Thursday, December 27, 2012

Showrooming

A new phenomenon, driven by technology, specifically smartphones, is causing retailers to change their marketing and selling  strategies. It's being called Showrooming, and relates to the practice of a growing number of shoppers to go to stores, and compare the process to online prices and buy at cheaper prices online rather than in the store.

Check out this post.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Where are those damn keys!

You know those things you sometimes waste time trying to find? Like the car keys you left in the pocket of a rarely used jacket. Or the remote. Or the cat.

Help is at hand. It's called StickNFind. it's a small sticker that is bluetooth enabled. You just stick it on whatever you have a habit of losing and as long as it is within 100 feet, you can find it using your smartphone. All you do is place the sticker on the item you have a habit of misplacing. Great idea! Here's a better description.Great stocking gift!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Why Amazon had to Cannibalize its own e-Reader


Amazon was first off the mark with its e-Reader, the Kindle. Then it had to produce a new tablet, the Fire, to meet competition. Tablets of course are very good for reading books and magazines. So tablet sales are taking off and Kindle sales are dropping. The graph in this article shows dramatically the effect of these trends.

Monday, December 17, 2012

The Future of Outsourcing

This year has seen a large decrease in outsourcing, as companies like General Motors and Apple move some of their operations in house and back to the US. Thee are several reasons for this, one of them being that costs in some of the major venues for outsourcing, like India, have been increasing such that some activities are not as economical for outsourcing as they were a few years ago.

Adam Smith predicted this in 1776, in his classical economic study, The Wealth of Nations. In that tome, he described in great detail how companies would take their production activities to the place where labour is cheapest.and that over time those wages would rise until some sort of equilibrium is reached and and then they would seek out other venues for their activities.This is happening with outsourcing now, and we will see further change over the next year. However, there is no way that outsourcing will end, as there will always be opportunities for it with different products and services. Check out this view on the subject.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Internet Addiction Disorder

IAD is a disorder that may get formal recognition next May. It's a potentially destructive disorder, stealing time and ruining relationships. Here's an article on the subject.

Friday, December 07, 2012

How Indigo is Rebuilding its Supply Chain

Indigo Books and Music is Canada's largest book retailer and therefore has been facing major challenges as the popularity of e-books grows. Since e-books are generally bought online, less space is needed for physical stock in stores, and yet that space needs to be fully utilized. Diversification is key to success in this situation.

This article by David Trites shows how Indigo has achieved success in its efforts to remain relevant in today's changing world..