Black Friday Shopping During April

During this pandemic it has been extremely challenging for clothing retailers to sell their merchandise since most stores have been closed. This has led them to have tens of billions of dollars’ worth of unsold retail that they must get rid of to welcome their Spring clothing collection. Having to be in this current situation means that retailers need to act and think fast so some have decided to heavily discount their goods through their websites.

Although retailers have taken initiative to do this, it does not guarantee that all their merchandise will get sold. There are companies who realized how much business they will lose because consumers are not even interested in purchasing Spring styles in clothing. Other retailers will be packing up their goods and reselling them in the future in hopes that their styles do not go out of fashion trend.

This article caught my attention because even though we are all being affected by the pandemic I have observed that many online retailers have heavily discounted prices right now. Through the marketing aspect many retailers are thinking outside of the box so that their company does not become severely affected by this. With this being said, they have found different ways of promoting their discounts to their target market through the strategy planning process.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-black-friday-in-april-as-closed-stores-get-desperate-to-unload-spring-clothes-11587396524

An App to Guide People out of the Corona Virus

A smartphone app that was installed by more than three million British users, researchers can now locate where corona virus infection is emerging. This has allowed scientists to alert health authorities to know where the pandemic is surging to prepare for future hospitalizations. The nice part of this app is that it offers a real-time insight that be critical to ease lockdowns in areas.

This app is called the Covid Symptom Tracker app, it was designed by scientists at King's College of London and a health-data analytics company called Zoe Global, this allows users to report daily whether or not someone is suffering or not from symptoms of Covid-19. Tim Spector, the professor of genetic epidemiology at King's, said the app will be able to provide "an early-warning device about hot spots." The revealed sharp increases in areas that held big sporting event in march.

There are still limitations to this program but it seems promising to help since this covid-19 is still impacting greatly around the world. One of the limitations is that the program calls for the use of volunteers, in the United Kingdom the voluntary nature of this app means that users tend to be better off and better educated. Also some users report symptoms that appear to be caused by the virus, but are not. But with the use of computers are able to crunch data by comparing user's symptoms with those of the app's of around 30,000 United Kingdom users who have so far tested positive.

With the complexity of the virus and people having symptoms or close symptoms to it, I feel like this app will soon be able to identify who and who doe not have the covid-19. Only the future will tell how well it will be but hopefulle covid-19 ends.





Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-smartphone-app-tries-to-guide-the-way-out-of-coronavirus-lockdowns-11588333842?mod=tech_lead_pos5

Should You Wear a Mask When Exercising Outdoors?

Now that the stay at home orders have been lifted for many states they have required everyone who is leaving their homes to wear a mask. Although many have questioned whether a mask is required when exercising and there seem to be many opinions over this. According to a professor from UCS, there seems to be no reason for someone that is exercising to wear it and that is because medically there is no reason to. An emergency medicine doctor from Stanford says that it would be smart to wear a mask around your neck and pull it up when coming close to others. This shows not only respect but it is safe. it is not very likely that the virus can be transmitted during outdoor exercise due to the airflow. Being outdoors dilutes the droplets if any do occur during the time someone is out exercising. Many people will complain saying that the mask will get in the way of them exercising, which may be true and it may bring discomfort but better safe than sorry. 

This article emphasizes great points about the virus and the precautions needed to take if someone does decide to step out and workout. It is a very helpful article that offers different perspectives from different professionals. Regardless of people thinking that they are safe when keeping the distance between them and others and there is no need for a mask. But the article further explains that although everyone seems to be safe while exercising without a mask on they are way better off if they do wear one.

SOURCE: https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-you-wear-a-mask-when-exercising-outdoors-11588079594       

‘Quarantinis,’ Bread Makers and Badminton: What’s Hot in Down Consumer Market

The Covid 19 pandemic has transformed our daily lives and has allowed us to discover new hobbies and create new routines, but what are people currently spending money on? What are the items that everyone is purchasing the most during these difficult times? Where are sales declines happening? A Wall Street Journal analysis gives us the answers to these questions.
At the beginning of the pandemic, it was noticeable that there was an increase of in-store grocery shopping, however, currently, there is a huge rise in online-shopping which began the week after April 1 and stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have noticed the impact of online shopping in northern states and less foot traffic as social distancing measures and stay at home orders have become more strict.
At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a particular rise in the purchase of certain items like waffle irons, sandwich makers, board games, printers, and heaters. However, in April,  there has been a decline in these items. On the other hand, the purchase of stay at home comfortable clothes like sweatshirts and pajamas have risen in April as more people are working from home and others are unemployed (more than 27 million) but the purchase of other apparel has sharply declined.
In addition, from the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a noticeable increase in alcohol sales. The demand has particularly increased in liquor and beer but not so much in wine and this increase continues.
Contrarily, and what is impressive, is that Netflix and Disney + have maintained their subscription sign-ups at the same level and have not noticed any significant increase due to the virus.
Furthermore, gardening has become an important hobby and has grown more than during the last recession, there has been increased purchase of seeds since mid-March, particularly in tomatoes, peppers, squash, and beans.

As the pandemic progresses, there has been a progression in the items that different individuals are purchasing. Online purchases have become extremely important as they protect customers from interacting with the general public and from contracting the virus. E-commerce is growing and this is an important topic in marketing. This article relates to the external market environment because this pandemic is having a political, economic, social, and technological impact across the world. Due to local governments placing safety measures, the economy been dramatically impacted and workers losing their jobs, people staying at home, and technology becoming a necessity in our lives, it has transformed the way people live and the products they purchase and consume. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/quarantinis-bread-makers-and-badminton-whats-hot-in-down-consumer-market-11588411800?mod=hp_lead_pos8

Chipotle’s Online Orders Surge, But Costs Hit Profit

As the coronavirus spread throughout the U.S many dine-in restaurants were closed and that was no different for Chipotle. Although, Chipotle turned to an alternative which was online orders. They are doing well with online orders but the costs for essential supplies to keep them running during this pandemic weighed in on them. Chipotle was also accused earlier this month with having made over 1,000 people with a foodborne virus. They agreed to pay $25 million and to improve the health system they have going on. Some ways they are improving is by allowing their workers to take paid sick days off as well as wellness checks for their workers. Chipotle emphasized they have enough cash to support them for more than a year.

In the marketing world, Chipotle will be affected because of the accusation of the foodborne virus. They have been working really hard to market their online ordering and in the middle of it all, they get accused of making people sick. This will push people away from them especially in a pandemic. At first glance, people will assume that Chipotle is spreading the coronavirus to its customers. Regardless if it is corona or not the people will begin to imply that Chipotle does not run a safe establishment where food is being produced. Things are bad enough with a COVID-19 to be adding another virus on top of it all. Although many people love Chipotle and as long as they are not spreading corona and show signs of improving their establishment environment once stay at home orders are lifted they should slowly rise back to where they were.

SOURCE: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chipotle-to-pay-25-million-to-resolve-foodborne-illness-charges-11587502092?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=5

Anthony Nguyen

Cruise Ships Set Sail Knowing the Deadly Risk to Passengers and Crew Analysis

Article Published by Jacquie McNish, Rebecca Smith, Erin Aliworth, and Rachel Pannett on May 1, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cruise-ships-set-sail-knowing-the-deadly-risk-to-passengers-and-crew-11588346502?mod=hp_lead_pos7

          In the article I used, the article goes on an extremely detailed analysis on a possible cause of the spread of COVID-19, that cause being cruise ships continuing to set sail despite knowing the risks of a possible pandemic. According to the article, about 17 cruise ships set sail that had passengers with coronavirus, which had also led to the death of a passenger and possible spread of coronavirus. In fact, many passengers were not made aware of the infected passengers. So far, multiple countries also discovered that their first interaction with the virus came from passengers in cruise ships. Records are also showing that these cruise ship companies tried to deny responsibility, divert responsibility, or ignore claims that they were in fact part of the problem. After the base summary, the rest of the article goes on to provide a detailed account of how this started by giving statistics.

     The reason why this caught my eye is because I never actually knew that cruise ships are a major factor as to why COVID-19 spread. However, at the same time, I wasn't surprised based off what I read because there are always companies that want to profit while\ignoring basic ethics. This actually ties into marketing, as when you market yourself, you should market yourself as an ethical company. Yes, bigger corporations are allowed to take a hit once in awhile, but mistakes and bad decisions like these will cause people to reconsider your brand and might not go to cruise ships anymore because they simply don't trust cruise ships to put the passengers safety first. This type of thinking might also cause people to question if cruise ships are even safe in the first place, and if cruise ships safety procedures should be questioned as well.

Houston Opening Again

Seeking normality one phase at a time

As the City of Houston acknowledges phase one of reopening businesses, people don't know how to react to this, but businesses must get back on their feet after almost two months of shutting down. Restaurants will reopen on Friday, May 1st with only 25% of the restaurant open and employees must wear masks and gloves while serving customers. Malls, movie theaters, and stores will reopen and although COVID-19 is still active amongst everyone, Governor Greg Abbott has decided to open public places for public gatherings. 

Health statistics have shown that it is still not safe to have any social gatherings, so hopefully people rely on the CDC for information rather than listening to the governor talk about the economy. The places that are opening are not essential and people have been doing good without them, so why would they open?? Many companies are on the edge of going out of business and are in need of people to shop. In the end, we are the ones that keep companies running and on their feet and the city has to relief itself sooner or later.