_

My Black Friday was a bust!  A big let-down from all the hoopla about doorbusters and flash sales — a complete disappointment.  But more than a personal sob story, I think my experience holds some important lessons for retailers and e-tailers. […]

Magician

Several weeks ago Bloomberg BusinessWeek published an article about Steve Jobs entitled, The Last Pitchman.  It documented Jobs’ seemingly inexplicable ability to sell practically anything, as evidenced by his glorious pitch for the iPhone 4, a “new” product which the news media had already gotten hold of and detailed weeks before.  I tore the pages […]

FSIs galore

T’was the day after Thanksgiving and all through the mall Shopkeepers and sales staff had prepared for it all They’d hung their over-sized sale signs and filled all their racks “Shoppers start your engines,” they suggested, “not a moment to relax.” Windows were a sea of red posters, red tags, and red decorations too Promoting […]