There’s just no stopping the sharing. Despite recent legal challenges to certain “peer to peer” car-sharing services, the range of sharing options keeps on expanding, making it easier and easier for consumers to skip taxis, traditional car rentals — and car ownership in general.
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Hungry and Lazy Consumers, Rejoice! It’s Getting Even Easier to Order Food
Burgers, pizza, and a wide range of groceries are on the menu for consumers who are too busy, or just too lazy, to make a food run—or even bother picking up the phone.
You Probably Spent 13 Hours on Hold Last Year
Add this factoid to the many others concerning the poor state of customer service, right alongside the one about how we collectively lose $38 billion annually waiting around for the cable guy to show up.
Ouch! Majority of ‘Hot’ Holiday Toys Cost $50 or More
We may still have over a month until it’s Halloween, and another couple of months must pass before it’s Christmas, but Toys R Us just released its Holiday Hot Toy List. Perhaps more surprising than how early the list is being …
Ahead of IPO, Moleskine Evolves From Notebooks to Apps
Just inside Moleskine’s New York office, Pablo Picasso stares down anyone who enters. The artist is a long-time Moleskine favorite, and the notebook company prominently displays a huge black-and-white portrait of him right at …
Will Customers Love or Hate ‘Personalized’ Grocery Prices?
The concept of “personalized” grocery store deals strikes some consumers as inherently unfair. How would you feel, after all, if you were charged more than the person in front of you at checkout for the same exact item? Few …
Big Data Knows What You’re Doing Right Now
“Big Brother is watching you.” That’s a line from the dystopian classic 1984, but it’s also far closer to reality than most Americans realize. No, there’s not some totalitarian government spy in a trench coat following you, but …
Why Everyone Should Be Shopping Online—While in Actual Stores
“Showrooming,” the practice in which consumers check out merchandise in a physical store and then buy it at a cheaper price online, is the bane of brick-and-mortar retailers everywhere. It’s got to be extra insulting when …
Even the Economy Can’t Escape the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’
Braaains — as in, have we collectively lost ours? Yes, the recent instances of drug- or psychosis-fueled cannibalism are horrific, but suddenly everyone seems to be obsessed with the reanimated dead. The buzz got so loud that …
Proof That Many Hackers — Call Them the Anti-Zuckerbergs — Value Freedom More Than Money
In the 1987 movie Wall Street, the character Gordon Gekko famously declared that “greed is good,” a line that has come to symbolize the darkest aspects of materialism. But the latest research from Wharton management professor …
Scan This! Target Encourages Shoppers to Scan Items with Smartphones Nationwide
Some shoppers have felt the need to stealthily scan items in stores with their smartphones. They’d rather not be accused of “showrooming,” the practice in which one scopes out merchandise in a brick-and-mortar store, only to …
Online vs. Brick-and-Mortar War! Why You Can No Longer Buy Amazon’s Kindle at Target
Target started selling Amazon’s line of Kindle e-readers two years ago. Head over to Target.com now, though, and you’ll discover a wide assortment of e-readers, but not a single Amazon Kindle for sale. Kindles are being taken off …
