Last week, I placed an order with an online grocery delivery service. Everything arrived in good shape, which is what I’ve come to expect from that particular company. However, not even 5 days later, some of the fruit had gone bad. So, I called the customer service line to see what they could do. The […]

If you’re purchasing a gift for someone who lives far away, it’s hard to deny the convenience of buying that gift — complete with gift wrapping and a card — from an online retailer. Lately, though, I’ve noticed that one well-known retailer seems to be going a little overboard with pitching their gift options. While […]

During a recent trip, I found myself delayed in the airport for more than 5 hours. I spent a good portion of this time catching up on things from my mobile phone, which ended up being easier said than done. The reason? The wireless reception was incredibly spotty. I wasn’t the only one experiencing this […]

As I arrived at the airport last week, I was greeted with the longest security line I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t even a peak travel day, since we left a few days before the holiday weekend, which made me wonder: why the heck was the line so long? Other passengers echoed the same sentiment, and […]

Let’s say there’s a certain product that you’ve sold for years, maybe even decades. It’s timeless and classic, and people buy it regardless of the season or what might be trendy that year. Customers expect that they can walk into any of your stores or visit your website, and the signature item will be there. […]

Last weekend, I went to a well-known clothing store to buy a few items. They were running a very attractive 30% off deal, and as luck would have it, every item I wanted was also available on a “Buy 2 or more, get them for only $XYZ each” special. Everything looked good until I got […]

A few weeks ago, I placed an online order with a clothing retailer that I’ve been very happy with in the past. Unfortunately, all of the items that I received in this order were either the wrong size or of a low quality. Since the retailer charges for returns by mail, I walked to the […]

Anyone who has studied business or marketing is probably familiar with the razor-and-blade business model: you sell the durable item together with a starter supply of refills for a very low price, and then enjoy high margins on the subsequent refills once customers are hooked. Yet despite the success of countless variants of this sales […]

I’m surprised that companies don’t make a greater effort to reach out to the people who use their gift cards, in order to determine how satisfied they are with the experience. Customers who visit the venue regularly will probably report that they were perfectly happy to receive a gift card from that establishment. But the […]

These days, it seems like virtually all the large websites — including some of the most prominent online retailers — are allocating some of their on-screen real estate to advertising. And I’m not just talking about promoting their own products and services. Instead, these areas usually carry a rather random assortment of third-party ads, too. […]