Consumers are feeling guilty about past purchases and are returning items in record numbers.  ‘Turns out that baby does not actually need a pair of $400 shoes after all.

According to a survey just released by the National Retail Federation, shoppers are expected to return a record $219 billion in goods this year, or 8.7% of total sales.  That’s up from 7.3% in 2007.  Holiday returns will fare even worse:  ho-ho-oh-no returns came to 8.8% of the total retail haul in 2007 and are forecasted to hit 10% this year. 

The survey does highlight an increasing number of retailers who are planning more lenient return policies, which is nice, but I sure hope merchants also take the opportunity to get that customer to come back!  The way I look at it, a shopper in line to return an item may or may not be in the mood to purchase other items that day.  But the next time she’s ready to make a purchase? Make sure she thinks of you.  A discount or special offer on a future purchase should be handed to the ”returner” right there at cashwrap.   Make it compelling… and have it start, say, February 1st, so you minimize the effect of gamers who might try to use the offer on an already-planned holiday purchase.

Getting a consumer into your store these days is gold:  you may be giving them money back today, but try to encourage them to give you some tomorrow.

holiday shopping     National Retail Federation     return policies    

So what is this, my 4th or 5th post about Starbucks?  It’s the 5th.  I wrote one when Howard Schultz declared that he would return to daily management because Starbucks had lost its way; I wrote one when Starbucks launched its new daily brew, Pike Place; I wrote one when the company announced that it was pulling back on its entertainment initiatives and eliminating its music business… etc, etc.

The point of all my meanderings this year is that Starbucks wandered too far off course and, like all companies, must become and remain exceptionally good at delivering on its core brand promise before even considering whether or not consumers will consider anything off-strategy or loosely complimentary (as CDs, books, magazines and smelly egg sandwiches most assuredly are).

Starbucks = Coffee + Service.  Get this right first. 

Why is this so hard?  And I’m not saying it’s forever:  you closed 600 stores this year and $4 coffee is becoming increasingly unaffordable.  Bad times call for you to pull yourself together and take actions that will hold your loyal base close to you while the economic cold winds blow.   Just… for awhile!

It’s a shame that they just can’t seem to handle that.  In the lengthy Portfolio interview that marked Schultz’s return to day-to-day management, he despaired at how badly Starbucks had strayed from providing a great experience and the best coffee.  Then he told the journalist how excited he was about the smoothies (from Italy!) the chain was about to launch.

GAH!  Doing… right… thing!  Back… to… basics… But let’s… just… slip… in… ONE… cool… little… gee-gaw! 

Eesh.

This week, Starbucks reinforced this on strategy/off strategy line of thinking by kicking off two discount programs to try to help its customers (the strategy part:  keep coffee drinkers), while simultaneously announcing a new co-publishing deal with Farrar Straus Giroux for The Traveler, a picture book, described as “a beguiling and tender fable about what really matters in life.”  Is there an unmet need for full-price picture books at Starbucks? No.

I’m frustrated.  And I had a cup of coffee from the deli this morning.  It was cheaper, there was no line and no one tried to sell me an iTunes card.

Starbucks   

“Green” is so big and gas is so expensive.  Electric cars have been around for years, but most of the actual news you hear about them involves some celebrity who has one, ergo the 48,000 and 22,300 Google results for “ed begley electric car” and ”ed begley electric bike, respectively.   Outside of Begley and Woody Harrelson, it’s all a little hazy.

How come? 

Jut today I came across two websites:  www.priuspixelometro.com, a Toyota site that lets a user see how much he/she would save over X miles driving a Prius vs. an “average sedan.”  I don’t own an “average sedan,” do you?  Plus, you may drive the same number of miles from New York to New Jersey and between two spots in the Mojave Desert, but you most certainly will not use the same amount of gas.  No one’s looking seriously at electric car options using this tool.  The second (unrelated) website was www.costtodrive.com, which allows you to specify an exact starting point and destination PLUS the actual year, make and model of the car you drive.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

So how hard could it be to create the best of both worlds:  a site that allows you to (1) specify where you’re driving from and to, (2) along with the exact car you currently own… then shows you the all-in costs of using that car vs. the (3) year, make and model of an electric car that perhaps you are considering buying?  All-in costs could easily reflect both the cost of a kilowatt-hour and the cost of a gallon of gas in your home zip code as of some set date.

Wouldn’t that be fun and useful? And this site would be super-easy to build for Google, or Yahoo, or Car and Driver, or TreeHugger…

GoDaddy says www.greentodrive.com is available.

Prius     Treehugger    electric car

Many years ago, I was responsible for Citibank’s credit card loyalty program, Free Gifts.  Not dissimilar to existing programs today, Free Gifts permitted a cardholder to collect points for various activities and redeem them for stuff:  TVs, small appliances, radios and the like.  Today, there are entire websites devoted to helping consumers sift through these programs to find the ones that best suit their needs, and consumers are fairly jaded in terms of finding real value.

With a recent offer, Visa may have cracked the, uh, “value” barrier.

This past summer, Visa offered private toilets to Visa Signature cardmembers attending a music and arts festival in California.  Cardholders gained entry to the ”VIP Signature Lounge” by showing a valid event ticket and their Visa card.

This may, as Springwise.com suggests, be an example of sympvertising: coined by Trendwatching.com, the phrase means to infuse advertising with a true acknowledgement and reflection of the target consumer’s pain points, whether they be falling stock prices, losing a house… or facing the terrifying spectre of using the average smelly porta-potty.

I could go either way on this one.  On the one hand, it’s a clever offer that reflects a typically overlooked and genuine need attendees face at an outdoor event.  It also has absolutely nothing to do with Visa’s core benefits and is unlikely to be remembered.

At the very least, it certainly gives new meaning to Visa’s former tagline ”It’s everywhere you want to be.”

Westin’s current ad campaign promotes its hotels as veritable oases of renewal and inspiration.  On everything from TV to print to outdoor, the ads beacon with beautiful imagery and the line “This is how it should feel.”

Since I stayed at a Westin recently – and the bathroom was dirty – the only thing I’m feeling is slightly annoyed and a little skeevy.

The latest execution I noticed is a print execution in Fortune.  It’s a full-color ad showing nothing but rows of what looks like lettuce, growing in ripe, red soil, bathed in sunlight.  Tell me again why my hotel stay is supposed to feel like rows of lettuce? 

ChiefMarketer chose “Breathe” as the best 15-second TV promo because (the site was trying to be nice and) it’s the only one that comes anywhere close to presenting a consumer benefit.  A soft-focus swirl transforms into the word “Breathe” on-screen, after which a text line informs the viewer that Westin is the first major hotel chain to go smoke-free.  That is a long, long way from the way harangued travelers actually want to ”feel” which, for many, would be closer to hoping that the batteries in the TV remote work, the wireless Internet access is easy to use and the bedspread has been washed since the last Presidential election.

Part of my overall philosophy is that a brand must do what it is supposed to do, and do it well, before a consumer can give it emotional permission to venture into untested waters.  If ”core” doesn’t come before ”quirky,” the latter will be met with indifference, at best, and frustration or even disgust, at worst.

Prior to the “This is how it should feel” mantra, Westin focused on the Heavenly Bed - remember that?  It is actually a pretty great bed and – unlike lettuce - this message delivered on one of the core expectations of every hotel guest:  a good night’s sleep.
WestinStarwoodHeavenly Bed

Transitional Sizes is a new company helping dieting women dress well without breaking the bank.  The company rents out brand name clothing for temporary use while the pounds come off.

Great concept.  There have been companies that rent maternity wear for some time, but there is so much more business in dieting!  Let’s face it:  many more women end up dieting for longer periods of time – and sometimes over and over again – then there are ladies who get pregnant (and don’t forget the overlap!).

The company rents women’s clothing in sizes 4-26 for monthly rental fees ranging anywhere from $3 to $25 apiece.  A customer orders the items she needs and can keep them as long as she likes; once she is ready to return, she’s asked to clean the pieces and send them back in the original box free of charge. 

A woman does not need to be a member of the site to use it, but membership packages give dieters a variety of extra perks including discounts and weight loss incentives.  The site is still a little new, and no one’s winning an fashion contests wearing the gear that’s currently available, but let’s assume they get it right. 

And when they do, there are so many opportunities to drive revenue.  How about an option where the member automatically gets a new box of clothes when she has committed to being one size smaller: and the cost is automatically billed to her credit card?  Money can be motivating…  And I would strongly consider partnerships with weight loss companies (Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers), relevant media (parenting and self-improvement magazines, like Parents and Self) and possibly the medical community (a la the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology).

What other untapped “leasing” opportunities are out there?  We’ve got clothing, handbags, jewelry (ever see Borrowed Bling?), cars, cell phones from hotels and airports…

Hey, am I the last person to discover www.consumerist.com?  Part of the Gawker Media Network, “The Consumerist” highlights bad customer service stories with posts that include corporate phone numbers, addresses, scanned letters and much more.  The over 1.5 million monthly unique visitors also post the latest discounts, deals and give-aways but it’s the scams and disastrous customer service experiences that are the real attention-getters.

This one - about a nightmarish story involving a forgotten Blockbuster Video tape, Discover and a collection agency – is typical.

 The real fun though, I think, is the ongoing competition for “Worst Company In America 2008,” which the site is running like a sports season, bracket and all (“Yeah, I had Exxon Vs. Countrywide in the final. …Countrywide has to be the favorite here”).  Clever.  They’re down to the Final Four – so exciting!!
consumerist.com