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If you subscribe to BusinessWeek, this issue will probably hit your mailbox very soon.  I found it online this morning.  I have only skimmed the articles, but the issue always has some great stories.  This year’s list includes the usual cast of characters – see “World-Class Customer Service” for links to all the articles.  This year’s issue highlights L.L. Bean and USAA –plus you can find a slide show  and the “Top 25.“   Many great examples to use when discussing customer service and retailing.

I just listened to an interesting report on American Public Media’s (radio) Marketplace Money show – “Warehouse clubs scream ‘bargain!‘” Click through to listen – or simply read the text of this story. It highlights how warehouse clubs understanding of consumer behavior drives their marketing strategy.  Would probably provide a good example in discussing retail or consumer behavior.

Another example from China — this one looks at retailing there.  Just published in BusinessWeek, “China: Where Retail Dinosaurs Are Thriving” (January 21, 2010).   This might be useful when talking about consumer behavior in other countries, in retail, or international.

People have long predicted that online shopping and home delivery of groceries would change the market.  Another wrong prediction (see Webvan go down in flames) — and of course they said no one could sell shoes online (tell that to Zappos).  Anyway, I digress.  This January 14, 2010, Wall Street Journal article, “In France, a Drive-Up Grocery Takes Off” (subscription may be required - for “back door” see here) describes a French retailers hybrid version — online order then pick-up.  Would this model work in other cultures?  Or is it uniquely French?

This is creative — and a lot of fun.  Check out the video.  Coca-Cola and its interactive marketing agency, Definition 6 put this “special” vending machine on a college campus. The unsuspecting students got a lot more than just a bottle of Coke. The promotion fits well with Coke’s recent positioning around happiness and directly targets an important target market of college students. Of course students are more likely than most consumers to check out YouTube and pass along a viral video.  My bet is that this will climb into the viral video top 10 in no time.  In class it could also be shown when talking about Place, if you are looking for a fun example of vending machines.  Enjoy.

The Wal-Mart vs. Amazon battle continues to become increasingly intense (see “Price War Brews Between Amazon and Wal-Mart,” New York Times, November 23, 2009). These two competitors have already engaged in price wars over toys, books, and DVDs this holiday season.  Now Wal-Mart is cleverly using one of their strengths relative to Amazon — their physical stores — to their advantage.  This a nice example of competitive advantage, SWOT, and logistics.  Check out “Wal-Mart Uses Its Stores To Get an Edge Online” (see The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2009 – subscription required, or search the net using the article title).

Redbox continues to stay one step ahead of Blockbuster.  Just a few days after Blockbuster announced it would kiosks would debut at Duane Reade stores (copying Redbox’s successful vending strategy), Redbox appears to be ready to start renting video games as well.

Consumer behavior continues to evolve with technology.  This article proviedes nice examples of technology (see chapter 3) and information search in the consumer behavior chapter.  I was surprised by some of the findings reported in this article “More shoppers use smartphones to study, find, buy” USA Today, November 27, 2009.  Another reason we look at the data instead of our own behavior.

Some 19% of Americans will use their mobile devices for shopping this holiday season, according to a Deloitte survey. The number is twice as high for young consumers: 39% of those 18 to 29 say they’ll use their phones to find store locations, obtain coupons and sales information and research products and prices. One-quarter of all who plan to use their phones to shop say they will make purchases on the devices.

This video (below)/article (“The Accidental Hero,” BusinessWeek.com, November 5, 2009) combination tells the story of a very successful Subway promotion.  The promotion was originally the idea of a Miami franchisee who successfully launched it locally.  It was later picked up nationally and has helped Subway provide more value during hard economic times.  The video can be used as an example of sales-oriented pricing objectives or as an example of odd-even pricing.  The story also shows the value of listening to franchisees.