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.