predictions for 2012 « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog says:
[...] to a Chinese TV manufacturer. Hi-Tech Retailers with their large stores are struggling because of notoriously narrow profit margin and the fact that retail shops are becoming showrooms where people check the product they then buy [...]
Iphone app says:
Iphone app…
[...]How Hi-Tech Retailers Are Screwing You « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog[...]…
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ambulance-chasing resellers will die on life support
Trend Micro’s Tim Ayling on value versus fast bucks
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2012/06/07/trend_micro_ambulance_chasers/
In challenging economic times it’s fair to say that every company’s primary job is to stay afloat. Even in the information security industry, which was shielded better than most from the worst effects of the global recession, the survival instinct is still clearly visible.
In the channel, however, the complex relationships between vendor, reseller and end customer can be discomfortingly disrupted if the profit motive becomes too strong. Resellers need to think more carefully about adding value rather than ambulance chasing for short-term economic gain.
There are two types of ambulance-chasing reseller in my book:
there are those who spot and pounce on deals which have been set up by their competitors, slashing margins and cutting costs to win those contracts by offer lower prices to customers.
Then there are those who jump on the uncertainty created by breaking high-profile news – a zero-day flaw in Windows perhaps or a government report on cyber threats – to flog their goods and services.
Although the channel for IT security is probably big enough to accommodate these kinds of firms, they don’t offer the vendors any hope of building a strategic relationship together and, at worst, can strip off the value that the vendor strives to offer the market.
After all, information security is one of those areas that customers don’t pay much attention to until something bad happens.
We may live in challenging times economically, but those channel partners set to survive and thrive will be the ones who foster meaningful, long-term relationships with both vendor and end customer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Apple Store Seduces You With the Tilt of Its Laptops
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/06/14/why-the-new-macbook-pro-is-tilted-70-degrees-in-an-apple-store/
But the main reason notebook computers screens are slightly angled is to encourage customers to adjust the screen to their ideal viewing angle—in other words, to touch the computer! It’s also why all computers and iPads in the Apple Store are loaded with apps and software and connected to the Internet. Apple wants you to see the display for yourself and to experiment with apps and web sites to experience the power and performance of the devices. Customers in an Apple Retail Store can spend all the time they want playing with the devices and using the Internet—nobody will pressure them to leave.
Multisensory experiences build a sense of ownership. Interactivity—what I call the ‘multisensory experience’—is built in to every aspect of the Apple Store experience.
You see, the Apple Store was never created on the premise that people want to buy stuff. Instead Apple discovered that by creating an ownership experience, customers would be more loyal to the brand.
The Apple Store was designed to create an ownership experience from the moment a customer walks through the door.
The difference between Apple and Best Buy.
The Apple Store made a connection with my daughters because they made it easy for them to touch the products, encouraged them to do so, and let them play with the products for as long as they wanted.
Walk into a ‘big box’ retailer and you often find the opposite scenario. The devices are turned off and the screens are black. It should be no surprise that some of these retailers like Best Buy are in financial trouble and looking for ways to improve the customer experience. They might start by visiting an Apple Store.
Build-A-Bear turns a commodity into childhood memories. Multisensory experiences can work for any product, not just computers. Build-A-Bear Workshop is a global company with 400 locations that offers an interactive, multisensory experience. Children participate in the actual creation of their stuffed animals. Think about it. Stuffed animals are sold everywhere
Our brains love multisensory experiences. The more you engage your customers’ senses, the more likely it is that they will engage with your product on an emotional level and reward you with their loyalty.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 signs that Apple is a cult
http://theweek.com/article/index/229766/5-signs-that-apple-is-a-cult
According to a New York Times exposé, the company’s retail stores are staffed with true believers, many of whom tolerate paltry paychecks to answer a higher calling
The average salesperson at an Apple store racks up nearly $500,000 in revenue per year for the gadget purveyor, says David Segal at The New York Times. But that same salesperson’s yearly salary comes to just $25,000 or so — better than Gap, but far below the six figures that commission-earning employees at Verizon can rake in.
1. Applicants are readymade acolytes
2. New employees are indoctrinated
3. Employees aren’t allowed to speak to the media
4. Apple is immersed in weird lingo
5. Rapture gives way to disillusionment
Tomi says:
10 Things Apple Won’t Tell You
http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/technology/10-things-apple-wont-tell-you-1344031439347/
Why customers may want to think different about the consumer-tech giant.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sexist “Booth Babes” And Ads: Are We Really Such Cads?
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4392241/Sexist–Booth-Babes–And-Ads–Are-We-Really-Such-Cads-?cid=EDNToday
Tomi Engdahl says:
How To Be a Genius: This Is Apple’s Secret Employee Training Manual
http://gizmodo.com/5938323
Apple tells its new recruits exactly what what to think and say. How do we know? We read Apple’s secret Genius Training Manual from cover to cover.
It’s a penetrating look inside Apple: psychological mastery, banned words, roleplaying—you’ve never seen anything like it.
The Genius Training Student Workbook we received is the company’s most up to date, we’re told, and runs a bizarre gamut of Apple Dos and Don’ts, down to specific words you’re not allowed to use, and lessons on how to identify and capitalize on human emotions. The manual could easily serve as the Humanity 101 textbook for a robot university, but at Apple, it’s an exhaustive manual to understanding customers and making them happy.
Sales, it turns out, take a backseat to good vibes—almost the entire volume is dedicated to empathizing, consoling, cheering up, and correcting various Genius Bar confrontations. The assumption, it’d seem, is that a happy customer is a customer who will buy things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Where the World’s Most Horrible Crap Comes From
http://gizmodo.com/5935116/where-the-worlds-most-horrible-crap-comes-from
I finally found out where the world gets all the garbage with which she fills her card shops and gift stores and gas-station toy racks. This stuff doesn’t come from hell. It comes from somewhere innumerably worse: Vegas.
When asked if I’d be game to attend something called the “China Brand Show,” I agreed to the plan without hesitation, despite having no idea what to expect.
Value and variety, to my excitement, is a football-field-sized room of bullshit designed to entice and delight children of every age.
goods labeled “Made in China” account for less than 3 percent of U.S. consumer spending. Yes, the Chinese may be slowly developing a monopoly on the manufacture of crass gag keychains
On the shuttle away from the ASDLV, I think about how fitting it is for a trade show dealing mostly in tacky shit to take place in Las Vegas.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cellphones Are Eating the Family Budget
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10000872396390444083304578018731890309450-lMyQjAxMTAyMDIwNjAyODY3Wj.html
Heidi Steffen and her husband used to treat themselves most weeks to steak at Sodak Shores, a restaurant overlooking a lake near their hometown of Milbank, S.D. Then they each got an iPhone, and the rib-eyes started making fewer appearances.
More than half of all U.S. cellphone owners carry a device like the iPhone, a shift that has unsettled household budgets across the country. Government data show people have spent more on phone bills over the past four years, even as they have dialed back on dining out, clothes and entertainment—cutbacks that have been keenly felt in the restaurant, apparel and film industries.
The tug of war is only going to get more intense. Wireless carriers are betting they can pull bills even higher by offering faster speeds on expensive new networks and new usage-based data plans. The effort will test the limits of consumer spending as the draw of new technology competes with cellphone owners’ more rudimentary needs and desires
Tomi Engdahl says:
It seems that Hi-Tech Retailers are in problem nowadays, here is one report on what happens in Finland:
Home appliance trade sector is in turmoil, says Turun Sanomat. Many home appliance stores and retail chains are going out of business trade moves supermarkets.
Consumers buy home appliances more and more supermarkets and online stores. Sales of household appliances in addition to the transition to the fall in prices has affected the operation of specialty stores.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/ts+telkkari+ostetaan+marketista+tai+netista++kodinkonekaupat+kovilla/a848115?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-18102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Surface tablet’s one year warranty flouts EU laws
Highlights growing problem of product vendors ignoring two-year EU warranty law in UK
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2218358/microsoft-surface-tablets-one-year-warranty-flouts-eu-laws
MICROSOFT is offering only a one-year warranty on its Surface tablet that is set to ship in the UK next week, despite an EU law that says hardware must come with at least a two-year warranty.
The Sale of Consumer Goods and Associated Guarantees directive states, “The seller is liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists when the goods are delivered to the consumer and which becomes apparent within a period of two years”.
As a result, it seems vendors are tricking customers into believing they have just one year to return their product for replacement or repair after purchase. Those that are aware of the two-year EU law have to go to court to resolve any issues outside the one-year warranty period, and who can be afford or even be bothered with that?
Tomi Engdahl says:
DigiExpo popularity dived
Exhibition and Convention Centre last weekend’s DigiExpo, HifiExpo, SkiExpo, BoardExpo and hockey & the Queen of Sheba exhibition complex attracted 61 000 visitors, says Finnexpo.
Number of visitors fell by more than 11 per cent.
TNS Gallupun visitor survey found that 84 percent of visitors will buy something entertainment electronics within three months of the year.
One in five exhibition visitor plans to buy in the next three months a new phone. Same applies to tablet.
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/viihde/2012/11/05/digiexpon-suosio-sukelsi-kansan-ostohalut-silti-korkealla/201241366/66?rss=6
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Customer service is just a cost that everyone wants to reduce.”
This is confusing to pipeline engineer brain logic. There are efforts to access customer though marketing and sales, but when the customer is the initiating party itself, the experience is often unpleasant.
Somewhere’s wrong and bad.
Poor transaction experience is what successful businesses, and industry gurus call on the most important to avoid, and aim for the opposite. Confusing yes, provide customer contact surface of the supplier, or customer service, is a disturbing often poorly organized, or is perceived as a necessary evil.
My thesis is direct: Customer service must be a part of the sales and marketing and not in isolation of them, perhaps it’s operating under the unit.
Customer service, it should produce a positive amazement to the customer, which keeps the cash register ringing.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/blogit/naamapalmu/asiakaspalvelussa+istuu+toimettomia+myyjia/a858407?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-22112012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
NFC Not The Answer for Retailers, Says PayPal
http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2013/01/25/nfc-not-the-answer-for-retailers-says-paypal/?KEYWORDS=David+Marcus
“Retailers say NFC stands for Not For Commerce,” he said. “It actually prohibits those retail experiences that have de-centralized point of sale checkouts. If you look at the experience you have in an Apple store, they launch an app and scan a barcode. It’s a really good experience.
“When you have consumers with smartphones, why do you need to go to a place to checkout?”
“The new norm for retail commerce is really multi channel — you buy online, on mobile in store. The question is facilitating payments across all channels and bringing these all together in one device. If you look at a typical retailer today they don’t even know when a customer is in their store.”
Retailers are becoming increasingly worried about customers using stores as showcases but making their purchases online. “[Customers] walk into an electronic store, scan the bar code look at the price and buy it online. If it happened to be a large bulky TV even better you don’t have to schlep it back.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home appliance trade looking for a savior from assistance services and net sales
Traditional home appliance stores believe we can succeed in the field of turmoil by providing customers with more services, such as installation and user guidance.
For example, if the TV buyer wants to watch movies through the internet, he may need some help connections.
“He needs to buy a TV and broadband may be connected to broadband services to mobile broadband modem. Instead, it requires skill,” says the chairman of the Union Home Technology Päivö New Erkkilä.
Household appliance stores have had to happen, when the sale has moved online, cheap supermarkets and shops.
Source: http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/talous/kodinkonekauppa_etsii_pelastajaa_apupalveluista_ja_nettikaupasta
Tomi Engdahl says:
To get products into more hands, Google will open its own stores by the end of the year
http://9to5google.com/2013/02/15/to-get-products-into-more-hands-google-will-open-its-own-stores-by-the-end-of-the-year/
An extremely reliable source has confirmed to us that Google is in the process of building stand-alone retail stores in the U.S. and hopes to have the first flagship Google Stores open for the holidays in major metropolitan areas.
The mission of the stores is to get new Google Nexus, Chrome, and especially upcoming products into the hands of prospective customers. Google feels right now that many potential customers need to get hands-on experience with its products before they are willing to purchase. Google competitors Apple and Microsoft both have retail outlets where customers can try before they buy. Google’s retail move won’t be an entirely new area, however.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Does Google mean what it says?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57572265-71/does-google-mean-what-it-says/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title
This week, one senior Google exec declared that smartphones are “emasculating,” while another said there was no need for physical stores. Yet Google makes smartphones and has pop-up stores. Confusing?
In business, meaning what you say is unnecessary. It can also have consequences.
It needed its products to be felt and not merely seen on a screen.
Not at all, soothed Rubin. These days, people just need to talk to their friends and read reviews before they spend thousands of dollars on a gadget.
I have a feeling that by “people” Rubin might mean “people who work here at Google who have little time to go to a physical store.”
He might also mean “engineers who buy things according to specs, rather than anything human like touch, feel, or smell.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Web Sales Remain Small for Many Retailers
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324906304579039101568397122-lMyQjAxMTAzMDIwNzEyNDcyWj.html
Nearly two decades after the Web revolutionized shopping, many big retailers are still struggling to turn the Internet into a big part of their business.
The company is one of about a dozen retailers queried recently by the SEC. The agency is concerned that retailers are hyping their Web prowess by claiming high percentage growth rates while failing to disclose how much that growth affects total sales.
What is clear from many of the answers is that the absolute figures are still relatively small.
Amazon.com Inc. sells more online than its next 12 biggest competitors combined, including Staples Inc. and Wal-Mart, according to the trade publication Internet Retailer. Despite its greater online scale, Amazon continues to grow quickly and command a hefty share of new Internet sales. Its 30% increase in North American sales in the second quarter outstripped the overall e-commerce market and some competitors as well.
Nancy Brown says:
Difference. There is a huge difference (roughly $ 19,000) between a single mother income and her married counterpart. Several factors contribute to this: Single mothers tend to have less time to study thus are less educated and therefore less qualified for higher paying jobs with normal hours and benefits compared to married moms. What should you do if you are a single mother (or father)? Then you need to work extra in your spare time, but because you at the same time need to take care of the kids, you have to work from home. Here you will find hints and ideas about that: http://haybyrne.com/moneyformoms.html
Julius Clancy says:
Die unvollendeten ansonsten chip abgehalfterten, die originellen und wafer kopierten, die perversen ebenso chip kitschigen, chip prosaischen mehr noch die lyrischen keine Leidenschaftlichkeit lieber habend jene Texte so gering jene in effectu gewesen sein gefallen besaßen mehr Elan, eher Seele, vielmehr Gehirnschmalz, Mehr die Gesamtheit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
To Catch Up, Walmart Moves to Amazon Turf
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/technology/to-catch-up-walmart-moves-to-amazon-turf.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
A plucky Silicon Valley company, forced to compete for talented engineers, is trying it all — recruiting billboards on Highway 101
The name of that arriviste company?
Walmart.
The country’s largest retailer, which for years didn’t blink at would-be competitors, is now under such a threat from Amazon that it is frantically playing catch-up by learning the technology business, including starting @WalmartLabs, its dot-com headquarters.
The two retail behemoths, one the king of the physical store and the other the conqueror of the online world, are battling over e-commerce — competing for the most talented engineers, trying to gain the upper hand in the new frontier of same-day delivery and warring over online pricing.
They want to control not just Internet shopping but all shopping. Even as Walmart pours money into technology, Amazon is building a physical presence across the nation, adding warehouses and pickup locations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Wallet Creators Raise $7M From Eric Schmidt, Khosla To Bring Personalization And Analytics To In-Store Commerce
http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/19/google-wallet-creators-raise-7m-from-eric-schmidt-khosla-to-bring-personalization-and-analytics-to-in-store-commerce/
While Amazon has been at the forefront of providing a personalized experience in online commerce, in-store retailers are still behind in using data in compelling ways to make the purchasing and shopping experience better in physical retail. Index, the new personalization and analytics company from the original members of the Google Wallet team, is hoping to change this. Today, the startup is announcing new funding and more details on the company’s product. Index has raised $7 million in a Series A round led by Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Khosla Ventures, AIMCo and 819 Capital.
At its core, Index wants to brick-and-mortar retailers leverage their physical stores as a competitive differentiator.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analysis: No checkouts, no chocolate: Online shopping hits impulse buys
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/27/us-retail-consumer-checkouts-analysis-idUSBRE9AQ0GG20131127
For consumers, one of the great things about shopping online is bypassing the queue to check out. For producers of the candy, magazines and drinks often sold there, it’s a problem.
In Britain, the country where e-commerce is most popular, about 13 percent of people do all or most of their grocery shopping online. Yet this only accounts for 5 percent of overall spending, suggesting consumers spend more when they visit a store.
That is because online shoppers search for what they need, usually sticking close to their shopping lists. They don’t spontaneously buy magazines they opened while waiting to pay, or chocolate to eat on the go.
Even though retailers try to do the same thing by flagging special offers at online check-out, it doesn’t usually work.
“I always just press ‘next, next, next, next’ without even reading them, deliberately, because I don’t want to be tempted.”
In the United States, Bernstein Research estimates that about one quarter of spending on consumer goods — some $222 billion a year — will ultimately be spent online.
A Nestle spokeswoman said: “The online channel represents an opportunity for confectionery. It is an important channel for us and we are experiencing much success. The path to purchase for confectionery is nonetheless different online versus traditional channels.”
TECHNICAL REVOLUTION
While the bulk of grocery shopping looks set to remain in stores, technology is also putting impulse buys at risk there.
Retailers are looking for ways to make payments easier for their customers, either by allowing them to check out their goods on the go on their smartphones or by introducing faster tills, for example by scanning whole baskets.
“The check out is still complex, costly, not terribly consumer friendly,” said Simon Hay, chief executive of Dunnhumby, the customer science company owned by the world’s third biggest retailer Tesco.
“The biggest value is getting the return shopping trip,” he said, noting that items potentially lost at check-out were small and incremental from the retailer’s perspective.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Delivery drones are coming: Jeff Bezos promises half-hour shipping with Amazon Prime Air
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/1/5164340/delivery-drones-are-coming-jeff-bezos-previews-half-hour-shipping
Jeff Bezos is nothing if not a showman. Amazon’s CEO loves a good reveal, and took the opportunity afforded by a 60 Minutes segment to show off his company’s latest creation: drones that can deliver packages up to five pounds, to your house in less than half an hour. They’re technically octocopters, as part of a program called “Amazon Prime Air.” A drone sits at the end of a conveyer belt, waiting to pick up a package — Bezos says 86 percent of Amazon’s packages are under five pounds — and can carry them up to ten miles from the fulfillment center.
As soon as Amazon can work out the regulations and figure out how to prevent your packages from being dropped on your head from above, Bezos promised, there will be a fleet of shipping drones taking the sky.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Over 20% of Online Black Friday Sales Came From Mobile Devices
http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/12/02/1636216/over-20-of-online-black-friday-sales-came-from-mobile-devices
“According to IBM’s latest Data Benchmark report, 21.8% of all online Black Friday sales were made from mobile devices. Mobile traffic, meanwhile, accounted for 39.7% of all Black Friday traffic.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Black Friday Results 2013
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/marketing-solutions/benchmark-reports/black-friday-2013.html
Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday wrapped up with record online retail sales supported by strong growth in mobile use by consumers. Read the full report to get details on the latest trends from the holiday shopping season.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ofcom: UK beats the US… in race to buy online tat
New research shows £1,000-a-head spending habit among Blighty’s online shoppers
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/12/ofcom_uk_buys_more_online_than_any_other_nation/
British people are the world’s biggest online shoppers, according to new research from the regulator Ofcom.
Blighty’s sofa shoppers in their slippers now spend £1,017 a year online, up by almost £150 from 2012.
About three-quarters of Brits buy stuff on the internet once a week, while 24 per cent make purchases every single week.
Some 58 per cent of people said that shopping online was simply “easier” than dragging their body around the shops.
In Britain, 70 per cent of people said they felt safe paying for products online a credit card, a figure which drops to just 62 per cent in the US and just 30 per cent in France.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Product Information lighten the wallet
Oh, this is growing in the Italian Alps? It is a nice place
And sweet, it does not bother me like me delicacy ass ever. In addition, the aromatic. So it is kind of a dilute tasteless, such as yellow apples often.
Product description, therefore, increased the sales of the Italian fruit as much as 50 per cent.
Long-term business acquaintance Ari Iskanius is an entrepreneur who has trained in various fields sellers. He told his test nifty.
Ari was getting Stockmann women’s silk scarf. He shared his disciples into three groups. Each was to be evaluated, at what price should the scarf store.
The first strap to explore cloth brow wrinkled. Reviews revolve around an average of 70-80 euros.
The second band was the scarf in addition to a written explanation of the background and characteristics. Price estimates are settled in a hundred to the surface.
The third team got to enjoy Ari’s sales presentation (in addition to a written description of the product). Subjects reported a scarf price of 120 Euros or more.
Source: http://www.pollitasta.fi/2013/12/tuotetieto-keventaa-lompakkoa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
In favor of the cheap price – Amazon’s strategy bites
Amazon’s strategy to sell Kindle readers cheap and collect the winnings appliances sold in the content appears to be working , at least in the light of a recent survey .
300 Amazon.com ‘s customer survey revealed that the Kindle is owned by customers using other more money to Amazon .
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners ( CIRP ) report, to own a Kindle bought an average of 1,233 dollars a year, at Amazon.com .
Those who do not own any Kindle bought back for $ 790 per year.
Cirpin of the Kindle reading devices and tablet computers has enabled the United States to 20.5 million units.
The mere acquisition of Kindle does not explain the spike in spending some of its customers . It is very likely that the Kindle shoppers purchased more than others anyway. They may also have Amazon Prime regular customers.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/halpa+hinta+kannatti++amazonin+strategia+puree/a954328
Tomi says:
Yes, you can haggle at your favorite retailers—and you’re getting ripped off if you don’t
http://qz.com/158433/yes-you-can-haggle-at-your-favorite-retailers-and-youre-getting-ripped-off-if-you-dont/
For anyone not used to bargaining, there’s a keen anxiety that comes with shopping trips to the souks of Marrakech or Beijing’s Silk Market. With every purchase comes the nagging question: “Am I the sucker?” And though standard pricing common in the developed world might give disproportionate pricing power to retailers, at least there are no suckers since everyone pays the same price.
Not anymore. Increasingly, big-name retailers including Barnes & Noble, Nordstrom, Kohl’s, Lowe’s and Bloomingdale’s will knock down prices if customers ask, as the New York Times reports. A slew of retailers have started training their staff in bargaining technique, says the Times, such as how to know when a customer is prepared to walk away.
And “bargaining” doesn’t mean simply meeting lower prices advertised by competitors, which Best Buy advertises. Stores are now allowing managers to knock as much as 10% off a competitor’s price. Other retailers are allowing employees to kick in delivery, installation and extended warranty for free.
This is all happening in response to “showrooming,” when consumers visit examine products at bricks-and-mortar stores, but buy them via online retailers—notably, Amazon—that offer cheaper prices.
This is bad news for conflict-averse people who associate bargaining only with used cars and exotic souvenirs. Since hagglers squeeze a retailer’s margins, to preserve its profits, it must generally pass on those costs to non-hagglers.
The research suggests that while only a few-dozen leading retailers allow bargaining now, other brick-and-mortar stores will have to follow suit if they hope to compete.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Three things retailers need to do now to transform their businesses with technology
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2014/01/09/three-things-retailers-need-to-do-now-to-transform-their-businesses-with-technology.aspx
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon: We Can Ship Items Before Customers Order
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/01/19/1753209/amazon-we-can-ship-items-before-customers-orde
“The WSJ is reporting that Amazon has obtained a patent for ‘anticipatory shipping,” and claims it knows its customers so well it can start shipping even before orders are placed. The technique could cut delivery time and discourage consumers from visiting physical stores.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
RadioShack to Close About 500 Stores Within Months
Electronics Retailer, Advisers Continue to Work on Restructuring
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303442704579362870830018510-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwNDEwNDQyWj
Tomi Engdahl says:
Radio Shack: Still Relevant for Neighborhood Engineers?
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321285&
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Radio Shack will close 1,100 stores, or about 20% of its total. Frankly, I’ve wondered how Radio Shack has survived this long anyway.
I was honestly surprised to see so many hobby products at the local store. But in general, why buy components from a Radio Shack when you can buy them online from major distributors such as Digi-Key and, in some cases, receive your parts the next day if you’re willing to pay the delivery charge? If you happen to live near a real electronics component store such as You-Do-It Electronics or Fry’s, you’ll likely find more of the parts you need there than at Radio Shack.
Now you can get phones and TVs, but why buy them there when you have so many other outlets — often at better prices.
Do you ever buy from Radio Shack? Is that because it’s the only electronics store in your area? (I don’t consider stores such as Best Buy to be electronics stores.) I can see myself buying from Radio Shack only when I need something right away and it happens to be in stock
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why can’t I walk past Maplin without buying stuff I don’t need?
Blow me a fuse, darlin’, I got 499 more where that came from
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/07/something_for_the_weekend_maplin/
My computing, network and electrical gear is sourced through a perfectly good specialist supplier. And currently, pending the final CAT6 replumbing project for the post-refurb office, there is nothing that I need that Maplin can offer me. Yet here I am again, wandering up and down the hallowed aisles of the big M in slow motion, waving away offers of assistance every 15 seconds and wondering whether to buy another five-metre extension block or a bag of loose RJ45 connectors “just in case”.
This fascination for tech gear that I don’t understand, heightened by the way the products don’t have names so much as alphanumericals, is utterly compelling for a deadhead like me.
In short, having spent seven months clearing the office of vintage junk, I am gradually filling it with brand new junk. I now have exactly twice as many two-way electrical plug adaptors as I do devices that require plugging in.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Local Electronics Store
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321301&
You-Do-It’s inventory has changed over the years. Now, it carries many computer and IT-related products such as cables, cable ties, connectors, and panels. But, you can still find a wide selection of truly electronic components
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Alibaba confirms plans to offer IPO in US
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57620397-93/alibaba-confirms-plans-to-offer-ipo-in-us/
Offering could be could be one of the largest ever, reaping in an expected $15 billion for a $130 billion valuation.
China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group confirmed early Sunday that it plans to become a public company in the US.
Rumored to be near for months, a US IPO would “make us a more global company and enhance the company’s transparency,” the company said in a brief note on its Web site. The statement did not indicate which stock exchange the company would choose for its listing.
Alibaba, which controls nearly 80 percent of China’s Internet shopping market, is expected to raise more than $15 billion, giving it a $130 billion valuation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RadioShack To Close 1,100 Stores
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/03/04/187204/radioshack-to-close-1100-stores?sdsrc=popbyskid
“The decline of RadioShack has been painful to watch, and now CNN Money reports that they will be closing 1,100 of their stores, totaling 20% of their brick and mortar presence. RadioShack has also publicly admitted its current stores are out of date and in need of a massive overhaul.”
Comment:
There isn’t a place for a Radio Shack that won’t commit 100% to being the hobbyist shop they started to be, or an online retailer that isn’t just a smaller version of Mouser or DigiKey. We already have little rat shacks everywhere on the Internet that sell soup-to-nuts, we need a retailer that is passionate about their place in the market. You can’t beat the big boys on price – they can always undercut you, and if needs be – they can give product away for free until they drive you out of business. You need to be able to provide service and product that the larger competitors can’t or won’t – so far, Radio Shack doesn’t seem to be able or willing to do it.
And, having been around and watching in the 1970s and comparing to today, I wouldn’t be surprised if the hobbyist electronic niche is 100X time smaller today than it was then.
I would agree. People don’t want to fix that expensive [something electronic], when they already know everything is surface mount, and they don’t have the skill to fix it. The cost for the replacement part and tools is higher than the cost of the replacement unit.
We are in a disposable society now. Throw away your old electronics and buy new ones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
As bankruptcy looms for RadioShack, we ask its chief financial officer… oh. He’s quit
Troubled retailer may not last ‘beyond the very near term’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/15/radioshack_cfo_resigns/
The chief financial officer of struggling US electronics retailer RadioShack has resigned – as the company faces a fiscal crisis from which it has warned it may not be able to recover.
“We have experienced losses for the past two years that continued to accelerate into the second quarter of fiscal 2015, primarily attributed to a prolonged downturn in our business,” the report bluntly stated.
The company began life of as a retailer of “ham” radio equipment, electronics supplies, amplifiers, speakers, and the like, then branched out into personal computers in the 1970s with its fondly remembered TRS-80.
As the market for its earlier product lines softened, however, more recently it has concentrated on selling mobile phones. But aggressive price competition and marketing by the wireless carriers has left RadioShack struggling to stay afloat, and it has warned that it risks becoming insolvent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Amazon Tricks You Into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices
http://recode.net/2015/01/13/how-amazon-tricks-you-into-thinking-it-always-has-the-lowest-prices/
Amazon is known for having low prices. But a study conducted by a startup called Boomerang Commerce reveals that Amazon’s pricing strategy is much more nuanced than simply undercutting the competition.
Boomerang, founded by Amazon veteran Guru Hariharan, makes software that tracks prices on shopping sites that compete with its clients, then recommends price changes dynamically. Those changes are based on rules its clients set about which products to match prices on and which to boost higher or drop lower than a competitor’s to boost profits or sales, respectively.
The study of Amazon’s pricing uncovered some interesting tactics. First, Amazon doesn’t have the lowest prices across the board, which may not surprise industry insiders but might surprise Amazon shoppers.
Instead, according to Boomerang’s analysis, Amazon identifies the most popular products on its site and consistently prices them under the competition.
But when it comes to the HD cables that customers often buy with a new TV, Amazon actually pushed up the price by 33 percent ahead of the holidays. One reason is that the cables weren’t among the most popular in their category, meaning that they have little impact on price perception among shoppers. Secondly, Amazon most likely figures (or knows) it can make a profit on these cables because customers won’t price-compare on them as carefully as they would on more expensive products.
In another example, Amazon priced one of the most popular routers on its site about 20 percent below Walmart’s price. But when it came to a much less popular router, Amazon priced it almost 30 percent higher than Walmart did. Again, Amazon knows which products will drive price perception among shoppers.
“its consistently low prices on the highest-viewed and best-selling items drive a perception among consumers that Amazon has the best prices overall”
“Amazon is doing it at scale, with what is estimated to be 10 billion pricing changes across the holidays,” CEO Hariharan said. “Some retailers are doing it every three months.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 Ways Supermarkets Trick You Into Spending More Money
http://www.businessinsider.com/supermarkets-shopping-tricks-layout-grocery-food-2015-1
Chances are you look at your trips to the supermarket as pretty routine events. For grocery store owners, it’s anything but routine. They’ve planned everything out to get you to spend as much as possible. Here’s how they do it.