Amazon Snips Prices on Other Sellers' Items Ahead of Holiday Onslaught

Amazon Inc. began to slow down their prices sold from third parties and independent merchants on its web site by as low as 9% in the past few weeks. This discount will allows amazon to compete more effectively with other low cost rivals, such as Wal-Mart Stores Dollar General Corp. just as the very important holiday season gets underway. Amazon's customers benefit the most from this discount, although amazon claims their most of their customers aren't even aware of the discount.
It is still unclear how amazon selects which prices to lower. Sellers claim they were not notified from this change.
The unusual move, could further strain Amazon's complicated relationship with big-name brands, manufacturers and its merchant. The company's ultimate goal is to reinvest profits to grow the company. Amazon is fixing the price of some good to gain more sales, and compete against low cost retailers.

Ski Resorts That Entice In the Summer

Ski Resorts That Entice In the Summer 

Ski Resorts have experienced an increase of customers in the summer. Several customers have bought vacation homes which they visit more frequently in the summer when they come to the ski resorts during the summer. The resorts are very popular in the summer because people enjoy coming to get in contact with nature. For example, the tax revenue earned during the summer rose more than 50 %  than four years ago. As a result, ski resorts are providing more outdoor activities that appeal to customers who come during the summer. They include  zip lining, alpine slides, and mountain trails for bikes where people have to use the ski lift to get to the mountains. Also, the stores change their inventory during the summer season from selling ski supplies to offering summer activities supplies. 

The resorts are experiencing diversification  because they are shifting their business from being ski resorts into  a summer destination where people can come to enjoy the outdoors. It is a good way to continue receiving a revenue because the ski resorts are able to operate for a longer period of time knowing that their amenities are appealing to tourists. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-next-hot-summer-spot-a-ski-resort-1509631700

Amazon Snips Prices on Other Sellers’ Items Ahead of Holiday Onslaught

In the recent weeks, Amazon has started to lower prices on goods offered by independent merchants by as much as 9%. This move allows the company to compete more severely with low-cost rivals such as retail company Walmart. On the other hand, this could potentially hurt its relationship with some big-name brands, manufacturers and merchants.

The company made this decision just as the important holiday season is around the corner. This will have an advantage of increasing sales as consumers are highly inclined by the drop in prices, especially due to the holiday season where higher purchases are made to gift others. As a result, Amazon and the sellers could face high profits due to the lower prices.

This is related to marketing as it is under the four P's that are combined in differing ways to match the needs and wants of different target markets. This is focusing on one of the four P's, which is price.

Article Published: November 5, 2017
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-snips-prices-on-other-sellers-items-ahead-of-holiday-onslaught-1509883201

The Race to Find Meatless Protein Products

The Race to Find Meatless Protein Products

Oct. 15, 2017 10:08 p.m. ET

The changing consumer behavior has companies at the edge of their seat as they work to fit the needs of the people. A trend on more protein has raised the U.S. per capita consumption of meat and poultry by 6% from 2014 to 2016. However, as the consumer concern about what they and how their food is grown expands, consumption of meat substitutes has also increased rapidly. Now, food companies are looking into reinventing their products with healthier and minimally processed ingredients that have a lesser footprint on the planet.

Companies are experimenting to make “novel protein sources” based on meal-worms, fungi, obscure plants, run-of-the-mill peas, and more. PepsiCo is considering plant-based, insect-based, or fermented fungus-based proteins. They have done work with ingredients such as soy, moringa, duckweed, cricket and mealworm powder. With these, they hope to find affordable ingredients that are easy to pronounce, have minimal impact on the flavor and texture of their products, and continue to deliver high quality products. Additionally, they plan to lower the content of sugar, fat, and sodium in their products. Likewise, Tyson, Nestlé SA and Kellogg Co. are investing in plant-based protein, General Mills is producing nut-milk- based cheeses and yogurts, Pure Elizabeth Co. is now selling protein-rich seed granola bars and hot cereal; Memphis Meats Inc. is developing technology to grow meat from self-producing animal cells, and Aspire Food Group is making whole-roasted crickets and cricket powder protein bars, cookies and dog treats.

Food companies are facing pressure from consumers and from the environment; they are also facing the challenge of keeping up with consumer demands and introducing innovative ideas. The growing protein trend is not sustainable as protein is costly and requires a large amount of land, water and energy. However, food companies must continue to meet the needs of the consumers. By introducing alternative protein sources companies are taking a leap towards the future. The growing popularity of a vegan lifestyle gives such companies information about the route to take. Plant-based and seed-based sources appeal to these consumers easily whereas insect-based may take longer for other consumers to accept and allow the category to grow. By branding these products as healthier and environmentally friendlier, food companies have a higher chance at reaching consumers.

As society turns more conscious regarding the well being of the environment and the well being of themselves, consumer behavior is inevitably affected. Individuals are powerful when it comes to shaping the market.

Wall Street Journal

iPhone X vs Mate 10 Pro

     Huawei's Mate 10 Pro faces Apple's iPhone X as a direct competitor in the battle for the superior premium phone.  Apple has always focused on building and marketing the best designed phones. Meanwhile Richard Yu, the head of Huawei’s consumer products business, recently said, “we want to win in the premium segment.”  China is a critical region in this competition because Apple's popularity has been sliding there and they have a chance to bounce back with the iPhone X.  However Huawei has the advantage of being based in China.  The outcomes of this struggle to reach consumers will definitely have a significant effect on the future of technology.

     Huawei has adopted an ingenius strategy to face Apple.  Essentially they have hijacked Apple's massive marketing campaigns by offering a similar product for a lower price while Apple handles most of the marketing and consumer education.  For example, Apple recently has been promoting the iPhone X's neural engine, a chip that is specifically meant to handle AI.  This is a component that many consumers do not understand, so Apple has tried to teach consumers about its benefits.  Huawei then follows Apple's footsteps by including enhanced AI in the Mate 10 but does not need to invest money in teaching consumers because Apple is doing this for them.  Huawei is also copying other elements of the iPhone X such as the OLED display and the smaller bezels that border the screen. Huawei has the potential to outsell iPhone by using Apple's marketing to their advantage.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-iphone-x-in-face-off-as-huaweis-mate-10-launches-1508158804

Can the new face ID on the iPhone X be tricked?

iPhone X- How We tested FaceID: 

With everyone ragging about the new iPhone X I found it appropriate to pick this article from the Wall street Journal. As we have all seen and or heard about the iPhone X and all its fancy new gadgets that come along with it (one of the main features being the faceID) one would expect someone to really test the limits and performance of it to see if it holds up to its word. To further elaborate, the facial ID is composed of a complex system of cameras and sensors that turns your face into the password. So all you have to do is look down at your phone to unlock it.  

 Furthermore, the author of this article wanted to test the facial recognition to see if it could be tricked. However, he failed in trying to do so. In his testings, the facial recognition was able to recognize him even when wearing hats, scarves, earrings, glasses and other everyday accessories. Not only that, but it was also able to recognize him and unlock, in the back of a dark car at night and in a pitch black bedroom. He even tried to trick the faceID by using cutout photos of himself to try and unlock the phone, but it didn't budge. He even created a face mask mold of himself, and it still didn't work. He stated that "according to Apple the chances of a random person to look at your iPhone X and unlock it is one in a million, however the chances are a lot greater for identical twins or similar looking siblings. 

In all, this article portrays the quality and excellent performance displayed by the new iPhone X facial recognition. The author is marketing and informing readers of the superiority of the new features of the iPhone X. These well performing features create a very competitive environment for other phones that have the same features, however do not perform as well at the iPhone X. For example,  the author explains that the galaxy note 8 (which has facial recognition) was fooled more than once with the paper cutout, was not fooled one bit by the iPhone X during the experiment. In addition, the iPhone X would be categorized in the "introduction stage" of the product life cycle, because it brings something fresh and brand new to the table. In this, the iPhone X will be targeting customers that already have an iPhone and are ready for an upgrade and even people that do not have an iPhone. I mean lets be honest, everyone for the most part, want whats brand new and trending. 

Sony's Rebooted Robot Dog

Sony Corporation launched their first robot dog, Aibo, back in 1999 but was quickly discontinued in 2006. While Aibo was put on hold, several Japanese companies rolled out the production of robot dogs since none managed to fetch a widespread success. Sony recently released a new Aibo robot dog, having confidence the new Aibo will be able to stand out. 

With this new device, the company will begin in the product introduction stage of the process. Although this product is expensive with a price of about $1700 and a mandatory monthly fee of $25 for cloud services,  it is still considered less expensive than a real dog in the long run. The new Aibo has improved intellegence software and enhanced motors and sensors that help the product resemble a real dog. Each robot dog will develop a unique behavior patterns depending on owner interactions and can work with other internet-connected electronics. The purchase of Aibo includes a ball toy for the dog to retrieve and carry around. 

Sony ended their maintenance services for the robots back in 2014 which lefts some owners of previous Aibo models very disappointed. When the robots stopped working, some owners held funerals for their devices.

 Article Published: November 1, 2017

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/sonys-aibo-robot-dog-returns-from-the-pet-cemetery-will-cost-1-700- 1509504837