e-commerce (consumer)

This is the article I wrote about e-commerce and consumer implications from this assignment:
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~natt/consumerassignment1.htm The jumbleness at the end is supposed to be a service-journalism box to tell consumers what to do to help the situation.

Purdue Retail Institute tells consumers to speak up about e-commerce

The Purdue Retail Institute says that retailers need to listen to the complaints and wants of their consumers in order to maintain and increase sales online.

While half of all Indiana households have Internet access, 50% to 75% of people who visit a store’s website do not complete the intended purchase. The institute’s statistics show the most common customer complaints are Web sites problems, unavailable products, late deliveries and the inability to track order status.

“If stores want to increase e-sales, they need to listen to consumers,” said Richard Feinberg, Purdue Retail Institute. “Consumers can reinforce their power by demanding easier to use sites that cater to what they want.”
Many consumers are ill-informed about online stores before they begin shopping, and this leads to confusion and disappointment. Feinberg recommends doing a little research about the store’s website. Consumers can check return policies ahead of time, look for sites with order confirmation and tracking, online help, and easy to use search tools, and read online reviews from the Better Business Bureau and other consumers.

Knowing about the retailer’s policies and website in advance can improve the process for consumers. For example, many online purchases cannot be returned at physical stores because the systems are kept separate. Some stores offer web chat or instant call back to answer consumers’ questions.

Certain features are more important to consumers than others when it comes to buying online. In order to buy products online instead of simply searching for them, consumers want Web sites with good search tools, express ordering and featured specials. Browsing for products online is easier for consumers. Free shipping, first time buyer discounts, online coupons and easy returns help turn this browsing into sales.

To Feinberg, consumers have control over the future of e-commerce.

“Consumers have spoken about what they want and need,” he said. “If customers stay away or complain enough, sites will eventually get the message.”

(POE)

Consumers can be picky with sites

Consumers can choose a good store website by doing some research.

They can:

• Read return policies
• Check sites for:
• Order confirmation
• Tracking
• Online help
• Easy-to-use search
• Read online reviews from:
• Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org)
• Consumer sites (www.My3cents.com)
• Other consumers

Consumer Confidence brief

Here's my shot at the Consumer Confidence Index brief. Even though I turned it in in-class today, I decided to post all my short assignments on the blog.

Consumers gain confidence, retailers doubt it

Although the Conference Board says the Consumer Confidence Index has improved in December, Sally Smith, local store owner, isn’t convinced. Even though Christmas is right around the corner, Smith says sales have been slow this year.

The index, which is based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households, gained nearly four points between November and December. The current index is 109.0, with 1985 as the base at 100. As Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, explains, the Consumer Confidence Index doesn’t always portray an accurate picture of the market.

“Despite the latest improvement in the index, there is little to suggest that the pace of economic activity in the final quarter of 2006 is anything but moderately better than its uninspiring performance earlier this year,” said Franco. “Given the see-saw pattern in recent months, it is too soon to tell if this boost in confidence is a genuine signal that better times are ahead.”

Smith says that she rarely relies on indexes to predict her future business, although she reads them when they come out every month.

“I want to know what my customers are thinking, and the Consumer Confidence Index gives me a little extra insight,” said Smith. “But I don’t rely on this information to make business decisions because it seems like my customers are very fickle. For example, I haven’t really seen any increased business above the usual Christmas shoppers.”

[note: Sally Smith is made up]

McDonald's 24/7

Hey there. I found an interesting article about McDonald's being open 24 hours a day, and its attempt to target separate groups of customers. It is from Yahoo News, Friday, January 26. It was written by Michael Arndt.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20070126/bs_bw/b4020001;_ylt=AkELiQsKk.KZZClVIdDCnge1v0gC;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

Although this was a longer story than I would usually like to read about McDonalds, I found it very interesting because of the use of stories to explain the business principles. Arndt kept referring back to the McDonalds store in Garner, N.C., and even told the story of the owners' meeting at a McDonalds store. It gives descriptions of several customer and employee's experiences with the new 24/7 McDonalds. When numbers and statistics were pulled into the story, an example of how it related to the owners, customers or employees was always given. I like the use of times and days when recalling the story because it helps me to visualize what these people are doing. He also did a good job of using statistics to explain McDonalds' domination of the fast food breakfast market. If this story was in print, I would like to see a picture of the Garner McDonalds with the owners out front. Something else I like is the historical recollection of McDonalds role in the culture of the past. Although the writer didn't use a lot of lengthy descriptions, I feel that he let the characters of the Garner McDonalds tell the business story.

Terry Gross interview

I chose to listen to Terry Gross interview Jan Crawford Greensberg in an NPR story called Composition and Control of the Supreme Court. It was in the Politics and Society section of Tuesday's Fresh Air show.

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13

I was really impressed on how much Gross knew about Greensberg's book (Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court) before interviewing her. She must have done a lot of backgrounding before conducting the interview because she was able to cite passages from the book, as well as comment and ask questions on topics related to the book.

The first aspect that impressed me with Gross's interviewing skills was the amount of knowledge she had of the issue. She had obviously read the book, as well as other people's opinions on the Supreme Court. Gross' intelligent side comments and examples really helped me to understand the extent of the issue while prompting Greensberg to expand on them and relate to other cases.

She probably already knew the news relevance since she decided to interview her today, but Gross explicitly asked what was coming up relating to the issue. She made the interviewee explain that we are in a situation where the votes of the Supreme Court could be changing. Gross also asked what she had learned about the newest member of the court. This really shows the ability of the reporter to keep the topic newsworthy for the readers.

She asked many open-ended questions without saying, "can you please comment on this?" Gross did this by commenting on related topics and prompting her to go in different directions. She did seem to hint at the underlying common opinion when asking the questions, framing Greensberg's responses. The interview seemed more like a dialogue, where Gross just encouraged Greensberg to keep talking about the subject.

What do you think about the interview???

Springtime for Ethanol- Washington

This article was published on the January 23rd online edition (retrieved online 10pm January 22) of the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/washington/23ethanol.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&adxnnlx=1169524184-IUTorpuf5MwxAgBd3JPRQg

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

I really like how this article dissects the problem of American dependence on foreign energy sources. This is often a point of support for the rapid expansion of the biofuel industry, but few question the reality of this claim. The author does a good job explaining the impact of such large numbers (President Bush will probably double the current goal of 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012). One thing I don't like, though, is that the author didn't mention how limited, expensive corn supply could affect livestock producers. I am also not very fond of the lead. While I usually like narrative leads to help tell the story, I don' t think this was the most impacted group. It would have caught my attention more if they told the story of a grain and livestock farmer that would be affected by the corn prices or use the ethanol in his vehicles.

Setting up news blog

This will be the site of my news weblog for COM 358, specialized writing. I hope you enjoy reading it!