Rewards Card

From the Canada business blog, I noticed that companies can strengthen customer loyalty with rewards programs. Such as points system, discount cards or free shipping. And I agree with the opinion described in the post ‘A customer loyalty program can help retain existing customers and attract new ones with special offers. Loyal customers tend to be more profitable customers.’

I think companies that offer rewards programs are more competitive and attractive in the market. As customers can get extra benefit shopping in the store, therefore they are willing to spend more.

FREE Shipping

For example, I think people prefer to purchase in online stores that say ‘FREE shipping’, even if the overall price is the same between two shops.

Amazon’s Spend $50 Get a $10

Besides, I suppose the point card really encourages purchases, especially when there is a slogan like ‘spend $50 Get a $10’. This is one of the smartest strategies that encourages repeat customers and repeat purchases.

MUJI store

According to Vicky Ru-Yun Cheng’s Blog, I noticed that MUJI will open stores in Canada and the first store will locate in Toronto.

MUJI is a Japanese store that provides furniture, clothing, stationaries etc. Is enjoys great popularity in Japan because of its high-quality and well-designed products.

MUJI Furniture

Vicky mentioned in her article that ‘It is a wise strategy for MUJI to keep the price low, because as a foreign brand, its main goal is to be able to compete with others’.

I strongly agree with this opinion. Because it is generally acknowledged that the average price level in Canada is relatively high compared to United States or some Asian countries like China, so keeping the price level low will definitely make MUJI more competitive.

Besides, in China, there are several MUJI stores locate in different cities. For example, in my hometown, there are 4 stores, but I found people seldom shop in MUJI. I think this is because MUJI’s price is still too high for Chinese people, as they have loads of much more inexpensive substitutes in the market.

Therefore, I think MUJI will become much more popular in Canada and I am looking forward to seeing more stores here.

Share a Coke with…

According to Yudan Liu’s blog, I noticed that recently, Coke has offered customers with specified design on the bottles. They print the names of customers on bottles. Yudan said that the answer Coke is such an outstanding brand over thousands of beverages is because ‘Coke makes its customers and its latent customers happier and make its rivals’ customers jealous.’

I agree that customized service is the reason that makes a great success to Coke, because people are increasingly addicted to the so-called ‘personal tailor’, which means there is only one edition of dress or clothes for the only person around the world. Because customers will feel the sense of belongings when they get the bottles with their names. At least for me it is, and I really want to get one bottle that has my name on it. And I suppose it is a great improvement to Coke’s customer relationship.

There are still some other reasons that Coke is so successful. Such as it provides a special and fantastic taste of the drinking, which is the most significant point belongs to the company’s value proposition. Besides it also has alliance with other partners, for example, Coke has been the Olympic sponsor since 1928. These all makes Coke become one of the most popular beverages around the world.

Monty penguin

John Lewis has released its Christmas advertisement called ‘MONTY’S CHRISTMAS’ recently. From this advertisement, we know that it is a sweet story about a boy and his penguin buddy ‘Monty’. The boy helped Monty find something that he loses, which is, love.

From the article here, we know that after this video going live, all the Monty dolls (which cost $150) and other penguin-branded pillows, mugs and scarves were sold out online within several hours.

I think the reason why Monty is so successful is because it has point of difference compared to other brands. Most brands offer discount and other free gifts to customers during Christmas. But John Lewis creates an adorable character and uses a touching story to indicate the importance for people to communicate with their friends and family in holidays.

Besides, I think this Christmas advertisement also makes the company’s value proposition better, as the story provides not only the cute Monty but also a positive emotion to customers. Last but not least, I think there will be more people willing to buy Monty dolls, as the customer segment is mainly children and women.

Tesla Model Car

Tesla is an electric car manufacturer, it provides expensive but high-quality electric cars. Tesla reduced its production in 2014, targeting to 33,000 vehicles, compared to its original goal of 35,000. Second, Tesla delayed the delivery date for its upcoming Model X once more, to the third quarter of 2015. It seems that Tesla is having a difficult time of manufacturing.

The main problem of the reduction in car production I think is that the supplier of Tesla did not finish the amount Tesla required. Because they do not think Tesla will last for a long time. At this time, they are in a hurry to finishing the production, but there are still some elements that need to be done in a relatively long time.

In addition, as Tesla generates positive externalities (it does not generate emission which means it is environmental friendly), government can give subsidies to the company to encourage the production of electric motor cars in order to reduce the pressure for its manufacturing.

In conclusion, Tesla is still facing many problems, but from a letter to shareholders: we prefer to forgo revenue, rather than bring a product to market that does not delight customers. I am convinced Tesla will still, win the popularity in the future.

Apple Pay In Action

Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Apple Inc. that lets users make payments using the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Watch-compatible devices (iPhone 5 and later models), iPad Air 2, and iPad Mini 3.

This new service invented by Apple creates value proposition for customers, it allows customers get access to a new approach of payment, which is much more convenient and helps customers by increasing the speed of transactions. The payment only needs the scan of a user’s fingerprint on its built-in sensor. Therefore, there is no need for signing the name and making the changes.

However, whether it will prove popular with retailers and customers is questionable.

First, I think Apple Pay should build more partner relationships with various banks and retailers. Therefore, more customers can get access to Apple Pay.

Second, like what Starbucks did (offer free drinks to customers who use the Starbucks payment), Apple can offer some extra benefits, such as discount, in order to attract more potential customers of Apple Pay.

Last but not least, Apple Pay may also need technically proficient staff to accept the payment. Thus, training well-versed staff to use Apple Pay’s function on different types of devices is also necessary.

TOMS ‘one for one model’

Toms is a brand that mainly sells shoes. However it is different from the original shoe industries. When you buy a pair of TOMS shoes, it means giving another pair to the impoverished child, which is known as the ‘one for one’ business model.

Companies like TOMS are defined as social enterprises. These industries set objective that benefits the society but still the company needs to make money to sustain its work and also applies a business framework to produce better. They usually create shared value.

Although TOMS can produce shared value to the society, there are still problems for it to operate the ‘one for one’ project. First, the most serious problem for the poor area is not about the shoes but some other basic needs, such as starvation and clean water. Basically, provide shoes for them does not solve the problem, but lead to a replacement of local markets, thereby hindering development. Secondly, the transportation fees are also a high cost that needs to be taken into account.

Therefore, how TOMS is going to operate the company still remains a problem, although it seems to solve the poverty issue of other countries, what TOMS should think more is about what people really need.

Japanese yen depreciates during the past years

The exchange rate of Japanese Yen remains at a decreasing trend in the past years. Japan’s currency touched a six-year low and it has slid 2.9 percent in September, on track for its biggest loss since November.

Why the Japanese government wants such a low exchange rate?

I think the first reason is because of the economic downturn of the domestic economy. For Japan to increase the competitiveness, it is necessary to lower its exchange rate to increase its exports. Because lower exchange rate means that the product is relatively at a lower price, therefore increase the demand for exports. (If the price elasticity of demand is elastic) Besides it can also attract more investments from abroad.

However this is not always the case. When the Japanese yen is depreciating, although more foreign investors might be attracted, but the low value of the currency also decreases the profit they earned from Japan. Therefore some of them might no longer willing to invest in the future. Besides, there are also some other cons, for example, low exchange rate also make the price of imports higher, so the imported raw materials may cost more, which results in a cost-push inflation.

In conclusion, lowering the exchange rate both has its benefits and drawbacks. Japanese government might take action such as deflationary monetary policy to control the domestic price in order to control the inflation.

A customer holds Microsoft’s Xbox One game console limited edition in an electronic shop in Shanghai on September 29, 2014.

The Xbox One has just launched in China on September 29, 2014. People actually lined up for the box despite the price of 3,699 yuan, which is about $600. The Chinese are paying 50% more.

In China, the prices of the imported goods are always in a much higher price than in other countries. There are several reasons contribute to this issue.

• The first reason I think is because of the import tax. In China the value added tax is about 17% , which is much higher than another Asian country Japan, which only has 5% tax rates.
• Second, because of the gap between the rich and the poor, many Chinese people cannot afford the Xbox but many rich ones can buy it without any hesitation. Increasing demand will lead to a higher price.

Such a high price actually brings both pros and cons.

For pros:

• The most distinct point is protecting the sun-rising industry in China. Because high price makes some consumers less likely to purchase the Xbox, so domestic products may have more chances to attract potential consumers.

For cons:

• Chinese government has a low awareness to control the price over imported goods. It results in the supernormal profit of the dealer. Which makes consumers worse off.

The recent new blackberry smart phone Passport

Blackberry, which once dominated the smartphone industry, now only accounts for less than 1% of sales worldwide.The recent new blackberry smart phone Passport has just launched the market. However, the firm is still away from financial health.

Why blackberry cannot be as popular as iPhone? I think there are several aspects to be considered.

• First, Blackberry’s foreign market is not as wide as Apple does. It is generally acknowledged that China is a big consumer of the smart phones, so in order to gain more sales, it is of great importance to enter the phone market in China. However, seldom Blackberry phones can be seen in the phone market of China.
• Besides, because of the high security of Blackberry phones, the main target customers are mainly government officers and businessmen. So in order to widen the different groups of customers, Blackberry really needs to improve its application softwares, such as entertainment, shopping, video games etc.
• Last but not least, the high price also decreases the number of potential buyers, Blackberry should try to lower its cost of production by either technology or innovation in order to attract more consumers.

In conclusion, there are still many points to be assessed, such as the system, battery and updating resources, etc.