eCommerce

When Nothing Is Better Than Something – Part 2

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In continuation of Part 1, here are three more situations in which the old adage, “something is better than nothing” is critically flawed. #3. DARK STORE INVENTORY The way ecommerce works, you place an order on the website of an ecommerce company (e.g. Amazon) and the company ships the ordered good(s) from a central warehouse. … Read more

When Nothing Is Better Than Something – Part 1

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According to the old adage, “something is better than nothing”. This has become common wisdom because it’s often true. But there are a few critical situations where it’s fatally flawed. In this post, I’ll give a few examples. #1. CACHE MEMORY Back in the day, the IT hardware company I worked for launched two models … Read more

Discount Is Not The Only Reason For Shopping Online

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At the end of my blog post titled Retail Is Still Barking Up The Wrong Tree Against Ecommerce, I’d made a bold prediction that, within a few months, I’d find a few more non-price related reasons for shopping online. Well, it took me longer than that but I found one recently. This was at the outlet … Read more

Killing The Six Deadly CX Killers

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Over the years I’ve bought a wide range of products and services from banks, insurers, etailers, colleges, publishers, brick-and-mortar stores, hardware and software companies, TELCOs, airlines and travel agencies. My experience as a customer ranges from delight (Ecommerce and Travel) through to exasperation (Higher Education, Media, and Retail) and indifference (BFSI, Technology and Telecom). Poor … Read more

How Blockchain Can Crack The Holy Grail Of Loyalty Programs

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Loyalty programs give reward points to consumers for making purchases and let consumers redeem their reward points for gifts. By their very nature, reward points look like an alternative currency and quack like an alternative currency. Blockchain lets them pass the Duck Test and become a alternative currency aka alt-coin. I’ve heard of platforms that help … Read more

Why Do People Trust Reviews Even Though Half Of Them Are Fake?

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On job sites like Fiverr and Upwork, you’ll find many job listings for writing fake reviews. Interestingly, on the same platforms, you’ll also find many job listings for removing fake reviews, like the following one: From personal experience and anecdotal evidence, many online reviews are fake. Regular readers of this blog know that I don’t … Read more

I’m The Proud Author Of A Book!

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I’m happy to announce that I’ve published a book! Entitled FROM DISLOYALTY TO OMNICHANNEL CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, my book is available in Kindle and EPUB formats. In this eBook, I trace the arc of loyalty programs run by brands during the last 5-7 years and predict the trajectory of their customer engagement management strategies over the remaining … Read more

If You Think VCs Create Bubbles, Meet ICOs

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In When A Business Is VC Funded, VC Is The Business, we saw how VCs are driven by traditional business metrics like profitability and ROI although their portfolio companies are not. Contrary to common wisdom, the VC industry has a stellar track record on these conventional KPIs. First, let’s take profitability. It’s no secret that many … Read more