Membership in Amazon Prime, which offers unlimited free two-day shipping, has doubled in less than two years. Analysts predict it’ll double again by 2017
Smart Spending
Whodathunkit? Auto Dealerships Realize Responding to Customer E-mails Helps to Sell Cars
It turns out that responding to potential paying customers is good for business. That’s why car dealerships have been dramatically improving how they handle online inquiries.
Hurray for $4 Beers! Baseball Teams Stop Ripping Off Fans with Jacked-Up Concessions
Is a $4 beer a bargain? It is at a professional baseball stadium, where the average cheapest beer was $6.10 for all Major League teams last season, and many venues charged around $9 for a “premium” draft.
Online Shoppers: Meh, Same-Day Shipping Isn’t That Big a Deal
Same-day delivery is being pumped up as a major step for e-retail—the service that’ll boost online shopping sales into the next stratosphere. There’s one minor problem, though: Shoppers don’t seem to want it all that much.
When the Experts Hate a Car—And It Sells Well Anyway
Experts like to think that their opinions matter quite a lot, especially for reviews of big-ticket items like cars. But consumers have been showing lately that, if the price is right, they’re more than willing to disregard those expert opinions.
The New Costco? Buying Meat Out of a Truck in a Church Parking Lot
Wholesale “drive-thru meat markets” are popping up in the parking lots of churches and bowling alleys around the country.
Weird Money: 9 Odd Factoids from Recent Consumer Surveys and Studies
Ever wonder which alcohol brands are most popular … among consumers who are too young to buy alcohol? Is daylight savings harmless, or does it cost us hundreds of millions of dollars annually? And most pressing of all, which celebrity do you wish was your insurance agent?
Shamrock Shake Alert: Why We So Love Those Limited-Time Offers
In the fast food world, the “limited-time offer” is a remarkably powerful thing. Why?
North America Gets Its First Sustainable ‘Active Home’ — And It’s in the American Heartland
Over the weekend, an open house was held in the suburbs of St. Louis, Mo. OK, there were lots of open houses over the weekend in the region. But one in particular stood out, for it featured the first “active home” in North America.
Marriott & IKEA Launch a Hotel Brand for Millennials: What Does That Even Mean?
Most hotels are marketed to a specific group: travelers. Not Baby Boomer travelers or Gen X travelers or millennial travelers—but all travelers. But a new hotel brand called Moxy has been specifically “designed to capture the …
Has the Carnival Triumph Episode Hurt Cruise Sales?
Cruise industry insiders say that in the weeks after the Carnival Triumph debacle made news, cruise sales have remained strong, prices have remained steady, and overall, travelers today are just as likely to book a cruise as they ever were. The results of a new poll suggest otherwise.
Plug-In Price War: $6,000+ Price Cuts on Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius EV
Electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius Plug-In began 2013 with a sales slump. In the months ahead, automakers hope to boost sales with increased production and cheaper prices.
