What I’m Reading

Creative drawings that combine the features of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and superheroes from modern comics and movies are …Continue Reading

Lemon Wallet is an app that allows users to store digital versions of their payment and loyalty cards, which can be used to make purchases in stores. It’s available to download from the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

video and images via Lemon Wallet

via Jason Shellen

Intel’s open-source Galileo computer aimed at hardware hackers and the do-it-yourself crowd has started shipping to distributors and will be available to the public in two weeks.

“Boards should be available for purchase from select distributors in the U.S. and Europe within the next 2 weeks, with others coming online thereafter,” Claudine Mangano, an Intel spokeswoman, said Monday via email.

Galileo is a computing board that is a little larger than a credit card and comes without a case. The computer uses Intel’s extremely low-power Quark processor, and is targeted at a community of hardware hackers and hobbyists who make computing devices such as home electronics, health monitors, robots and media centers.

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When evaluating a redesign, your first instinct is to compare the new design to the old design. But don’t do that.

The first step is to understand what you’re evaluating. If you just put the new design up against the old design, and compare the two, the old design will strongly influence your evaluation of the new design.

This is OK if nothing’s changed since the original design was launched. But it’s likely a lot has changed since then – especially if many months or years have passed.

Maybe there are new insights, maybe there’s new data, maybe there’s a new goal, maybe there’s a new hunch, or maybe there’s a whole new strategy at play. Maybe “make it readable” was important 3 years ago, while “help people see things they couldn’t see before” is more important today. Or maybe it’s both now.

But if the old design sets the tone about what’s important, then you may be losing out on an opportunity to make a significant leap forward. A design should never set the tone – ideas should set the tone. Ideas are independent of the design.

So, when evaluating a redesign you have to know what you’re looking for, not just what you’re looking at. How the new design compares to the old may be the least important thing to consider.

It’s a subtle thing, but it can make all the difference.

In the retail business, loyalty is everything. Returning customers are the bread and butter of most businesses and you can’t afford to lose even one. Unfortunately for online shops, customer loyalty is iffy at best.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Loyalty Sentiment report shows that online retailers come in last by a pretty wide margin.

They surveyed 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries across 16 categories and found that people were more likely to be loyal to brands / companies they use everyday such as banks, mobile phone service and cable providers.

I see it a different way. It’s not loyalty that keeps customers hanging on – it’s lack of options coupled with the hassle factor (not to be confused with the Hassle-hoff.) Changing your mobile phone provider often means paying a penalty for ending a contract early or losing upgrade benefits you’ve accrued over time.

Changing banks? Yikes. Think of all the autopayments that would have to be changed and all of the sites that auto pay to your accounts. Too crazy to change.

Cable? My options are so limited where I live, it’s not even worth thinking about.

So let’s forget the bottom half of this chart and look at the top two slots. Supermarket loyalty is usually a combination of distance versus savings. I have 3 different chains within five minutes of my house. I’m mostly loyal to one but I frequently visit the other two when they send me good coupons. To some extend, product availability, shop-ability and personnel all factor into my store choice.

There’s one store where I get the same checkers and baggers every week and so it’s a friendly, welcoming environment. I like that. I also think that’s part of the reason people are likely to switch from one online store to another – most online stores don’t make it personal. I’m not talking about an auto-filler that puts my first name in at the top of an email blast. I’m talking human beings. Who owns the store? Who packs my product? Who can I talk to if I have a problem.

It may not be practical to have this level of communication with all customers but you should have it with your top customers.

Here’s another thought that goes against conventional wisdom. If I have a problem, I want answers fast, so you send me to a generic support email or phone number that will respond within an hour. Nice – ish. I’ve spent the last few days migrating my hosting service to a new server. The process is working fine, no issues, but I’ve had to call in three times to check on a the details. Each time I have to start over and explain who I am and what’s going on and where we are in the process. Even though the operator has access to my history, I still have to keep repeating the story.

What if my provider gave me a single point of contact. He’s only there between 8 and 5 EST but I wouldn’t have to start over every time I called. If I was desperate, I could still dial the usual number but if I want personalized service, it’s there. Just a thought.

Why Switch

When asked why they would switch to another store or brand, 61% of US consumers said they’d switch for a lower price. However, if the lower price resulted in a poor product, they wouldn’t remain loyal. So cheap isn’t always best.

If you can’t keep them with the price, you might keep them with a bonus. 76% of US consumers said they’d be more likely to patronize a store with a loyalty program.

What do they expect from the program? Deep discounts and preferably free products. If I get a coupon for a buy 1 get 1 free meal at a local restaurant, it’s going to be my first choice when I eat out.

Almost half the respondents said that free shipping was an acceptable loyalty bonus but on 25% were interested in exclusives or special events. Even less were interested in special shopping hours for loyalty members. Interesting note, in Asia that’s a huge perk for 36% of the shoppers.

If you’re interested in learning more about customer loyalty, especially outside of the US, visit Nielsen and ask for the free report. They’d be happy to give it to you in return for your contact information.