The flood of marketing emails continues even after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The latest one in my Inbox has the subject line: Free shipping on all orders! Free shipping is supposed to be a perk, but I think most of us now consider it standard. We've been spoiled by Amazon. In fact, if I see a shipping charge, it may very well discourage me from placing an order.
I saw an ad for a "free book" and all you pay is $10 shipping and handling. I interpret that as a $10 book. And what is "handling" anyway? Isn't that just the price of doing business?
This phenomenon of consumer behavior is related to the notion that luxury becomes a necessity. Tony Robbins told the story of a time he was on an international flight when WIFI was not omnipresent on planes. They announced that the plane was one of the first to have WIFI enabled and everyone cheered. Within fifteen minutes, the WIFI went down and everyone was cursing and disgusted.
Consumers are fickle. There are certain assumptions that become built into transactions that involve an exchange of money for goods/services. Like world-renowned nightlife expert Jon Taffer says, "Offer something for free instead of discounting it. People get used to discounts, but they don't get used to expecting things for free."
I saw an ad for a "free book" and all you pay is $10 shipping and handling. I interpret that as a $10 book. And what is "handling" anyway? Isn't that just the price of doing business?
This phenomenon of consumer behavior is related to the notion that luxury becomes a necessity. Tony Robbins told the story of a time he was on an international flight when WIFI was not omnipresent on planes. They announced that the plane was one of the first to have WIFI enabled and everyone cheered. Within fifteen minutes, the WIFI went down and everyone was cursing and disgusted.
Consumers are fickle. There are certain assumptions that become built into transactions that involve an exchange of money for goods/services. Like world-renowned nightlife expert Jon Taffer says, "Offer something for free instead of discounting it. People get used to discounts, but they don't get used to expecting things for free."
Underpromise, overdeliver is a phrase for a reason. One that I haven't been able to embody with my stubborn skull.