gift
Santa crammed more tablets than smartphones into Christmas stockings
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/28/more-tablets-than-smartphones-activated-christmas/
Assuming you were a non-naughty-lister who didn’t get the proverbial coal lump, it looks like that gift under the tree was more likely a tablet than a phone this No
Starbucks Is Charging $450 for a Specially Etched Metal Gift Card to Buy Coffee Flavored Water
Starbucks, purveyor of coffee flavored water, builder of coffee scented corner stores and shelter for no coffee drinking Wi-Fi leeches, has a new shtick: a premium gift card. It’s made of steel! It’s ‘specially etched’! And it’s a super, limited edition that inanely costs 450 bucks.
The gift card itself costs $50 to make, the other $400 will be loaded as Starbucks credit and can only be bought on Gilt. I guess Starbucks people go to Starbucks enough that the $400 will manifest destiny itself in the caffeinated brown liquid but damn if this isn’t some elitist craziness. The card, which will surely make its owners feel good about themselves, comes with “with gold-level Starbucks card membership benefits, such as gifts and freebie refills on brewed coffee and tea.”
Jason Goldberger, executive vice president at Gilt.com, told the USA Today it’s all about exclusivity:
“When you’re waiting in line at Starbucks, the next person in line won’t have it.”
Ugh. [USA Today]
Soon You’ll Be Able To Buy Wine Over Facebook
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-wine-gifts-with-robert-mondavi-winery-and-chandon-2012-11
How did we miss this small print during Facebook’s recent launch of Facebook Gifts? “Soon, you’ll also be able to send wine from Robert Mondavi Winery and Chandon,” the company said on its blog.
(Gifts is a new function in which, when someone has a birthday, users can click on a little gift icon and send them something nice.)
In fact, you can already send someone a Mr. Beer home brew kit from Facebook Gifts.
But it appears that booze of all kinds will soon begin flowing regularly within Facebook. It’s the perfect medium given that age verification — a constant bugbear for alcohol marketers — is already taken care of.
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The Nexus 4 Does Have LTE, It
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5961716/the-nexus-4-does-have-lte-its-just-not-switched-on
Following that iFixit teardown of the Nexus 4, it looks like LG and Google did kit out their new flagship with LTE after all—at least, there’s a Qualcomm multi-band LTE chip in there—it’s just not active. But why whack in a 4G chip and not bother to use it?
There are a couple of theories. The first is network restriction: perhaps one or more mobile carriers have called dibs on an LTE-equipped version to be “released” at a later date. Another theory, as suggested by Ars Technica is that LG’s just left the chip in there as a throw over from the Optimus G, on which the Nexus 4 is based, to reduce manufacturing streams. That’s possible, but why put a chip in there that costs you extra cash if you weren’t going to use it?
On the bright side, perhaps now we’ll have a reason for people to actually root stock Android. Maybe, just maybe, someone will be able to activate that dormant LTE chip and gift the Nexus 4 with 4G. That really would make Google’s flagship absolutely killer. [iFixit via Ars Technica]
Our newest offspring Gizmodo UK is gobbling up the news in a different timezone, so check them out if you need another Giz fix.
Early Shoppers Prefer Mass Merchants
Source: http://blog.compete.com/2012/11/01/early-shoppers-prefer-mass-merchants/
Image from: Holiday Shopping / Shutterstock
As we reach the end of October, more consumers are focusing their sights on December. As of October 21, about half the consumers surveyed in the Compete Holiday Intelligence™ survey had already begun shopping for the holidays, up 5 percent in 2 weeks. In fact, almost 1 out of 10 consumers had already finished half of their holiday shopping.
While more consumers got into the holiday spirit last week, they did not favor any one particular category. Shopping was up across almost all product categories. One of the most noticeable changes that occurred over the past few weeks was the decrease in gift card shopping and the increase in photo gift shopping. Perhaps consumers shop for generic stocking stuffers early and are now focusing on more personalized gifts.
Mass merchants continue to be the preferred destination for early holiday shoppers. Both in store and online shopping at these retailers increased last week compared to the first week of October. It is interesting to note that while Walmart in store purchases increased more than Target in store purchases, the opposite is true online. Target.com purchasing increased 150 percent whereas Walmart.com shopping only increased 58 percent.
The Compete Holiday Intelligence™ survey is your source for holiday insights. Be sure to check back in the coming months as we continue to track consumer shopping.
Urban Outfitters Says It Will Never Buy Another Cash Register Again
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/urban-outfitters-replaces-all-cash-registers-with-ipads-2012-9
Retailer Urban Outfitters had its first ever annual analyst day today.
You can listen to the whole presentation here, but about halfway through CIO Calvin Hollinger makes some interesting comments about the future of point-of-sales systems in retail.
Specifically, the company is going all Apple devices for its stores. Sales people will have iPod touches, and cash registers are being phased out in favor of iPads on a swivel.
In fact, he says: “Two or three weeks ago, we placed our very last register order… once we make sure this ipad works.. all stores will be equipped with iPod touches and iPads.”
iPads, he explained, cost about 1/5th as much as a cash register, and can be used for so much. As shown in the picture, they can be turned towards the customer, who can view content, put in personal information, use it as a gift registry and so forth.
What’s more, it makes a lot more sense from a space usage standpoint. An iPad on a swivel that’s not in use can quickly be taken off, with that space being used for packing or more merchandising or anything else.
SEE ALSO: The 29 best stocks in the market right now >
(Via @montoyan)
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Facebook Just Went Heavy Into E-Commerce (FB)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-just-went-heavy-into-e-commerce-2012-9
In May, Facebook spent $80 million on one of its largest acquisitions yet, Karma.
Karma was a gift buying startup that used Facebook to alert you of major upcoming dates in your friends’ lives (birthdays, weddings, graduations, etc).
Today, Facebook’s use for Karma was made clear as it dove head-first into e-commerce with a new feature, “Gifts.”
With Gifts, you can buy a friend everything from a bottle of champagne to a pair of glasses, while Facebook takes a percent of all sales.
It’s available in a few US cities beginning today on Facebook’s website and Android devices; it will roll out on iOS later. Gifts will either be physically sent or come in the form of gift cards to giftees. Some gifts, like Uber rides, can be redeemed instantly on the giftee’s phone.
Gift cards are a $100 billion industry and Facebook knows its up against steep competition from the likes of Amazon and eBay. “Our goal is to make this the best way to send a gift,” Karma’s co-founder Lee Linden tells TechCrunch. And once Facebook has all of our credit card information and addresses, it will be even more powerful. We already login to tons of other sites via Facebook, would it really be such a big stretch to pay on them with Facebook too? It’d be a lot easier than whipping out a credit card every time.
Here’s a picture of what Facebook Gifts look like (click to expand):
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Giftly, A Startup That Wanted To Make All Gift Cards Digital, Had A Pivotal Moment Yesterday
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/giftly-2012-9
Giftly launched last September with nearly $3 million in funding and a dream of making all gift cards mobile.
But after the holiday season struck, founder Tim Bentley and his team of ten started to rethink the product.
Giftly was a location-based gift card service. The sender could pick a venue and gift a friend a small sum to spend there. It used geo-location to unlock the giftcard when the recipient neared the venue.
But Bently found people preferred gifting items over locations. He and his team shifted the company’s vision, so much so that the site now reads, “A Giftly is not a giftcard…it’s better!”
They spent six months creating an iPhone app which went live yesterday. Now Giftly lets users send items or experiences to friends from their mobile devices.
Here’s how it works: A user selects a Facebook friend to send a gifted amount to, up to $250. They then select a suggested venue, but the Giftly can be unlocked and used anywhere by the friend. They also suggest an item for the friend to buy (see screenshot below).
When the friend uses the Giftly, they’re asked to send a quick message of thanks and a photo of the purchase to the user.
At its core, Giftly is a way to send small sums of money to friends, wrapped up in a thoughtful way. If you actually want to send your friend something like flowers or a cupcake, you’re still better off calling an actual store and getting the items delivered. But Bently thinks there’s a use case for people who want an easy way to be thoughtful from time to time.
“When we surveyed our users before, we asked them ! how ofte n they’d buy gift cards for people. They’d usually say twice per year, on birthdays and holidays,” says Bently says of pivot. “We realized we were building a product around giftcards and locations, and we were being too conservative. Really, people give little gifts to each other all the time.”
Here’s what the new app looks like:
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And Now You Can Use Facebook To Share Your Citibank Rewards Points With Your Friends
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/citibank-turns-rewards-into-social-currency-2012-1
NEW YORK (AP) — Credit card rewards are the new social currency.
Citibank customers can now use Facebook to pool their rewards points online.
The bank on Tuesday launched a Facebook application that lets users team up to use their points, whether it’s for charity, a group gift or a personal goal. Citi says it’s the first bank to offer such a feature.
The app builds on a service Citi introduced last year that lets customers transfer points to one another on the bank’s homepage. After getting feedback, executives decided to expand the rewards sharing capability and offer it through social media.
“Now we’re delivering it to where customers are every day,” said Ralph Andretta, who heads Citi’s loyalty programs and co-branded cards.
Andretta noted that customers will have far more flexibility with their points, whether it’s to help a friend fly home from college or team up for a big-ticket reward. The company is giving away 2,500 free rewards points to each of the first 4,000 customers to sign up.
To get started, customers download the ThankYou Point Sharing App, which is linked on Citi’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/citibank.
Customers can then start a rewards pool by naming a recipient and explaining its purpose. The recipient of the points maintains control of any contributions, so it’s best if you know and trust that person.
Pool recipients must be individuals and cannot be an organization, even if the intended goal is a charitable donation.
Users can promote their goals by sharing links on their Facebook pages or privately inviting other Citi customers to contribute. Donors can see the total number of points a cause has amassed.
The app can collect personal information from Facebook profiles. But Citi says it does not share any customer account information with Facebook.
The program isn’t only for credit card holders either. Citi checking account customers can also earn ThankYou points. Citi introduced its lineup of ThankYou credit cards last year.
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See Also:
- FLASHBACK: Remember When Wall Street Christmas Parties Were Awesome?
- The Funniest Part Of Michael Lewis’ New Column Is The Brutal Bank Of America Diss
- PAST AND PRESENT: The 11 Most Influential Women In Wall Street History
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We’ve Bought $41 Billion in Unused Gift Cards Since 2005 [Factoid]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5871883/weve-bought-41-billion-in-unused-gift-cards-since-2005
Gift cards are the laziest, lousiest, most convenient, popular and widely given present. And this is your yearly reminder of just how much they stink. Since 2005, we’ve tossed out more value in gift cards than the entire GNP of Ghana.
$41 billion is pretty hard to defend. We’re lazy; we have things to do; we… didn’t really want the damn things in the first place. Things have gotten a little better over the past few years, since the Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act passed in 2009, but in 2011 there are already $2 billion in unused cards. That’s down from $8 billion in 2007, but still, $2 billion a massive amount of waste.
According to TowerGroup, which provided the gift card data, 85 percent of gift cards are used within 65 days. After that? Not so great. So do yourself a favor and get out there and actually spend the money your generous but highly inconsiderate family members gifted to you this holiday season. [ABC News]
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Digital Consigliere
Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.
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