Djuradj Caranovic

When you think about your business and things that could potentially go south, what is the first thing that pops into your mind? For me, it is a bunch of unhappy customers deliberately name-calling my business and turning all my hard work into a dumpster of critique. I mean, they’d have all the right to do so given I’d failed to deliver what they needed, but I’d still feel bad. Maybe even cry a little.

With things changing as fast as they are, making some sort of a mistake seems inevitable. You’ll either be too slow to the changes, too quick to respond, too open or too narrow-minded, too… something. And that’s fine. You can’t be a fit for everyone, but what you can be is aware of what your customers want so you don’t mess up big time and let your good business name get flushed down the toilet. 

How can you reach your customers? Nope, try again! Definitely not through surveys. The answer: customer-centrism. It’s a pretty amazing model to follow.

I talked to customers, I listened, I observed, I learned, and I put together an article out of it.
So, what exactly is customer-centrism, what’s it got to do with your business and why you should drop surveys from your “customer engagement model” immediately lays explained in my new LinkedIn article.


Let me know if any of it was helpful! :)

No function handles a broader range of customer touchpoints than customer care. Executives would be wise to make it the centerpiece of any effort to transform the customer experience.

Consumer expectations are rising across the board—not due to a specific industry but from all of the excellent interactions that leading companies provide. Executives have recognized that customer satisfaction is the key indicator in gauging success, but too often a focus on specific touchpoints or channels results in incremental progress that only allows a company to keep pace with the changing customer landscape. Leading executives have recognized that really moving the needle on customer satisfaction requires a more ambitious effort—a transformation of the entire customer experience.
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Gaining a comprehensive view of the customer journey is easier said than done, and initiatives that attempt to adopt a customer-centric mind-set can fall short without both a clear top-line strategy and a granular view of customer behavior. Even as technology and data from engagement channels provide companies with increased visibility into customer touchpoints, weaving all of this information together into a clear and coherent picture of the customer can be a formidable challenge. The complexity of customer interactions in multiple channels, for example, means that information resides throughout the enterprise—in not only customer care but also marketing, sales, product development, and back-office functions.

Designing excellent customer journeys—an orchestrated sequence of touchpoints that customers traverse to address common requests and issues, often in a mix of live and digital channels—is critical to a customer-experience transformation. This process of mapping customer journeys is the only way to truly get a comprehensive view of the entire gamut of touchpoints and how they fit together. Customer care, which typically includes the call center as well as online and self-service channels, has an integral role to play. As the natural owner of a large part of the customer journey, customer care can provide invaluable insight by helping to define journeys, identify pain points, and spur collaboration across functions. Such actions can produce additional benefits: an end-to-end redesign of the customer journey can not only transform the customer experience but also reduce operating costs in customer care.
Why the customer journey matters in a customer-experience transformation

Traditionally, efforts to enhance customer experience have focused on gathering a tremendous amount of detail about individual touchpoints—identifying the key moments that have an outsize impact on customer satisfaction, determining why care fell short, and developing remedies to improve service. Leaders of different functions such as sales, marketing, and customer care would devote significant time and resources to optimizing interactions within the channels they managed—but a lack of visibility across functions hindered more sweeping, lasting progress.

Organizations that can break out of this siloed mentality have the potential to gain an unprecedented view of the customer. The digitization of the entire customer journey, including the use of digital channels and self-service tools, is well under way. And leading organizations are using increasing volumes of data to link the customer journey and customer satisfaction to overall strategy and top-line metrics on growth and operational performance (Exhibit 1). By understanding how operational factors such as speed and first-call resolution translate into customer satisfaction, contact centers can ensure they focus their energy and resources on areas that have the greatest impact on the customer experience. When these efforts are aligned with the organization’s overall goals, this enhanced experience contributes to a higher recommendation rate—a core metric for the company.

Customer care’s vital role in the transformation

For more and more organizations, customer care is playing an essential and natural role in mapping the customer journey, but to do so the function must often overcome several barriers. The function began as the call center, which was responsible for just one touchpoint and largely transactional. In an omnichannel world, customer care is increasingly becoming a major contributor to customer satisfaction across a broad range of customer channels, from chat and social media to service apps and self-service channels. In some organizations the function is still perceived as executional rather than strategic, focused primarily on handling low-value requests. In addition, the proliferation of channels and touchpoints over the years has increased the number of entities within the enterprise that engage with customers. So while customer care remained at the center of customer experience, functions such as sales and marketing were viewed as having a better understanding of customers. Last, obstacles to information sharing and collaboration sometimes muted customer care’s influence on shaping customer-experience strategies. In less-advanced organizations, for example, even basic tasks such as making changes to the website hosted in the marketing department can prove a challenge.

The truth is that customer care should be closely involved in designing customer journeys: the function encompasses all touchpoints and organizational units with a clear service component, such as branches, field service, and contact centers that handle calls, emails, chats, and back-office tasks. The organizational setup of customer care reflects this reach. Many organizations have an integrated approach that bundles responsibility for the different channels into one unit, and the rise of omnichannel has accelerated this development. Thanks to customer care’s responsibilities, its frontline agents enable the function to hear the “voice of the customer” on a daily basis, monitor trends and overall sentiment, and identify pain points, improvement levers, and success factors.

One major European telco, for example, recently redesigned its customer service organization, reorienting it from separate functions bound by common technology platforms to an entity focused on segments defined by different customer journeys. In this reorganization, customer care assumed responsibility for not only the contact center but also all service-relevant processes (including field services), enabling it to manage the end-to-end customer experience for the majority of service journeys.

Customer care’s role and responsibilities give it the ability to advance the customer transformation in several ways:

    Own customer journeys. Customer care controls a significant number of touchpoints across primary channels, making it the natural owner of many service-focused customer journeys. With insights from these customer interactions, customer care is also in a unique position to inform the strategy of sales, marketing, and product development, among other functions.
    Implement improvement measures. When issues arise, customer care’s position enables it to take action to improve customer experience—either for one specific journey or across common touchpoints in all journeys. The function is often the first to detect operational and product issues: for example, one retailer’s customer-care function identified a pattern of unreliable parcel delivery first and brought the issue to the logistics department’s attention.
    Catalyze performance improvement. Customer care can assemble a detailed picture of the overall experience through the customer’s eyes (Exhibit 2). With this perspective, it can identify the different touchpoints and channels in a given journey as well as the departments or functions that own the interaction............

You know those days when you return from the supermarket carrying a twelve pack of beer when all you wanted was a can or two? Yeap, know it too well. Or, when you are in a movie theater, and you find yourself buying a giant popcorn bag just to realize that you can't eat even half of it? Been there, done that. Wait, here’s another classic - how about being on a no-sugar diet, but ending up eating a double portion of chocolate caramel mousse at the restaurant? Ah, life.

Yeah, aaaaanndd...? I Mean, I Hate It but - It’s My Fault For Falling For It, Isn’t It?

Is it really your fault? Are you 100% sure that all your over-spending is up to you, and you only? Think about it for a second.

You don’t need it - but you end up buying it.
You don’t even like it - but you find yourself considering it until you purchase it.
You are lacking money as it is, but your shopping bags keep getting bigger.

And, where does this pattern lead? I’ll tell you - it leads to you actively feeling guilty or even scammed for overspending on something you absolutely didn’t want or need. But then, you get caught up thinking: Maybe I just grabbed a very good deal? This was a one-time offer, wasn’t it? Are things really that black and white? They are not, and you are not insane. You’re just… a consumer unaware of all market trickery. But, we’ll get to it already. Let’s try and reason things before we go into details.

Ok, I’m Listening…

So, say the twelve pack was on a discount, the jumbo popcorn bag cost a $1 more than the medium one, and that mousse at the restaurant looked absolutely delicious, in fact - so delicious that you couldn’t have helped yourself. And, let’s call that justification. But still, you somehow wound up with a bunch of things you didn’t want or need - well, at least not in THAT amount. At the same time, you spent more money than you’ve planned. How on Earth is that happening, and why does it keep happening to you?

I Know This All Too Well. Get to The Point Already!

Jeeeeeezzzzz, here it is! Ding-ding! You’ve been played by behavioral economics! And, guess what - it’s not only you, it’s everyone. These things happen all day, everyday… everywhere, to everybody. Ah, at least it’s not just you who’s been fooled, right?

Looking to recognize behavioral economics tricks and familiarize yourself with the importance of this discipline? Say no more! Let’s take a look at behavioral economics and its role in society. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible because I know how difficult it can get to understand the official lingo.

What Is the Difference Between Behavioral Economics and Regular Economics?

Comparing “regular” or traditional economics to behavioral economics, we conclude that the main difference is in approach to humans and their habits. Traditional economics considers people thoughtful, rational, organized and calculated. Ah, so sweet, right?

According to traditional economics, none of us has 30 pairs of shoes, we don’t buy Segways, and we all have piggy banks. Being so optimistic, it brings helpful algorithms and formulas that are a result of critical thinking and common sense.

At the same time, behavioral economists don’t believe that people are to be trusted with their patterns which is why they do experiments. Usually, what experts want to see is how we, as consumers, react to different influences and impulses and try to understand why people get confused, how they make decisions and how their emotions affect their thinking. Behavioral economics is, otherwise speaking, kinda more depressing. But very often more real too. It’s a slippery slope, indeed.

To make it all clearer, let’s play a little game? A simple coin toss, nothing fancy. If you win, you get $100. If you lose, you get nothing. Or would you like me to give you $50 and we don’t play any games? Love what you hear?

According to traditional economics, you should toss a coin because it gives you a 50/50 chance to win 100 bucks. But in reality, most of us would probably just take $50 since it’s a safer option. It’s better to go home with something than empty handed, right? This case shows that standard economics can’t explain everything. That’s why we need behavioral economics to jump in and point out that - some of the things we do - are mostly triggered by the fact that we hate losing.

Is Behavioral Economics Good for… Anything?

Knowing that people would rather avoid losing than actually try to win something but risk losing, many organizations adjusted their policies and strategies appropriately. For instance, some supermarkets in Washington D.C, in an attempt to lessen the use of disposable plastic bags, started offering 5 cent bonuses for every customer that brought reusable bags.

Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? You bring your own bag and get rewarded for that. Who wouldn’t accept that deal! Surprisingly, while this attempt to save the environment was awesome - it didn’t work out.

The moment supermarkets took a different approach and started charging 5 cents for each plastic bag, customers reacted and changed their habits. That’s nothing but behavioral economics at work. Once people recognized that they could lose money, they adopted the idea of tote bags.

The supermarket example is just one of many applications of behavioral economics. Understanding people’s nature is crucial for success in a number of other fields like marketing, insurance, or real estate. In fact, it’s a part of our everyday life.

How to Use Behavioral Economics to Our Own Advantage?

To show you that behavioral economics is everywhere around us, we’ll ask you this: does a shirt that costs $19.99 seem much cheaper than the other shirt with a price tag that says $20?

When you stop and think for a second, this trick doesn’t make any sense, but when you’re reacting impulsively, the difference of one cent seems like a game changer. You have an impression that you really saved money on that deal and that you’re spending responsibly… well, until you see the total amount on the receipt, at least.

Is There a Way to Beat Behavioral Economics’ Tricks and Hacks?

Eeeermmm… let’s just say you can try. The idea is not to be hasty with your shopping (or other) decisions, and try not to let clever marketing persuasion trick you. Think about what you want and need in life, then go get it. Ignore flashy colors, “great deals,” discounts, “just today” offers, and other trickery. Get just what you need. No more, no less. Then see how things go (for your wallet).

To a regular consumer who isn’t a part of an industry that studies and practices behavioral economics for research purposes, behavioral economics may seem like the science of rip off. And I get you. But, - it’s not. Behavioral economics isn’t always against you; it just has its own way of manipulating results to its advantage. If you give it a chance, you’ll see that it teaches you to study and understand human nature, and act accordingly. In that sense, the tendencies of others and their impulsiveness can open opportunities for smart and unbiased folks like you.

Use Behavioral Economics to Win

I tried to bring behavioral economics at least a bit closer to you and explain it within the context of everyday spending. In a nutshell, if someone asks - behavioral economics is the subfield of economics that focuses on irrational factors that influence man’s decision making.

Being an average consumer myself, I do hope that this article managed to inspire you to make positive changes in your approach to everyday decisions and buying patterns. If not that, it hopefully triggered an interest in behavioral economics and showcased how trying to predict people’s unpredictability can be exciting and fun. Let me know!

Let’s start with definitions …

Omni-channel ecommerce (meaning, “all” channels) unifies sales and marketing to create a single commerce experience across your brand.

Multi-channel ecommerce (i.e., “many” channels), while less integrated, allows customers to purchase natively wherever they prefer to browse and shop.

When it comes to commerce — not just ecommerce, but the overlapping worlds of online retail, social selling, digital marketplaces, and physical storefronts — omni-channel vs multi-channel are the reigning buzzword champions.

Unfortunately, heat doesn’t always mean light. In other words, while omni-channel and multi-channel are hot subjects, that heat rarely produces clear guidance for execution and growth.

Developing a successful approach means (1) understanding the differences and (2) picking the one that’s right for your business. To do that, let’s look at each in turn …

The rise of… what now? Ha! You’re not the first one to react this way. Since behavioral economics is a relatively new field, I’m never surprised when people get perplexed as to what it means, why do we need it, and what on Earth does behavioral economics have to do with anything.

If you’ve read any of my previous work on the subject, you’ve so far learned that behavioral economics is not as complicated as it sounds. In a nutshell: there are reasons why people behave the way they do when it comes to income, wealth, and even ethics and fairness. A typical person makes choices, and behavioral economics is there to examine the reasons for those choices through the lens of many fields, such as psychology, sociology, politics, and law. Relying on it, we can make a realistic picture of the circumstances that influence all that decision making. Basically, behavioral economics helps us understand people better, and therefore — improve our organizations.

I Observed, and Observed, and Observed…

I have spent a great deal of time studying people — as their colleague, their leader, their supervisor. Actively engaging with them and exploring their stories, I’ve realized what I’ve always known — people don’t make rational decisions — being “people” myself, I know this very well. But, apart from the good old “no one’s perfect” justification for making mistakes, I was interested in figuring out the bigger “why” of things. So, this is what I’ve gathered — people are not at the top of their game every time they have a decision to make. They are not capable of always considering every angle of a situation, and their preferences are not as firmly defined as economic theory used to assume bravely. I mean… are yours? Yeah, mine neither.
True. But, What’s That Got to Do With the Rise of Behavioral Economics?

Honestly? Everything.

The rise of behavioral economics is nothing more but a logical consequence of admitting that people act based on their emotions, under the influence of their backgrounds and current circumstances, and that their judgment is easily clouded as they get overwhelmed by various factors. We now know that people are not always able to figure out the future consequences, especially in this world of uncertainty. They can easily and often do make mistakes they end up regretting.
What Does that Mean Exactly?

It means that not everybody is capable of acquiring all the information necessary for making the right decision. Sometimes their decisions are based on their own opinions and desires, but they are often under the influence of their peers, their past, or environment in general. Sorry to burst your bubble but — no, not even you.
So, What Do I Do When I See Someone Struggling with a Decision?

I give them a little nudge in the right direction. Nudge is an essential concept within the field of behavioral economics. It relies on the idea of positive reinforcement and subtle suggestions as non-threatening ways to influence decision making. I like to use the examples from parenting when I talk about those so-called nudges. Imagine this: a child is offered an allowance to do the dishes after lunch for a month. It’s an example as old as time, and both parents and children agree on its success. Similar models have been observed in business.

When General Electric’s leaders got concerned about the negative effect of smoking on their employees, they conducted an experiment in order to find the best solution to this problem. Their employees in the treatment group received $250 if they stopped smoking for six months, and $400 if they stopped for a full year. The control group wasn’t offered any kind of a nudge. The results showed the control group was three times less successful in bettering their health by quitting, while the treatment group effect persisted even after the experiment was concluded.
Ok, I’m Interested. Keep Going…

Good, I hoped you would be, ‘cos it’s only getting interesting.

There are also other types of nudges that can have a positive influence on organizations. While some food businesses ask their customers if they want bigger portions, which they often do, others ask if they want to down-size their portions. And guess what? They, again, usually do. Therefore, merely reminding people of their options has a significant influence on their decision making. It’s just about the way you… well, wing it.

Another interesting illustration of successful nudges has been noticed in regards to honesty reinforcement. When customers of an insurance company were asked to report how many miles they had driven their car, they were given forms, but with a twist — the signature was required at the very top of the form. This served as a psychological reminder and an invitation for customers to stand behind their word. Naturally, people declared their mileage more honestly in comparison to those who were given a standardized form, with the signature requirement at the bottom. Mind-blowing, isn’t it!

As you can see, there are many different ways a business can achieve their goals, by relying on behavioral economics. The pool of possibilities in enormous if we observe people closely and use our creativity in the process. It’s not easy to start thinking this way immediately, though. I had to take baby steps to develop the habit of observing people’s behavior. The great news is you can have fun in the process!
Candy Bars, Emotions, and Behavioral Economics

Listen to this: I tested out a classic behavioral economics experiment through a simple game of trading candy bars. I was visiting my cousin, and I grabbed my favorite candy bar on my way to his place. Upon my arrival, my brother asked for a piece, and I immediately saw it as a perfect opportunity to see if any of the behavioral strategies actually work. I offered to sell him the whole bar at the same price he could get it at the store. Half a minute later, I asked if he was willing to sell me the candy bar back. He stopped for a moment, looked at the candy bar, and asked twice the money he paid for it initially. The candy bar was now a part of an emotional decision, where my brother did not only ask for his initial investment but also for an emotional compensation since he already had pictured himself enjoying the candy bar. I loved it! So, what did I do? I sat down with him and explained that what we had happening before our eyes was a quintessential case of an emotional reaction, known in behavioral economics as loss aversion, while he was struggling with the wrapper in a hurry to eat the candy bar.
So, Behavioral Economics Works On Everyone, Not Just Organizations?

Absolutely! While your final focus is your customers or employees, be aware that they are no different from people you have lunch with on a Sunday afternoon, or with whom you usually grab a drink after a long day at work. Their behavior is not perfect or fixed but is definitely worth acknowledging.

As retail continues to evolve, we often get asked, “will the role of in-store communication change?” We believe that the balance will shift to more of a focus on inspiration and branding but the same principles of in-store communication will remain. In-store design principles are based on behavioral science and how people experience retail environments. From a communication standpoint, for centuries people have loved to tell and hear stories and retailers can use this to their advantage. The story of your brand or store can be effectively reinforced with in store communication. We have five basic principles of effective in-store communication. Some appeal to the head and some to the heart but together they can be used to tell the story of your store.

Branding
In-store communication ultimately must translate what the brand stands for in the marketplace or industry. As we see an increase in showrooming and experiential elements in retail, the role that branding will play will increase. Creating a unique brand experience will become even more important. Exterior as well as interior communication should carry throughout the store to bring the brand to life. This type of communication should be an experience that creates an emotional connection with a customer that they easily remember. Even small details can reinforce your brand and integrate your store aesthetic.

Navigation
While not as exciting as branding, navigation based communication helps ensure a positive customer experience. Assisting the customer to find what they came in for increases the likelihood that they will return. While navigation can be more functional with concise and easy to understand fonts and images, it is important that navigation links to the store image. The importance of navigation type signage is influenced by the amount of complexity in-store. Think about an Apple store where products are clearly displayed versus a mass retailer. The Apple store does not require the same type of navigation based signage.

Inspiration
The majority of in-store decisions are driven by “System 1” thinking so inspiration plays an important role in store communication. Inspiration can take many different forms and can simply be showing a product in use or can be lifestyle or something that will trigger emotional connection and interest. Inspiration should be multisensorial. When you can interact, engagement increases. This also appeals to how different people learn whether more visual, auditory or sensory hands-on learners. Providing inspiration allows shoppers to create the relevance and connection to their lives and imagine how they would use your product if they see it in use.

Information
In store communication can also serve a practical purpose for communicating store or product information. This type of communication serves to make the shopping experience easier overall. Often information based communication is functional, however it can be combined with the overall brand message or aesthetic to help reinforce the brand positioning. Innovative retailers look for unique and different ways to communicate more functional information.

Activation
Effective communication will encourage a customer to take action to do something – buy a product, seek more information or tell someone else about a product. The key to effective activation based communication is to understand the shopper mindset and how best to trigger behavior based on a shopper insight.

Together, these 5 functions (branding, navigation, inspiration, information and activation) tell the story of your store and provide the basis for effective in-store communication. If you want your customers to engage more with your store, keep these five principles in mind when developing your communications.

Post-purchase communication is an essential facet of any retailer’s marketing and customer retention strategy. 50% of consumers feel buyer’s remorse after a purchase, so this is your opportunity to help rationalize the purchase and ease their worries.

Focusing on and building relationships with your existing customers is a cost-effective way to boost sales:

• Acquiring new customers costs five times as much as it costs to retain existing customers.
• A new customer is 5%–20% likely to make a purchase, while existing customers are 60%–70%.
• Increasing customer retention rates by 5% leads to an increase in profits of at least 25%.

Effective post-purchase communications contribute to higher customer retention rates. It keeps the conversation going with your customers after they leave your store, strengthens the relationship with your brand, and helps inspire brand loyalty.

From email receipts to customer support, here are some post-purchase communication strategies and examples you can steal for your retail business.

Ecommerce is largely about execution. If you get the maths right, the rest should follow, given enough traffic and time for your site to establish. But for anyone involved in the ecommerce game, it is an environment that is constantly changing and upgrading as technologies improve and companies battle against each other to win a greater share of the pie.

The future of ecommerce is uncertain, but some things remain constant – delivery times will improve, customer service will get increasingly better, and product selection will become ever greater. But how might the future of buying online actually look from the customer perspective, and what should you be implementing in your own business over time to stay ahead of the curve?

Ecommerce Personalisation & Experience

Nearly all retail growth in the US at present is driven by ecommerce, and this looks set to continue in the years ahead as more people spend more money online. Greater personalisation and a better customer experience will be the holy grail for ecommerce businesses in the future, as it becomes increasingly difficult to secure customers against a backdrop of ever-increasing competition. Customers will eventually flock to those offering as close to the in-store experience as possible, and major ecommerce retailers are already striving to make things more personal and more tangible on web.

Ecommerce Delivery Drones

Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in ecommerce is one we are already starting to see in testing – drone delivery. Drones will in the future allow companies to deliver packages much more efficiently and quickly, with delivery times of just 60 or even 30 minutes from order entirely plausible. Drones will be sent out from distribution centres and travel directly to the delivery addresses provided, at significantly lower cost and logistical hassle than at present. Amazon, among others, are already seriously close to making this a reality across the entirety of their business, and it seems that others will be clambering to follow suit as quickly as possible.

Ecommerce Curation & Pay Monthly Models

Product curation and pay monthly models are likely to continue to form an increasing part of the future of ecommerce. People don’t want to buy generic products from you – Amazon is cheaper and quicker. But they do want to buy curated products, lifestyle products, and ecommerce packages where your product knowledge and expertise can create an altogether more enjoyable, rounded experience. Think Graze.com, or Flavourly.com.

Ecommerce Tracking Into Retail Stores

The boundaries between ecommerce and physical commerce, i.e. the retail store, will become less definite as time passes, and companies are already looking at ways of tying together online tracking and customer information with their real-world experience. This also complements the idea of greater customisation of the shopping experience, allowing retailers to use existing online data to personalise their entire relationship – both online and offline.

Pop Up Shops

Customers are already shopping in new, alternative ways to before. “Showrooming” and “webrooming”, where customers visit a local shop then buy online for a cheaper price, or vice versa, present new challenges for retailers, in bridging the gap between the online and offline. As an online-only ecommerce retailer, you miss out on the webrooming aspect, because any sales made in a physical retail environment off the back of research on your site will be lost on you and your business.

Pop up shops can provide the answer, and can serve as a low-cost way of reaching out to new customers and winning new long-term fans. Pop up shops give customers a chance to connect with your brand in a physical way, while helping you reach corners of your market that might otherwise have been impossible for you through your online channels.

The future of ecommerce is of course still unclear. But any prudent ecommerce business owner should take stock of what analysts are saying about the future direction of their industry, so they can be sure to capitalise on these new opportunities as they arise.
Ecommere AI Systems

Ecommerce already enjoys a significant advantage over other types of business, in the sense that there are thousands of high-quality apps, all readily integrated into each other so that even small-budget players can rapidly automate the entirety of the process. At the same time, technologies rapidly change and improve, thanks to the strong competitive drive across the industry – after all, another retailer is only a click away.

The next step for ecommerce will be the application of AI systems, running evolutionary algorithms designed to find the absolute optimum. It’s all maths anyway – whether it’s optimising your sales process, or choosing the statistically highest converting design for your website. By developing systems using these algorithms, which are designed to effectively test, optimise and repeat on loop, ecommerce will move into an even higher level of sophistication as this technology improves.

The upshot for those running ecommerce businesses is to embrace these processes as soon as viable. Where the major players go, smaller retailers follow, and it won’t be long before a proliferation of AI-driven systems improves the capabilities of the ecommerce industry even further.

Measurement Across All Devices

Not everyone sticks to a single device when buying from you. In fact, more people are moving between devices, from the web to mobile to apps, before turning into paying customers. Measuring analytics across devices is still in its infancy, but it is becoming a more significant field of interest for those in ecommerce.

Once tracking of usage across multiple devices become more sophisticated, the processes of testing, tweaking and optimising the user experience still further can be set in motion. This will unlock even more value for ecommerce retailers, through providing further detailed insights into how the same people respond to their offering across platforms.

Ecommerce Attribution Modelling

Attribution modelling provides the basis for calculating ROI, and thereby tailoring your marketing strategy to deliver optimal results. Assigning value to something in or related to your funnel is important because it makes it possible to calculate your return. Attribution modelling looks at the best possible actions to which you should attach value, so you can focus your marketing spending and resources on those that offer the strongest return.

For example, say you have a simple two-step funnel, whereby you catch an email sign-up or a sale. Both elements here have a value – there is value in the sale, but also in the lead, which might one day buy from you (or might buy from you several times over, depending on your data). By attributing value to each of these actions effectively, marketers will continue to generate more sophisticated insights into how best to channel their efforts.

The Identity that the study's participants valued and struggled to clearly define surfaced as the “I am” of the deepest sort–as Rachel called it,“my who.” But this who was more than even Descartes' famous cogito,“I think; therefore, I am.” This sense of Identity went deeper than ...

Recent research has demonstrated that aspiring to the American Dream of financial success has negative consequences for various aspects of psychological well-being. The present longitudinal study examining the relation between the goal for financial success, attainment of that goal, and satisfaction with various life domains found that the negative impact of the goal for financial success on overall life satisfaction diminished as household income increased. The negative consequences of the goal for financial success seemed to be limited to those specific life domains that either concerned relationships with other people or involved income-producing activities, such as one's job; satisfactions with two of those life domains, however, were among the strongest predictors of overall life satisfaction in this sample of well-educated respondents in their late 30s. The negative consequences were particularly severe for the domain of family life; the stronger the goal for financial suc...

Evidence is presented that measures of subjective well-being vary along a dimension anchored at the two ends by evaluative judgments of life and experienced affect. A debate in recent decades has been focused on whether rising income increases the experience of well-being. This chapter found that Judgment is more strongly associated with income, and with long-term changes of national income. Measures of feelings showed lower correlations with income in cross-sectional analyses, and lower associations with long-term rising income. Furthermore, income showed very similar regression lines with the judgment of life at the two times of the surveys, suggesting that a common standard was used. Measures of concepts such as “Happiness” and “Life Satisfaction” appear to be saturated with varying mixtures of judgment and affect, and this is reflected in the degree to which they correlate with income. This chapter's findings are relevant to Easterlin’s hypotheses about income and well-being...

The present article offers an approach to scientific debate called adversarial collaboration. The approach requires both parties to agree on empirical tests for resolving a dispute and to conduct these tests with the help of an arbiter. In dispute were Hertwig's claims that frequency formats eliminate conjunction effects and that the conjunction effects previously reported by Kahneman and Tversky occurred because some participants interpreted the word “and” in “bank tellers and feminists” as a union operator. Hertwig proposed two new conjunction phrases, “and are” and “who are,” that would eliminate the ambiguity. Kahneman disagreed with Hertwig's predictions for “and are,” but agreed with his predictions for “who are.” Mellers served as arbiter. Frequency formats by themselves did not eliminate conjunction effects with any of the phrases, but when filler items were removed, conjunction effects disappeared with Hertwig's phrases. Kahneman and Hertwig offer different inte...

Decision makers have a strong tendency to consider problems as unique. They isolate the current choice from future opportunities and neglect the statistics of the past in evaluating current plans. Overly cautious attitudes to risk result from a failure to appreciate the effects of statistical aggregation in mitigating relative risk. Overly optimistic forecasts result from the adoption of an inside view of the problem, which anchors predictions on plans and scenarios. The conflicting biases are documented in psychological research. Possible implications for decision making in organizations are examined.

Direct reports of subjective well-being may have a useful role in the measurement of consumer preferences and social welfare, if they can be done in a credible way. Can well-being be measured by a subjective survey, even approximately? In this paper, we discuss research on how individuals' responses to subjective well-being questions vary with their circumstances and other factors. We will argue that it is fruitful to distinguish among different conceptions of utility rather than presume to measure a single, unifying concept that motivates all human choices and registers all relevant feelings and experiences. While various measures of well-being are useful for some purposes, it is important to recognize that subjective well-being measures features of individuals' perceptions of their experiences, not their utility as economists typically conceive of it. Those perceptions are a more accurate gauge of actual feelings if they are reported closer to the time of, and in direct re...

A wine-loving economist we know purchased some nice Bordeaux wines years ago at low prices. The wines have greatly appreciated in value, so that a bottle that cost only $10 when purchased would now fetch $200 at auction. This economist now drinks some of this wine occasionally, but would neither be willing to sell the wine at the auction price nor buy an additional bottle at that price. Thaler (1980) called this pattern—the fact that people often demand much more to give up an object than they would be willing to pay to acquire it—the endowment effect. The example also illustrates what Samuelson and Zeckhauser (1988) call a status quo bias, a preference for the current state that biases the economist against both buying and selling his wine. These anomalies are a manifestation of an asymmetry of value that Kahneman and Tversky (1984) call loss aversion—the disutility of giving up an object is greater that the utility associated with acquiring it. This column documents the evidence s...

A distinction is made between decision utility, experienced utility, and predicted utility and an experiment is reported addressing people's ability to forecast experienced utility. Subjects in two experiments made predictions of their future liking for stimuli to which they were then exposed daily for one week. The stimuli were ice cream in a pilot study, plain yogurt in the main study, and short musical pieces in both studies. Decreased liking was the modal prediction, even when the true outcome was increased liking, or reduced dislike. There was substantial stability of tastes, but there were also substantial individual differences in the size and even the sign of changes in liking with repeated exposure. There was little or no correlation between the predictions of hedonic change that individuals made and the changes they actually experienced.

Viele Menschen nahern sich ihrer erotischen Gedankenwelt mit groser Beklemmung, weil sie die Inhalte ihrer Fantasien im Kontext einer Liebesbeziehung fur unangemessen halten. Aufgrund kultureller Tabus kann bereits der Gedanke, sexuelle Fantasien zur Sprache zu bringen, Unbehagen und Scham hervorrufen. Dabei konnen diese eine sehr gute Moglichkeit bieten, Beziehungs- und intrapsychische Konflikte des Begehrens und der Intimitat kreativ zu uberwinden. Therapeuten konnen Paaren helfen, Fantasien als Narrativ zu betrachten, das einen sicheren Raum fur lustvolles Erleben schafft und so ihre Liebesbeziehung neu belebt. Dafur werden die Bedeutungen von Fantasien entschlusselt, wobei diese mehr als Traume oder komplexe symbolische Strukturen und weniger als wortlich zu nehmende Skripte geheimer erotischer Absichten verstanden werden. Werden die Tiefe, die Komplexitat und die heilsamen Qualitaten erotischer Imagination entfaltet, konnen sexuelle Fantasien als ein Schauplatz des aktiven Handelns und der Rettung betrachtet werden. Dort konnen sich die Machtverhaltnisse bezuglich fruherer Erfahrungen der Entmutigung, der Niederlage und gar der Traumatisierung andern. Im folgenden Fall werden systemtherapeutische sowie psychodynamische und korperorientierte Methoden bei der Arbeit mit sexuellen Fantasien mit Paaren beschrieben.

Many people approach the inner workings of their erotic mind with great trepidation, believing that the content of their fantasy lives is inappropriate in the context of loving relationships. Cultural taboos about erotic fantasy are so strong that the very idea of discussing sexual fantasy leads some of us to anxiety and shame. Fantasy, however, can be an ingenious way for the creative mind to overcome relational and intrapsychic conflicts around desire and intimacy. Therapists can help couples develop a view of fantasy as a narrative that creates a safe space to experience pleasure that can invigorate their loving relationship. Once the depth, complexity, and healing qualities of erotic imagination are realized, sexual fantasy can be viewed as a staging ground for action and escape that turns the tables on those responsible for earlier experiences of demoralization, defeat, and even trauma. A case with a couple is presented, drawing from systemic couple therapy, psychodynamic and body-oriented practices.

Viele Menschen nahern sich ihrer erotischen Gedankenwelt mit groser Beklemmung, weil sie die Inhalte ihrer Fantasien im Kontext einer Liebesbeziehung fur unangemessen halten. Aufgrund kultureller Tabus kann bereits der Gedanke, sexuelle Fantasien zur Sprache zu bringen, Unbehagen und Scham hervorrufen. Dabei konnen diese eine sehr gute Moglichkeit bieten, Beziehungs- und intrapsychische Konflikte des Begehrens und der Intimitat kreativ zu uberwinden. Therapeuten konnen Paaren helfen, Fantasien als Narrativ zu betrachten, das einen sicheren Raum fur lustvolles Erleben schafft und so ihre Liebesbeziehung neu belebt. Dafur werden die Bedeutungen von Fantasien entschlusselt, wobei diese mehr als Traume oder komplexe symbolische Strukturen und weniger als wortlich zu nehmende Skripte geheimer erotischer Absichten verstanden werden. Werden die Tiefe, die Komplexitat und die heilsamen Qualitaten erotischer Imagination entfaltet, konnen sexuelle Fantasien als ein Schauplatz des aktiven Hand...

We know these are difficult times for everyone, especially those of you who are serving patients. We hope you will enjoy the videos from our 10-week webinar series featuring mental health and emotional wellness experts showing how health care providers can reduce personal stress during the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as coping with other disasters. In addition to these hour-long webinars, we have made a series of mini-videos on related topics [1].

In a world where technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate and automation is replacing many jobs, the currency of the future will not be money, but our uniqueness. As machines become more capable of performing tasks efficiently, our value will no longer be determined by our ability to do work, but by our unique talents, skills, and perspectives.

I have always been interested in technology, and I have seen firsthand how it has the ability to transform our world. But as I have learned more about the impact of technology on the workforce, I have become concerned about the future. I have seen how many jobs are being replaced by machines, and I have realized that our value as human beings is shifting.

The question is, how do we prepare our kids for the future?

And my response is, not just kids.

We need to prepare ourselves as well. For 10,000 years we were agricultural animals and we had to follow certain rules. The rules were, to follow your forefathers, follow the seasons and work 16 hours a day in the field and you'll be successful. And for 10,000 years, following these rules, has made us very successful human beings.

But about 200 years ago, when the steam engine arrived, the rules started to change. Our physicality became almost irrelevant. And we started to develop new skills, new skills and new rules were, that we have to follow the system. The education system, to become analytical in our thinking, to be outcome-based in our thinking, and increase our IQ and knowledge. So, for 200 years, we went to school, to learn this process of increasing our knowledge and intelligence, however because of the economies of scale and efficiency, and being outcome-based, we become almost addicted to certainty in many ways.

But now as we are moving to this quantum future, we started to realize that the rules are changing again. Because AI is now replacing our intelligence and our knowledge just like the steam engine replaced our physicality. The rules moved from following our forefathers to following the system, to following our uniqueness. We still need in a way to follow the seasons, be analytical in our thinking, to become curious and fascinated with the topic BUT that WE are only curious and fascinated about. From working the field for 16 hours a day to being outcome-based, to today being dynamically creative. So, we have gone from PQ physicality to IQ intelligence, and then to AQ, which is the adaptability quotient. And what our kids need to start to learn, even ourselves as adults is how we can become as unique as possible in the way THEY perceive and bring him back into the world. The currency of the future is our uniqueness.  Fitting in is not something that is going to be celebrated. In fact, technology and AI are replacing everything that was rudimentary. Pattern repeating, pattern recognition, and pattern repetition are actually what technology does. We have to start doing is developing unique skills, skills that only we can apply to the world. We are going to be celebrating our uniqueness moving to the future more and more. Today it's called the creator economy. The creative economy is already worth $16 billion and growing. So, if your children want to be an influencer or YouTuber, then let them play and experiment because what they're really trying to do is develop their unique personality, their unique brand. And this is really what's being celebrated as we move to the future.

What do you think about it?