2011 WP Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,500 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Before you Buy That …

Questions To Ask Yourself Before Buying That?

It’s that time of the year when Americans are finding the best gifts for the festive season. This year’s Thanksgiving weekend has shown an increase of sales from $45 billion last year to $52 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation (2011). Cyber Monday also posted increased sales from $1.03 billion last year to $1.25 billion this year (Talley, 2011).

Shopping needs differ from one individual to another depending on his values, attitudes, cultural expectations, and preferences. So, it is very challenging to come up with a specific list for all on what to buy or not buy, but giving more thoughts to your purchase increases the likelihood of getting the gifts you won’t regret.

A list of 13 questions below can help consumers make the right shopping decision:

Will this purchase help me meet one of my goals? Do I really need it? Want it? What must I give up to have it? Why do I want to buy it? Am I buying this only because it is on sale? Am I buying this only because my friends are buying it? Has the media influenced my decision to buy this item? Am I buying this because I am depressed and need cheering up? Would I come back tomorrow to buy this? Can I afford it? Do I need to borrow money to buy this? If I borrow money to buy this, how long will it take me to pay it off? Would I feel better now without spending money?

Composed by Sara Croymans (2004), this card comes in a wallet size card template for consumers to remind themselves, which would be very useful when considering purchases or when they’re one swipe/click away from paying for them.

*****

On a personal note, I thought this simple “Wise Consumer Shopping” card is a very effective tool to prevent spending leaks. The wallet-size card allows people to keep it in their wallet or purse – from where consumers would get their cash or credit card for brick-and-mortar and online purchases. This is especially if the card is used according to its instruction:

When you are considering a purchase take out this card. Review each question, answer honestly.

Why Gift Card?

OK, let’s cut the chase – this is why I think gift cards are not so good for consumers:

• Possibility of not using them: 6%, as noted in a recent Today coverage. This could be due to losing it, forgetting about it, and not liking the card-related products. That’s like consumers donating millions to the industry. According to the Today coverage, $100B gift card sales with $6B unused + most popular gifts, 5 years running. I remember a time where I had an w’aay extendedholiday trip only to realize a lot later that I had an outdated rebate check.
• Tie Consumers to the Stores/Products: Gift card issuer should sell them for lower value. Companies lover the, because it ties consumers to those products/companies (e.g. Lowe’s gift cards mean that recipients need to go to the store to get those money cards used). In addition, to use the full benefits of the card or to maximize the card’s value, one need to get products that are higher price that the cards’ values. For instance, if you have a $25 Target gift card, ideally, you’d spend on something that is $25, but c’mon, seriously, find something that is $25 … with sales taxes plus nd while you’re there, you might as well buy those other stuff.
• Why not Give Cash?: New taboo? Behavioral – as in most Americans like to put those on the cards? I like the subtitle Daniel Gross put on his article: “They’re the best insult money can buy.”

Currently, I have a $10 gift certificate from Kohl’s (valid after Christmas) and a $10 off coupon for gift cards sold at Albertson’s. I’m likely to use the Kohl’s gift certificate … and the Abertson’s – guess what? The cheapest gift card is a $25 ones. I’ll use the Albertson’s for something that’s I’ll use anyways (Hint: not Starbucks one).