Book Review: The Impulse Economy

Tajuk: The Impulse Economy

Penulis: Gary Schwartz

Ceritanya Patung Beruang: 

Hm.. dah lama kan Patung Beruang tak tulis book review. Sebenarnya ada buku yang Patung Beruang sempat habiskan pembacaan beberapa hari selepas Raya hari tu. Masalahnya, buku tu tertinggal di kampung pula. Tu yg Patung Beruang tak dapat nak tulis book review. Tak pe lah, nanti bila balik kampung lagi, boleh lah Patung Beruang tulis book review untuk buku tu ye. Buku tu sangat menarik, walaupun Patung Beruang amik masa setahun untuk habiskan pembacaannya. Bukan kerana tak teruja untuk habiskan, tetapi sebab buku tu hilang sebentar selama beberapa bulan. 

Menariknya Buku Ini:

The Impulse Economy, amboi.. tajuk nampak macam berat je kan?? Scarry tak? Hehehe.. Ini adalah buku terbaru yang Patung Beruang baca since bulan Syawal hari tu.

The Impulse Economy mengupas mengenai sejarah, gelagat dan pattern mobile shoppers dan apa yang membuatkan mereka membeli-belah secara mobile. We live in a world where our mobile devices have become more extensions of ourselves. We depend on them for instant connections to entertainment, social media, news and deals. Our phone become our cinema ticket, loyalty card as well as our wallet. 

Nowadays, dengan kebanjiran smart phones yang semakin canggih, internet yang semakin laju, segala-galanya hanya di hujung jari. Pengalaman Patung Beruang sendiri, I prefer to shop online especially on items that I bought frequently. Log in into the website or Apps, just click items that we want, pay through debit/credit card or internet banking, and the next day, courier will send it just in front of my house or just on my table at office. Easy. And normally, the seller will offer lower prices compares if we purchase at their store. Delivery charge?? It depends. Some sellers (especially big company) the delivery charge is FOC if our purchase price reached certain amount. 

And recently, Patung Beruang subscribe Apps yg membolehkan Patung Beruang shop online untuk barang-barang yang direct import from overseas, dimana ia memang tidak dijual di Malaysia atau kalau ada pun, harga di Malaysia sangat mahal. Harga dalam Apps tersebut slightly cheaper although after convert to our currency (sebelum nilai RM kita jatuh ye, huhuhu). The seller use concept Grand Sale where each of brands or items will have Grand Sale (discount 50% - 90%) for 2 - 3 days only. So, if I have time, I will check the Apps maybe twice a week. Just to know the latest Grand Sale. But, since all items are import from overseas it will take 2 - 3 weeks to deliver to customer. Still ok for me. 

Generally, items that Patung Beruang prefer to purchase online are toiletries, perfume, books, flight tickets and hotels (of course, heheh), supplements, personal care and household items. 

Ok back to The Impulse Economy, Schwartz start this book with introduction on the concept shopping at local store. Basically, there are 2 types of people which are: 

• Those who go to stores to buy specific items
• Those who go to stores to shop. 

Basically, the history of retail starting with the country store and moving to shopping malls, the Internet and recently mobile storefronts. All the types of stores were designed to cater those 2 types of shoppers. 

2nd Chapter pula Schwartz membawa pembaca kepada History of the Mobile Shopper. Mobile shopper started with ringtone business. Kalau masih ingat, dalam hujung 90-an ke awal 2000, dimana hp paling glamour masa tu adalah Nokia 3310, semua orang gila dengan ringtone. Macam-macam bentuk muzik, ada bunyi siren, ada bunyi haiwan malah ada juga bunyi muzik dari lagu popular pada masa tu. Mana yang kreatif, mereka akan compose ringtone sendiri menggunakan sistem aplikasi yang sedia ada dalam handphone tersebut. Tetapi, kebanyakkannya hanya akan beli sahaja. Bukalah surat khabar dan majalah pada masa tu, terlalu banyak iklan-iklan ringtone ni. Dan bayaran dibuat dengan tolak duit dari balance topup (prepaid) ataupun masuk terus ke bill (postpaid). Selain itu, businessmen mula creative. Selain dari ringtone, mereka juga mula menawarkan aplikasi game dan wallpapers untuk dibeli dan didownload secara mobile. Jadi, takdelah kita hanya main game snake je sampai ular tu makan ekor dia sendiri, kan? 

Ultimate Chapter untuk this The Impulse Economy adalah Chapter 8 dimana Schwartz menggariskan beberapa strategy untuk sellers survive dalam mobile economy ini. Amongst the strategies are: 

• Leverage Existing Consumer Behavior - Shoppers are using their phone for mobile web, SMS, WhatsApp etc. throughout their day in stores, hotels and events. Hence, sellers should aim to capture a small piece of their conversation. Remember, they are way ahead of any marketing department. That's why sellers at IG or FB has a bigger portion of the pie compares to off-line stores. Tak percaya?? Lihatlah sekeliling. Berapa ramai sellers yang hanya bergantung pada IG and/or FB untuk pasarkan product mereka??

• Count Clicks to Commerce - Keep your mobile solution providers simple and very simple. Seller should realize that the mobile consumer is on the run: so sellers need one click-to-engage, one click-to-commerce, one click-to-bricks-and-mortar. But, if sellers add one step, justtttt one step only, you have lost your shopper. Remember, kenapa iPhone sangat berjaya?? Hanya kerana 1 touch button..

• Suspend Belief - In 2001, the wireless carrier did not believe that people would pay for simple daily content such as jokes and horoscopes. But, the service was a huge success. Lesson learnt?? Suspend common sense with mobile services - the mobile consumer will opt in on impulse and pay for convenience. Sometimes kita rasa sesuatu idea tu mengarut, but, with a right strategy, we definitely can sell ice to Eskimos. Mengarut?? No...

• Go So Lo - Be leery of social media 3rd-party applications that try to drive acquisition and drive-to-aisle. The goal is not only to incentivize "check-in" at a store, restaurant, club, or hotel, but for the brand or retail to own a direct, long-term relationship with the shopper. So, are we one of them that loveeeee to check-in here, check-in there? 

Actually, ada banyak lagi strategy yg Schwartz kongsikan dalam buku ini. Tapi, tak kanlah semuanya Patung Beruang nak tulis disini kan? heheh.. Kalau nak tau, kenalah baca sendiri ye.

Honestly, this is a good book especially for existing or potential retailers and marketers either online or offline. This book will tell us how mobile commerce really works and how it really impact to our life and consumers pattern. Really worth it to read. 

Oklah, since MKR pun dah start, Patung Beruang rasa better I stop now and entertain my weekday night with date with my lovely chefs, Pete and Manu. Lagipun, tonight episode for Top 4 contestants. Can't wait to watch them..  Bye...