Customisation makes you feel empowered...

Customisation has really taken new roads today. From getting options in car colours (either a white or a black ambassador car in India) to designing clothes that fit your body scan, customisation has really come a long way. I was browsing through an article recently that got me interested in this space. Firms are taking the age old adage “Customer is the king” rather seriously.

Take Starbucks for instance, the global coffee maker brand has a website where you can make you own flavoured coffee (virtually of course!) from scratch. So right from selecting the fat content in the milk, to the coffee flavours, to the whipped crème option you can choose your flavour from over 5-7 choices at a time on the screen. While this engages the customer more as he/she finds it endearing that their ‘round-the-corner-coffee-shop’ is taking that much interest in their choice, it helps Starbucks in knowing their customer better.

It reduces that distance between their target audience and their brand. Their customer feels privileged to have been given the choice to make his/her own coffee (sounds so lame right, and still we walk right into the trap!) while Starbucks gets the relevant and priceless data on their customers. They know which flavours are demanded more across markets and which combination works best for a majority. Currently they did not ask for my demographic details such as age, location, etc. But these would also help them identify the best possible combination across segments.

Customisation analytics is a big field today. Companies are all for getting to know their customer better and quicker than their competition. In today’s world the customer, knows what’s being offered across the globe by a particular brand, is very hard to please and to retain. The concept of loyalty is fast losing ground. There exist firms offering better (maybe?) and cheaper options to any brand, delivering anytime, anywhere. There are options available and nothing is indispensible. Customers are well educated because of the social media connect and reach. They already know of the models old and to be launched and have read/heard of their reviews that have already prejudiced their minds.

So what should a company do to retain their customers? The (not-so) simple answer would be to design a customisation program.

·         Identify and highlight the USP of their product

·         Get to know their customer better through constant interaction

·         Make the customer feel involved in the decision making process

·         Reach the customer either directly or through the supply chain links; and of course be better at this than your competition

Starbucks is doing this so are other global brands. And it’s a win-win for both the firms as well as the customers; both not only get what they want but also feel empowered.

 

Her story and lot's of love...

Her story and a lot's of love...

Had it been a normal day she would have even noticed the sky change its colours from blue to yellow to orange to red and then see the night settle in. But today was different. She was in a hurry. She just wanted to go home and CRY. She wanted to change her mood, she had been through a lot emotionally recently and finally she could not bear it any more.

As she hustled passed her favourite bakery, she did not even hear the baker call her name and tell her that he had kept her favourite pastry aside. She walked passed as soon as she saw him as she was afraid he would see that tear find its way to her cheek.

She reached her apartment and fumbled while finding the key in her bag. “Why is his happening?” “Count to 10, things will be better”. She had learnt to pacify herself by counting to ten every time she was under pressure. And sure enough she found the key! At last opening the door, she threw her bag on the floor and herself on the bed. And she cried, long and hard. She cried for the good, the bad and the ugly, she cried for everything, letting herself go. Letting emotions take the better of her. She did not know when she fell asleep or how she fell asleep. She had not checked the time. When she woke up it was still dark outside, but the lights in her apartment were on and so was her laptop. She checked her laptop and saw their photo, she quickly opened another window; she had been listening to The Doors (their favourite band). And the memories started coming back again. Her expressions changed from happy to sad. The smile faded and she started crying again.

She wailed she hit the bed and threw the pillows; she fell on the ground and cried her lungs out. “Why did I let him go... might we have worked things out?” but that time was long gone, for he was already fighting a battle on his home base. He had been called back to report to duty immediately and he just met her briefly. They had planned to announce their engagement and marriage this time to family and friends. Her parents had begun wondering who she was dating in the city and were worried. They had given her a year’s time to settle or eventually get married to a man of their choice. But she had fallen madly, deeply in love with him.

It wasn’t love at first sight, nor was there any melody playing in the background when they met. It was a casual meeting over thanksgiving dinner at a friend’s place. But they got talking and she didn’t remember whether it was the wine or just him for they talked for hours through the night and all the way till he dropped her home. Being a gentleman he did not come in and they agreed to meet again; this time over coffee.

 It was just always so smooth with him, he knew exactly what she was thinking, what she wanted, how she felt, how she would react, what she would say, how she would express. She thought he was perfect. He took care of her, and her wants. He always understood her so very well. And best of it all, he would always make her laugh. They had the same tastes too in food, wine, cigarettes, books, films, music, and theatre. Plus he was a tender lover. She would moan and yield in every time. He loved her dearly, and when he held her, he felt complete. They had started living- in just two months in their relationship (“Was it too soon?” they would keep asking each other). But they were happy. He cracking stupid jokes, making her laugh while she would cook him breakfast.

But time was running away and he would have to return to his base. He would only come to be with her every 2 months and she would make the most of it. They would just spend the mornings cuddling in bed and then finally get up only when the sun hit their eyes. This time he had planned to stay back for more than his normal 10 days, he was planning to stay back forever; he was planning to quit the forces. But as luck would have it, a war broke out and he was called back.

He saw her waiting at the baggage claim with flowers in her hand. He just kept staring at her, she was looking so beautiful. He noticed how she had been to the parlour and set her hair, she was wearing make-up, and a new dress. He held her in his arms and kissed her ever so softly and gently. But before she could say anything he told her he had to be back at the base. She held herself, did not show him her frustration, anger, sorrow and despair. She kissed him back and bade him good bye.      

But that was a fortnight ago, and here she was tonight crying away alone. She was waiting for the doorbell to ring, for him to come in and swipe her off her feet. A bell had rung last morning. She had received a call from the commandment centre asking her to come to their office to identify a soldier’s body. She was not willing to go and all the while she did she prayed that it wouldn’t be him. She was led to the morgue and asked to look at the body. She looked and turned pale and fell to the floor and nodded in agreement. It was him. She waited to reach home before she could cry. She sat at the window with dull eyes looking up at the sky and trying to find love again.

She remembered a story her mother had told her, when people die they go to the heaven and become stars and shine upon us. “It’s their way of lightning up our darkened lives”, her mother would say. She looked up again and found him, shining back on her and guiding her...her pole star.

My world is changing...

My world is changing...

E-commerce is changing the way the world shops, one can now purchase goods and services online either with a direct bank transfer of the amount charged or by swiping one’s credit card. But did you also know that now you can do all this and more by using virtual currency? Yes, it’s entirely legal to purchase some goods and services online using virtual currencies like Bitcoin!

Now how is this possible you may ask.. I did some research on Bitcoin concept myself and this is what i have found

A software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto proposed Bitcoin, which was an electronic payment system based on mathematical proof. The idea was to produce a currency independent of any central authority, transferable electronically, more or less instantly, with very low transaction fees.

Conventional currency used to be based on gold, or silver. Bitcoin is based on mathematics. Around the world, people are using software programs that follow a mathematical formula to produce Bitcoins. The mathematical formula is freely available, so that anyone can check it. The software is also open source, meaning that anyone can look at it to make sure that it does what it is supposed to.

Bitcoin has several important features.

1. It’s decentralized

The network isn’t controlled by one central authority. Every machine that mines Bitcoins and processes transactions makes up a part of the network, and the machines work together. That means that, in theory, one central authority can’t tinker with monetary policy and cause a meltdown – or simply decide to take people’s Bitcoins away from them.

2. It’s easy to set up

3. It’s anonymous

4. It’s completely transparent

Bitcoin stores details of every single transaction that ever happened in the network in a huge version of a general ledger, called the block chain. The block chain tells all. If you have a publicly used bitcoin address, anyone can tell how many bitcoins are stored at that address. They just don’t know that it’s yours.

5. Transaction fees are miniscule

6. Its fast

You can send money anywhere, and it will arrive minutes later, after the Bitcoin network processes the payment.

7. Its non-repudiable

When your Bitcoins are sent, there’s no getting them back unless the recipient sends them to you. They’re spent.

But what goods/services can one buy with Bitcoins?

One of the biggest destinations for people’s Bitcoin is online gambling. It’s fast, with an immediate return (or loss) and bets can start relatively small.

There are some more general e-commerce sites selling multiple products in a particular category and offering cross-category sales.

Bitcoinshop.us, for example, offers products from air-conditioners to watches, all priced in Bitcoin, for those wanting to make a purchase. The catch: it only ships to people in the continental US.

BitcoinStore.com sells electronics and ships internationally.

Now it’s actually really up to us to embrace this virtual reality!

And just like that she cried...

And just like that she cried...

It had taken her a year to climb the mountain and a year to descent,

But the down- hill way very tough, tougher than she thought,

For her anecdote her love had dried up...

And just like that she cried...

She used to call him teddy and cutie pie and then she called him names

She used to love his sight and then she hated the same

And just like that she cried...

He told he loves her, but that was not enough,

She wanted to live a 100 years over with him with her face chin up

They held hands, forever till eternity they sang

And then... well logic hit them with a bang!

They chose to watch each other’s back; they chose to be happy for each other

And just like that she cried...

But were they happy enough?

Enough to fool logic but not themselves... they cried every time the radio played their song, the television ran their movie...

But no word was exchanged, until he read the news in the obituary column, she had bidden the world good-bye, and now she was waiting for him...

And just like that he cried...