What your business can learn from the celebrated economist Daniel Kahneman
April 3, 2024
Daniel Kahneman, the celebrated economist, passed away last month. The Nobel Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner gave us insights into the economics of the mind, such as people fearing loss more than gain, making short sighted decisions, and overly relying on feelings.
We can often use Mr. Kahneman's insights in our business's daily operations.
I often describe flatware as jewelry for the table, the accent that gives table settings a special flair.
Of course, unlike jewelry, flatware is essential. Used everyday, whether to savor a quick snack or enjoy a thoughtfully prepared meal, you put a spoon or fork in your mouth more often throughout the day than your toothbrush. For nearly two decades, I have worked in the metals division at Lifetime Brands, so I fully understand that choosing flatware relies on many factors. Our team has done ...
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As the new year is underway, there’s reason to be bullish (or, at least, not bearish) about what 2024 may have in store. Holiday retail sales increased 3.1% despite lingering inflation, thanks to robust job growth and strong wage gains, which came as a big relief for retailers. Price-conscious consumers are still spending, suggesting the economy is strong. “What we’re seeing this holiday season is very consistent with how we’re thinking about the economy, which is that it...
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The Atlantic shares how Chinese factories have found a new way around U.S. retailers and into our homes: Chinese apps. SHEIN and other Chinese apps are bypassing Amazon to be a new leader in Chinese goods. In addition to Amazon, Target, Walmart, and indie shops now have a new group of digital competitors embedded in customers’ pockets.
Except from The Atlantic article:
MATERIAL WORLD
IS THIS HOW AMAZON ENDS?
An open embrace of cheap foreign products has helped ...
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Discover with us the women and men behind Baccarat’s creations.
« From the moment I arrived at Baccarat, I was astounded by the glassmakers blowing into their rods, I wondered how they could shape pieces with such regularity! I have always wanted to work in design and project management, so Baccarat gives me the chance to combine these two facets daily! Beyond understanding the needs of our customers and the marketing department, I pay attention to every detail throughout the...
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How setting goals for our new members can help them be more successful.
January 31, 2023
When growing our network, we consider what it takes to keep existing members and grow into other industries. Andrew Chen in The Cold Start Problem reports that Facebook famously wanted a user to get 10 friends in a week because then the person would likely use the service. Similarly, Slack said users with about 10 connections tend to become active users. My company currently doesn’t have such new user benchmarks and we need to develop them.
Adding New Retail Members to the Product...
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In the early 2000s, the board game Cranium became a hit. The game combined elements of Scrabble and Pictionary with the goal of helping more people enjoy playing a game. Richard Tait, who created Cranium and sold it to Hasbro in 2008 for $77.5m, passed away in July. Like Mr. Tait, I had been a paperboy, but he went beyond what I ever offered: he came up with a new service that sold breakfast sandwiches along his newspaper route. He increased profits and made customers happier. ...
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Last week, Amazon bought iRobot, the company that makes Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, for $1.7b. Why? Yes, their 'Rosie from the Jetsons' has AI and is in your home (which is where Amazon wants to be), but the reason Amazon wants it is because customers want it. Which leads us to ask: Why do customers want Roomba? Because it does something that humans find annoying and hate doing: cleaning. Roomba has spotted the value that robots bring to the world and it's not simply being ...
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The Wall St. Journal shares a story that many indie stores may be able to relate to: the challenge of selling your business. The Journal shares issues that arise when ownership changes. Small, brick-and-mortar stores are more likely to face a big decline in sales than, say, a large IT company.
Excerpt:
"The revenue drop following the sale of a business can range from an expected 20% to 30% in the case of an IT-services provider to 50% in the case of a hair salon, says Sam ...
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Last February e-commerce company Shopify Inc. replaced the “Ottawa, Canada” dateline that began its press releases and earnings reports with a strange new one: “Internet, Everywhere.” The geographical shift came at the insistence of Shopify’s founder and chief executive officer, Tobi Lütke, who tends to view such matters through the prism of cold, hard logic. In May 2020, only a few months into the pandemic, he’d made the early, seemingly rash decision to...
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Historically, a young tech company like ours would go out and get a seed investor, then build up to venture capital (VC) money, do a few rounds of that, and then go public—and then down the road, take some private equity money. In sum, at various points, we’d need to fill our tank with funds from different sources.
That’s changing. In today’s market, everyone wants to invest and be a part of the software-as-a-service (SaaS) revolution (our space!). Private ...
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Hurray for Grandma’s China! They are hot and selling briskly once again.
“There was a long time when no one wanted to inherit Grandma’s prized wedding china, so valued she only busted them out for special occasions. Potential heirs dreaded the bequest thinking them fussy.” said Rebecca Malinsky of the Wall Street Journal. We agree with her.
But some new thinking has arrived recently, as people, especially young ones, are taking another look.
And they are thinking ...
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Remember your New Year’s resolution to eat healthy foods? Well, fresh fruits are an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals, and they are high in fiber. Fruits also provide a wide range of health-boosting antioxidants, including flavonoids. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables can reduce your risk of developing heart disease, cancer, inflammation, and diabetes.
Beatriz Ball takes a fresh approach to design and creates sustainably made pieces you’ll use every day...
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Part of my job is to review registry software. I ensure that it works well for retailers, registrants, and gift-givers (family and friends). I also assess whether it offers good value (price vs results).
A retailer recently shared with me that it uses the service MyRegistry.com. I reviewed the retailer's site and how a customer would make a registry purchase via MyRegistry.com. For privacy purposes, I changed the name of the store in the screenshots shown.
Sadly, we learned of this hack LAST week when it actually happened in...wait for it...April 2019–almost a year ago.
I predict that hacking is going to happen to more and more brands and stores in our industry. I think these victims will either turn over most online operations to a third party—or close due to costs. I know of a jewelry ...
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News outlets like the Wall St. Journal have shared that Amazon is full of fake products, counterfeits, and listings with exaggerated prices. In today’s WSJ, Amazon shares it removed 1 million fake health products related to the Coronavirus. Amazon’s action supports the accusations that Amazon often fails when it comes to policing its marketplace. It’s rare ‘action’ is actually a sign of larger ‘inaction.’ While these Coronavirus products may have ...
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January 13, 2020
January 13, 2020
Wells Fargo wants to become a technology company, shares today's WSJ, which mirrors the trend of many businesses in many industries. They are strengthening their technology--or risking being left behind. A similar trend is occurring in retail. But some retailers don't get it. Walmart infamously invested in Bonobos pants instead of a tech company, only to sell Bonobos recently at a loss.
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November 12, 2019
November 12, 2019
Amazon has opened an instant portal between our kids and Chinese goods that fail U.S. safety and environmental standards. Today's Wall St. Journal shares that Amazon is helping Chinese sellers upload a new item every 1/50th of a second—resulting in a tsunami of questionable products flooding our homes.
Excessive lead in your kid’s dinner plate? A motorcycle helmet for your son that cracks easily? Get it on Amazon.
One may ask: how could a Chinese-speaking person be expected to know U.S. laws? ...
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What company in the tabletop industry has invested in a tech company? I don't know of one. I believe our industry should be doing what UPS does and investing in tech--and I'll explain why.
As today's WSJ shares, UPS has a venture capital arm and it has this because smart businesses know that most businesses are becoming more like: software businesses. Therefore, businesses have to ‘buy’ that know-how by investing in a tech company. UPS knows that it doesn't have the internal tech know-how to...
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July 15, 2018
July 15, 2018
Happy to see Carol Schroeder as a speaker at this summer’s NY NOW. We’ve mentioned Carol’s book (in which we’re featured) many times. ...but this post comes with an asterisk. The retail industry is facing a huge cliff as Amazon bulldozes it. The NY NOW pamphlet doesn’t mention any amazon seminars. Amazon is the biggest threat to you and your business. Yet according to this slick marketing piece, stores should party like it’s 1999. It even suggests starting the day with mimosas. This show may ...
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