Posts Tagged small business
Why Best Buy Matched An Online Price No Questions Asked
By Tom Polanski
Simply put, they’re fighting to stay relevant in the minds and pocket books of the American consumer. As Anthony Mirhaydari points out in the article below there are a number of reasons why Best Buy, despite the breathtaking revenue generated from the Federal stimulus package, could be in pain again soon. One alternative is, and it’s a drastic action for a company like Best Buy, would be to take a smaller margin for the sake of generating a higher volume of conversions. People are driven be price, no more so, than when the economy is turning down.
“Best Buy and Circuit City are reeling this week from the loss of their edge over discounters in the minds of high-definition television buyers — just as total industry sales are beginning to slow. Yesterday’s retail numbers showed that more consumers are trading down to price-focused shops for entertainment products, eschewing the better service and selection offered at specialty stores. Wal-Mart, the king of discounters, yesterday reported “extremely strong sales” of flat-panel TVs and home entertainment furniture.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Gadgets & Gear, Small Business on June 20th, 2008
Best Buy Matches Lowest Online Price. Trouble for Competing E-tailers?
By Tom Polanski
I underwent an extremely unusual purchasing process with a Best Buy located in Portland, Oregon. It could mean trouble for online electronics retailers.
I’ve been in the market for a replacement plasma display for the family room and since I’ve been a member of AVS Forum for over 5 years I decided to start my research there. Once I targeted the television I wanted I began to contact the forum sponsors regarding pricing and availability. For the sake of clarity, forum sponsors are companies, usually Mom and Pop stores located across the country, that place ads within AVS Forum. The assumption is that the publisher, AVS Forum, only allows reputable companies to place ads within their site and that these companies will give forum members the best prices and service. It’s a great relationship for AVS Forum, online electronics retailers and forum members.
In fact, I was given great prices by authorized dealers and would have been comfortable buying from any of them. I liked them all. I settled on a company in Seattle to make my purchase from. However I began to have second thoughts when I came across a thread regarding problems this new generation display was occasionally exhibiting. A great, award winning display but, again, there are reports of problems every now and then. It’s to be expected with a sophisticated piece of technology but worrisome, nonetheless.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Gadgets & Gear, Seeing Into the Future, Trend Tracker on June 16th, 2008
Many Marketing Companies & Agencies Hide Inferior Technologies & Services behind “Celebrity” Status & Obscure Language
By Tom Polanski
We have an increasing number of companies moving management of their online media campaigns to us because the agencies they trusted ultimately disappointed them. They saw that the powerful wizard was really a little man behind a curtain, blowing smoke, and describing the smoke in the most arcane terms imaginable. Too many marketing professionals are doing exactly what secret brotherhoods have been doing for millennia….they’re creating a language that only they understand. If the common business decision-maker wants to increase their company’s revenue or brand equity, they have to go through the marketing “priests” to find thier way to profits-heaven. Marketers like to speak a line of lingo only those that have dedicated their lives to understanding online marketing (like me) will understand. And too many of us bandy that language about like insecure college sophomores.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Rants & Raves on May 28th, 2008
Is Your Head Buried in The Sand?
By Tom Polanski
It’s clear to me that e-commerce businesses are short-changing themselves in a number of ways. First, they seldom factor in offline sales and lifetime value when making marketing decisions. Secondly, many think in terms of net margin (again they don’t factor in revenue from offline sales and lifetime value). In addition, many are still of the, “I spent a dollar, I want two dollars back now“, mentality. This psychology has left many with woefully underdeveloped CRM practices in place. Finally, most fail to understand that because the internet is a giant calculator, everything can be tracked. The ramifications of this are stupendous. One example is that capital intensive testing can be amortized by positive discovery. Each conversion is an opportunity to spawn many more from the first purchase.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising on May 20th, 2008