Month: October 2010

Have you ever been bothered by the loud music in store or restaurant? Today my friend and I went to a restaurant.  The music was too loud there. It is hard for us to talk with each other. So we finished as soon as possible, and went to a desert place, where played the soft music. We stayed in the desert place for much longer time, even we just had one piece of cheesecake.

Is there a relationship between the volume and type of music with consumer behavior? Yes,there is!!!

Research indicates that music volume negatively affects shopping time. “Sale per minutes are much higher when music is played loudly than with soft background music.”

If you are the boss of the store, and your store is small and crowed, will you turn up the music and rush your costumers? I think there is a risk. If consumers shop and leave quickly, the customer turnover may be large, you may get more customers served. But there is a doubt whether the customer loyalty is high in this condition. If the customer is bothered by the loud music, will they come back and shop again? Make the decision wise.

A lot of people today own an apple product, whether it is an iPod, Mac, iPhone or even the latest gadget, the IPAD!  Apple has become a consumer technology dominator in almost every market.  Its iPhone, for example, is the most commonly used smartphone in the world! They have such dominance in the smartphone market which even the giant computer software company, Microsoft, envies their success.

It is said that Microsoft is coming out with its new Microsoft 7 Phone OS system that will rival the iPhone.  Rumour even has it that Microsoft is trying to acquire Adobe in order to improve their system so that their plan on defeating iPhone will be a success.  However, it is also true that Microsoft has already lagged behind in this smartphone industry.  Companies such as Google and RIM, which produces the Android and the Blackberry OS respectively, has already taken a share of this market.

If u want to know more about this, read it:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/microsoft-and-adobe-chiefs-meet-to-discuss-partnerships/?ref=technology

Chanel was one of the first to create a fashion application for Apple mobile. Apple mobile device users can download the Chanel application at the Apple store for free. They are able to easily enjoy pictures, runway videos, and the entire Chanel Collection by clicking on the Chanel application on their iPhone, iPod or iPad. There is no doubt that Chanel’s application strategies identify with its fashion icon image and improve the brand’s exposure. As the one of first fashion applications, the Chanel application has drawn enormous attention and been selected as one of the best 1000 applications . Based on the user review ratings, most users favor this application, especially Chanel fans.

Other fashion brands such as Gucci, BOSS and Ralph Lauren have already created their Apple applications as well. More functions are now available in fashion applications. Users are also able to get the latest brand and fashion trend news and also download pictures though these applications.

It is not difficult to build an application for the Apple mobile platform. Brand name is able to outsource application development to AdMob, one of the largest application developers. However, the larger challenge is promoting the  application among 6.5 billion other applications and retaining long-term user loyalty. It is not wise to only follow or copy other corparations’ strategies. Novelty and multifunction are crucial elements to being the best. Besides the runway video, brand news and fashion trends, more interactive features seem to be necessary. For instance, a review and rate function would allow application users to rate the  collection. Implementation of this feature will help brand name to collect feedback from consumers, and will also involve consumers in the collection’s design. Another feature that could help the application stand out is a pre-order function that allows consumers to pre-order their preferred products with the local retailer through the application. This feature will increase the frequency that consumers check their brand name application and, in doing so, improve brand awareness.