Consumption Junction

ACSI Retail Report 2014 examines customer satisfaction for top retailers, both traditional and online, including popular department or discount store chains; dollar stores and wholesale warehouse clubs; office suppliers and home improvement; electronics, clothing, book retailers; supermarkets, drug stores, and Web retailers.

“You would be amazed to find how often we mislead ourselves, regardless of how smart we think we are, when we attempt to explain why we are behaving the way we do,” Dichter observed in 1960, in his book “The Strategy of Desire”. He held that marketplace decisions are driven by emotions and subconscious whims and fears, and often have little to do with the product itself. Trained as a psychoanalyst, Dichter saw human motivation as an “iceberg”, with two-thirds hidden from view, even to the decision-maker. “What people actually spend their money on in most instances are psychological differences, illusory brand images,” he explained.

At a time when national companies were aggressively jockeying for position among Americans—a suddenly cash-happy and acquisitive bunch—Dichter promised a way to influence consumers' brains. If shopping was an emotional minefield, then strategic marketing could be a gold mine for companies.

Between the late 1930s and 1960s Dichter became famous for transforming the fates of businesses such as Procter & Gamble, Exxon, Chrysler, General Mills and DuPont. His insight changed the way hundreds of products were sold, from cars to cake mix. He pioneered research techniques such as the focus group, understood the power of word-of-mouth persuasion and earned startling fees for his theories. By the late 1950s his global business reached an annual turnover of $1m ($8m today), and he enjoyed a reputation as the Freud of the supermarket age.

Disney is the latest entertainment company to have orders of its forthcoming releases blocked by the retailer.

pricing. seriously, i think this is one of the most challenging parts of
building your own little biz.

last week i recommended an ebook called earn what you deserve. this book  does not give you a magic formula for figuring out your pricing. what it does do is tackle the underlying issues you need to consider before you can really charge what you are worth.

let me say that again. no pricing advice in the world is going to help you
if you do not have a sense of the value of your work.

earn what you deserve is going to help you do that. with it, you consider
what it means to be a biz owner, tackle your own beliefs about money and finances, figure out the true cost of doing business, look at new ways of marketing and selling, and start to build your own sense of value in your work and your product. once you have done that, then what?

well it is time to look at what you have been charging for your product. as
promised i have compiled a list of tips, advice and strategies from all
over the place that may help you with this. this is not a step-by-step
formula for figuring out your price. (if i ever find the elusive, magic
step-by-step formula for pricing i will share it immediately!) what i have
done is a lot of research into different strategies and taken the bits and
pieces that make sense to me and apply them to what i do. so i am sharing those bits and pieces with you here.

first, let’s get your head in the game...

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Once a year we consult with leaders in ecommerce to learn about the latest trends and the issues on the minds of merchants.

Commuters in London could soon pick up Amazon orders at their local underground station under plans to turn ticket offices into parcel drop-off points.

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The US Postal Service will raise shipping rates in January 2014. EcommerceBytes takes an early look at some of the rates most likely to impact online sellers.