How the Brain Reveals Why We Buy. "Most of us know that branding palpably influences our choices and shopping habits, but researchers suspect that branding can also fundamentally change the way we comprehend sense impressions.
At least that is the obvious conclusion to be drawn from the only (so far) classic study in neuromarketing, a fascinating study of what can be called the Pepsi paradox. "
[more inside]
posted by marienbad
on Feb 3, 2012 -
23 comments
Oren Etzioni is a renowned data mining expert who sold Farecast, his airline-ticket price predictor to Microsoft for $115 million. Now he's turned his focus to the general problem of finding when the best shopping bargains occur. Punch in a consumer electronics item and his
website will tell you whether to buy now or to wait. Over time he'll be adding more product categories. In any case, he can tell you right now
the best prices for most things aren't on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
posted by storybored
on Dec 1, 2011 -
14 comments
Shopper Stalking: Starting on Black Friday and running through New Year's Day, two U.S. malls -- Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va. -- will track guests' movements by monitoring the signals from their cell phones. "It's just not invasive of privacy," said Stephanie Shriver-Engdahl, vice president of digital strategy for Forest City. "There are no risks to privacy, so I don't see why anyone would opt out." (
Consumers can opt out by turning off their phones.)
posted by Blake
on Nov 23, 2011 -
153 comments
“I feel terrible,” [Best Buy chief executive Brian] Dunn told attendees at a conference in San Francisco. “It will change some Thanksgiving plans for our employees. It certainly changes mine...We were going to be open at much more civilized hour, like 3 or 4 [AM].”
Feeling pressure from a weak economy and escalating competition from rival retailers, stores like Best Buy are
somewhat reluctantly planning to open stores at midnight on Thanksgiving evening. Traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year,
Black Friday has become Black Midnight.
[more inside]
posted by 2bucksplus
on Nov 9, 2011 -
191 comments
A
new brand of super shoppers use coupons and other discounts to get products for absurdly low prices. The Web has turned this group from a series of independent operators into cohesive groups, frustrating retailers.
posted by reenum
on Dec 3, 2010 -
126 comments
Paper receipts - including receipts from McDonald’s, CVS, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Postal Service - are
a major source of endocrine-disrupting bisphenol-A. The total amount of
BPA on
tested receipts was 250 to 1,000 times greater than other, more widely discussed sources of BPA exposure, including canned foods, baby bottles and infant formula. BPA transfers readily from receipts to skin and can penetrate the skin to such a depth that it cannot be washed off.
posted by stbalbach
on Jul 27, 2010 -
111 comments
Two articles about successful clothes retailers -
Uniqlo and
Abercrombie & Fitch - that are both full of interesting tidbits ("Uniqlo is a company that prescribes, records, and analyzes every activity undertaken by every employee, from folding technique to the way advisers return charge cards to customers. Japanese style, with two hands and full eye contact").
In addition, the two articles have a lot to say about branding and what companies place importance on - with A&F coming across as a typical fashion retailer, aggressively selling and marketing a very specific look, and Uniqlo seeming to be doing something quite different and contrary to received wisdom.
[more inside]
posted by Sifter
on May 15, 2010 -
44 comments
Big Lots, the mega-retailer that specializes in really low prices on really odd assortments of stuff - basically, whatever their supplier has too much of - just launched its new website with a
Woot-like "
Deal of the Day" section. But perhaps most interesting is
cartoon spokesmodel Anita Deal, who bears a striking resemblance to a certain vice-presidential candidate.
posted by jbickers
on Oct 22, 2008 -
93 comments
I pledge to buy handmade this holiday season, and request that others do the same for me. Why? Better gifting experience, better ethics, better for the environment.
posted by divabat
on Nov 23, 2007 -
95 comments
"Tammy Wynette was quite wrong when she sang 'Sometimes it's hard to be a woman'. It's not. It's always hard to be a woman. Especially if you're a man." Hard-hitting journalism from
The Daily Mail. [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster
on Sep 20, 2007 -
55 comments
Tired after wandering the aisles all day? Want to get a head start on all those shoppers the next morning? An IKEA near Oslo has opened a free, 30-bed in-store dorm. The company says it's also equipped with "a bridal suite, a luxury suite, as well as family and tourist rooms". A company spokesman claimed that "guests stayed awake to watch the night workers refill the shelves", then went on to point out that many of them also stayed awake through sunrise, unsure whether the sun would come up otherwise.
posted by mkultra
on Jul 29, 2007 -
24 comments
True Cost to Own. The Edmunds Inc. True Cost to Own pricing system calculates the additional costs you may not have included when considering your next vehicle purchase. These extra costs include: depreciation, interest on your loan, taxes and fees, insurance premiums, fuel costs, maintenance, and repairs. Search below to view the TCO of any vehicle.
posted by srboisvert
on Jul 10, 2007 -
35 comments
There's been much talk about the Supreme's decisions on
desegregation and
free speech, but another ruling with broad consumer impact has gone relatively unnoticed. In a
5-4 decision [PDF], the U.S. Supreme Court
struck down a 96-year-old ban on minimum pricing agreements between manufacturers and retailers. Dissenting opinion believes that this ruling will hurt consumers, raise prices and keep new retailers out of the marketplace. The 1911 ruling that was overturned was
Dr. Miles Medical Co. vs. John D. Park & Sons which decided that it is always illegal for a supplier to dictate minimum prices to a retailer.
posted by dejah420
on Jun 29, 2007 -
47 comments
Whole Foods takes London.
This South Kensington flagship store is the "quasi-messianic" company's biggest ever, comprising 80,000 square feet spread out over three floors offering 10,000 grocery items.
In true American style, shoppers can choose from 1,000 different wines, 425 cheeses, 40 types of sausage, 55 in-store chefs, a pub called The Bramley, a sushi bar, a champagne and oyster bar and a DJ-booth to play music for late-night shoppers.
The locals seem overwhelmed by it all.
posted by chuckdarwin
on Jun 29, 2007 -
86 comments
20ltd.com is a new and unique online shop. They have 20 limited edition items for sale at any time, and each item is a limited edition made exclusively for 20ltd.com.
And they have a jukebox with some great tunes on to shop by.
posted by allkindsoftime
on Apr 30, 2007 -
49 comments
