It’s not always easy convincing people to pay $99 a year for anything, but if you can tap into an existing need, the customers will often come running. And in the case of Amazon Elements, the new program rolled out to lure in new Prime subscribers, that prize it’s dangling is upscale diapers and baby wipes. [More]
Retail Services
Walmart CEO: 10% Of Mobile Online Orders Placed From Inside Our Stores
By 12.4.14
Have you placed an online order from a store while you were standing in one of their brick-and-mortar locations? In an interview with CNBC (Warning: auto-play video), Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that the company’s analysis shows something interesting about how customers shop using their smartphones. 10% of orders placed on mobile phones are actually placed while customers are standing inside the store. Is it because the items they really want are out of stock? Are online prices lower? McMillon doesn’t say. [CNBC] [More]
People Really Do Give Cars With Giant Red Bows On Top As Gifts
By 12.4.14
I spent the Thanksgiving holiday visiting family and watching network television in real time like it was 1983 or something, and that’s when it hit me. The barrage of holiday-themed car commercials where people give each other sedans, SUVs, and the occasional truck with a giant (inevitably red) bow on top. Does this ever happen in real life? It does. [More]
Amazon Wants You To Shop On The Toilet
By 12.3.14
Great news for hardcore multi-taskers: Amazon and Procter & Gamble are teaming up to deliver highly relevant ads to consumers while they sit on the toilet. They won’t just show advertisements to this captive audience, though: the placards will also have barcodes that people with Amazon’s smartphone app can scan as virtual coupons for Procter & Gamble products. [More]
Shoppers Would Rather Stare At Their Phones Than Talk To A Salesperson
By 12.3.14
When you’re shopping at a store in the real world, would you rather have a conversation with a sales associate or look up information on your own mobile phone? The results of a study by the Consumer Electronics Association will shock nobody who has ever received inaccurate or misleading information from a salesperson, or had to get away from an aggressive salesperson who wants nothing more than to close a sale. [More]
Roku, Apple TV Losing Ground To Chromecast & Amazon Fire TV Streaming Devices
By 12.3.14
A year ago, Roku and Apple TV dominated the market for streaming video devices, accounting for nearly 75% of all video streaming products sold in the U.S. in 2013. But in the last 16 months, Google’s Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV devices have stolen a significant chunk of Apple and Roku’s business. [More]
Amazon Confuses College Student’s House With Return Depot, Gives Him $5K In Free Stuff
By 12.3.14
One would think that Amazon would have a good handle by now on which addresses are its own return depots, and which are its residential customers. Apparently not, at least in the U.K., as packages that were meant as returns to Amazon have instead ended up on the doorstep of a student in south London. How does that happen? No one is quite sure. Including Amazon. [More]
Target, Where Holiday Menu Specials Actually Cost You More Money
By 12.2.14
The jingle bells are jingling, the Santas are ho-hoing and it’s officially okay for everyone to be in the holiday spirit. But while it’s always nice of businesses to try to offer special deals for holiday shoppers, Target might need to rethink how it approaches the idea of a “deal.” [More]
Walmart Shopper Thinks No One Will Notice 6.5 Pounds Of Cow Tongue Shoved In His Pants
By 12.2.14
We understand that the very act of wearing pants is kind of like adorning your legs in potential pockets — as long as nothing falls out the bottom, you’ve got fabric fit for carrying stuff. But just because you’ve got room in your pants to spare doesn’t mean it’s okay to shove stolen meat (or seafood) down there, as yet another bad consumer has shown us this week. [More]
Wells Fargo Sued In Illinois For Allegedly Pushing Mortgages On Borrowers Who Couldn’t Repay
By 12.1.14
Five years on from the nadir of the housing crisis and the lawsuits against the few remaining big banks continue to be filed. This time, it’s Wells Fargo being sued by prosecutors in Cook County, IL (home to Chicago), alleging that the bank deliberately issued “predatory” high-interest, subprime loans to borrowers — primarily minority — who may not have been able to pay back those loans. [More]
Best Buy Website Goes Down On One Day Of Year It Shouldn’t
By 11.28.14
We’re hearing lots of complaints about the website for electronics retailer Best Buy being down, and multiple news outlets are confirming that BestBuy.com is unresponsive nationwide. [More]
Some Workers Step Up, Love Working On Thanksgiving
By 11.26.14
While many commentators (this site included) have complained about the ascent of Brown Thursday and how the shopping frenzy has gradually devoured the holiday once known as Thanksgiving, perhaps we’re being unfair. There are workers who enjoy spending Thanksgiving Day on the job, and who volunteer for duty. [More]
Warm Up For Black Friday: Here’s A Pop Quiz On The Best Deals
By 11.26.14
You can’t depend on retailers to tell you whether you’re really getting a good deal or not. Is $89 the cheapest that you can find an Apple TV for? Is a $199 Dyson vacuum cleaner too good to pass up? You can make sure that your deal-finding senses are finely tuned and ready for Black Friday with an interactive deal quiz over at CNN. Some deals are exceptional, and others compare unfavorably to other recent sales, sometimes at the same retailer. [CNN] [More]
Where Do People Buy The Stuff They Used To Buy At Sears?
By 11.26.14
Many American consumers have sworn off shopping at Sears and Kmart, their local stores have closed, or they have just forgotten that the chains exist. Business that once went to Kmart now goes to discount store competitors Target and Walmart, logically enough, but where do Americans go for the things that they once bought at Sears? [More]
Walmart Still Avoiding Paying $7000 Fine For Worker Killed By Black Friday Shoppers In 2008
By 11.25.14
In 2008, a Walmart employee was killed when a mob of deal-desperate Black Friday shoppers tore the store’s doors from their hinges and stormed inside, trampling him to death. The chain was eventually fined $7000 for their role in the employee’s death — but six years and $2 million later, the world’s largest retailer has yet to pay up. [More]
Amazon Launches Marketplace Connecting Consumers To Local Service Providers In Seattle, NYC & LA
By 11.25.14
Back in June, Consumerist reported that Amazon was getting into the business of connecting consumers with everyday service providers like plumbers and electricians through a new marketplace. Well the time has come for the online retailer to unveil its new service, that is if you live in Seattle, New York or Los Angeles. [More]
Home Depot Facing At Least 44 Civil Lawsuits So Far Over Recent Breach
By 11.25.14
There’s no ifs ands or buts about it — the fallout from the recent massive data breach at Home Depot is far from over. The company wrote in a filing today that it’s got the specter of state and federal investigations looming over it as well as at least 44 civil lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada. [More]
7-Year-Old Girl Questions ‘Fun Gifts For Boys’ Sign At Tesco
By 11.24.14
Tesco is a supermarket/superstore based in the United Kingdom. They sell just about everything, including toys. However, one member of the toy-buying public was not thrilled with their holiday marketing. A 7-year-old girl noticed a “Fun gifts for boys” sign on a photo of an alarm clock featuring Marvel superheroes. Wait a minute: she likes superheroes. Why is that only a gift for boys? [More]
