In some retail spaces, the design of the building means that certain physical obstacles are unavoidable. For instance, the building may have bulky poles that extend for the entire height of the structure, creating awkward breaks in the retail and office spaces within. So if you’re faced with these types of physical obstacles, what should […]

In each episode of a particular podcast that I listen to, the guy who runs the podcast encourages the audience to visit his website. Aside from stating what people can find on the site, he does something very smart: he tells people to look at the screen of their MP3 player for the exact spelling […]

On the way back from the grocery store, I often take a route that passes in front of a large church. During my most recent trip, I noticed they have a box filled with pamphlets that promote the church. I don’t recall the exact label they have on there, but it was something like “Complimentary”. […]

I got a spam email the other day from some random company, in which they proceeded to give me a full overview of all the products they sell — none of which I have any use for, of course. One aspect of the email caught my attention, though: they actually described their products as “commodity” […]

While I was at the dentist last week, I heard an interesting term that I had never come across before. My dentist was describing a colleague of hers, and said the colleague had a great “chairside manner”. After a few moments, I realized this was the dental equivalent of “bedside manner”, just updated to reflect […]

If you’re an online retailer, you probably employ a series of data points to decide how many units of a given product to order. In other words, you use fairly straightforward things like the current inventory levels for the product, historical sales volume and seasonal trends to dictate your expected inventory needs. However, I wonder […]

There’s a grocery store really close to my apartment, but I don’t shop there very often. The prices are too high and the service is too mediocre for it to be a regular shopping choice. So, I only visit the store every 2-3 months, usually to pick up things that other stores don’t carry. The […]

Attaching TV screens to treadmills isn’t a new concept. In fact, I recall seeing the little screens in fitness centers at least five years ago. Whether they were working or not is a different story entirely. But there’s no question that the feature has been possible for quite some time. Why doesn’t every new treadmill […]

Let’s say you’re selling some type of food in a bulk package, but consumers are used to buying it in smaller sizes. Your unit price is much lower than they’re paying today. But it’s hard for them to get past the idea that they need to pay 5-10 times as much for your big package, […]

I bought some new socks recently. Very exciting, I know. But one thing struck me as odd when I picked them out in the store. Every package of men’s socks was marked “Sizes 6-12”. In other words, the product is one size fits all. Yet the lack of that phrasing and the emphasis on the […]