Subscription Marketing:
Strategies for Nurturing Customers in a World of Churn
– Anne Janzer – 2015
Some products are being replaced by services.
It is important to understand which wants or needs people are trying to fill with your product. Do they care about the product or the result? Not all products should be replaced with services, but it is important to understand how your business could be disrupted.
For example, do homeowners want to buy a lawnmower or do they simply want short grass? Do they want a car or transportation? Do they want a DVD or a movie-watching experience? These questions are answered when customers use a landscaper, get in an Uber or turn on Netflix.
Business, Commerce, Product
Question: What products could be disrupted by services?
Word of Mouse:
101+ Trends in How We Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work, and Play
– Marc Ostrofsky – 2013
Our brick and mortar shopping habits are influenced by the internet.
We can now conduct research before we shop at a physical store as well as while we are walking the aisles. Online reviews, price comparisons, and Google maps can each have an impact on where we shop both on and off-line.
Business, Commerce, Marketing, Technology
Question: How do you use the internet while shopping at physical stores?
#GIRLBOSS
– Sophia Amoruso – 2015
Think about the shopping experience from the customer’s point of view.
When designing an e-commerce store, or any type of business, it is a good idea to look at the user experience by putting yourself in the user’s shoes. Understanding what they care about and how they interact with your business can help you make a better product.
Business, Commerce
Question: How can you look at your website from the customer’s point of view? What do they care about?
How to Grow When Markets Don’t
– Adrian Slywotzky, Richard Wise, Karl Weber – 2003
Sell your customers new things.
We all know our customers will be buying something else, at some point, and we may as well sell it to them. You have already crossed one hurdle: they know and trust you enough to become a customer. If you sell a specific product, you could start selling additional related items—additional products that complement your current offering—or start selling services as well. A paint store could start offering paint brushes, painting services, or other household items. You can use your own team or partner with someone else to gain maximum profit from the valuable resource you already have, your current customer.
Business, Commerce, Marketing
Question: What items would your customers want that you are not selling them now?
Location is (Still) Everything:
The Surprising Influence of the Real World on How We Search, Shop, and Sell in the Virtual One
– David R. Bell – 2014
How we shop online is influenced by our location.
The types of searches we do or items we purchase are influenced by our local culture, options, prices, trends, and norms. Even if the web appeared the same for everyone, everywhere, how we use it depends on where we are. This includes what products we end up purchasing, where we get them and how they are discovered.
Business, Commerce
Question: What are some examples of online shopping that are influenced by location?
Buying In:
What We Buy and Who We Are
– Rob Walker – 2008
Our personal identity affects what we purchase.
Adidas shoes, organic products, BMW cars and leather jackets are all products that send a signal to those around us. We may want to project a certain image or convey our personal identity and this can influence the type and brands of products we choose to buy.
Business, Commerce, Economics, Psychology
Question: What do you buy that is influenced by your identity?
Makers:
The New Industrial Revolution
– Chris Anderson – 2012
Bits are easily transferable at a low cost and soon we may be able to do this with atoms as well.
The maker movement is being catapulted by 3D printing, services such as Kickstarter, and access to more sensors and components because of cell phone manufacturers. It may be possible to convert some products that were traditionally atom based to becoming bit based, thereby increasing the number of people that can consume these items by providing them at a much lower cost. MP3s and digital videos eliminated much of the market for atom-based CDs and DVDs. More of this type of transition is on the way.
Business, Future, Technology, Commerce
Question: What businesses have been transformed by moving atoms to bits?
Why We Buy:
The Science of Shopping
– Paco Underhill – 1999
Make it easy for customers to buy more items from you.
If grocery stores had a few shopping carts placed around the store, you would not see people walking around with their hands full of items with no way to buy more.
Business, Commerce, Product
Question: How can you encourage your customers to buy more products from you?
Brainfluence:
100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing
– Roger Dooley – 2014
Remove the pain of purchasing and people will buy more.
The easier you make it for your target audience to buy from you and reduce negative associations with paying, the more you will sell.
Business, Commerce, Product, Psychology
Question: What are some purchasing pain points that companies have eliminated in the past? What else can be eliminated?
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