Lovely little piece by Joshua Palau on how evidence of the new frugality is cropping-up in search behavior. While e-commerce shoppers tend to display greater price sensitivity than their brick-and-retail brethren, their ranks have swelled over the past year thanks to the failing economy.

Palau’s advice to businesses: adapt or die.

We’ve already seen that [...]]]>

Lovely little piece by Joshua Palau on how evidence of the new frugality is cropping-up in search behavior. While e-commerce shoppers tend to display greater price sensitivity than their brick-and-retail brethren, their ranks have swelled over the past year thanks to the failing economy.

Palau’s advice to businesses: adapt or die.

We’ve already seen that people are more frequently inputting search terms with keyword qualifiers like “value,” “low cost,” and “deals.” Search marketers need to focus their strategies around these consumer needs.

Even if your brand hasn’t always been known as affordable, now is the time to play up money-saving items. As much as BMW wants to push the 5 Series, they need to acknowledge that people may be looking for more affordable or hybrid vehicles.

via Frugal Is the New Black – Search Engine Watch (SEW).

Dell recently reported net income of $337 million in its latest quarterly report– a 54% decline from the same period last year. Its revenue was down 15%, and analysts were basically disappointed in its performance all-around.

In other words, this was a good day for Dell:

“We are seeing improvement in overall underlying I.T. demand [...]]]>

Dell recently reported net income of $337 million in its latest quarterly report– a 54% decline from the same period last year. Its revenue was down 15%, and analysts were basically disappointed in its performance all-around.

In other words, this was a good day for Dell:

“We are seeing improvement in overall underlying I.T. demand that is continuing into the fourth quarter,” Michael S. Dell, the founder and chief executive of Dell, said in a statement.

Rivals, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Cisco have managed to deliver earnings surprises in recent weeks, to the extent that many observers believe the tech sector is finally recovering from the worst effects of the Great Recession.

But not Round Rock.

Dell has become much more dependent upon business investment than its peers. Intriguingly, Dell has overtly chosen to purse the path to profitability rather than on retaining share:

Throughout the recession, Dell executives have said it makes sense for the company to focus on keeping profits high even if that means losing market share to rivals like H.P. and Acer. Dell planned to keep its balance sheet as strong as possible during the difficult times and then try to capitalize on the recovery, the executives said.

The problem is that this risky strategy has led analysts to speculate on just how Dell–which has suffered from a string of quality and customer service crises in recent years–plans to recapture market share once the recession is behind us.

via Though It Sees the Clouds Breaking, Dell’s Profit Falls 54% – NYTimes.com.

It appears that the venture capital community is remaining cautious about investing in new businesses, despite the much-trumpeted idea that the Great Recession is over. Funding is down 44% so far this year, and banks are continuing to sit atop all that capital given to them by the government.

…new business starts fell 14% [...]]]>

It appears that the venture capital community is remaining cautious about investing in new businesses, despite the much-trumpeted idea that the Great Recession is over. Funding is down 44% so far this year, and banks are continuing to sit atop all that capital given to them by the government.

…new business starts fell 14% from the third quarter of 2007 to the third quarter of 2008, and failed to rebound significantly in latest fourth quarter data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As a further sign of trouble, many business school students have been opting for safer large-firm employment instead of turning their new ideas into start-ups.

The last point is difficult to quantify. I continue to see a large number of start-up ideas coming out of business schools, but how many of these will translate into going concerns remains to be seen.

We’re not out of the woods yet.

via Don’t Bet On Job Growth From Start-Ups.

This must be a good thing, right? Your prospective employer can find out just how sharp of a candidate they’re getting, based upon your digital footprint.

Not so much. According to the study:

The [...]]]> A new study by Harris Interactive shows that 45% of US human resources pros occasionally use social networks to research job candidates:

This must be a good thing, right? Your prospective employer can find out just how sharp of a candidate they’re getting, based upon your digital footprint.

Not so much. According to the study:

The findings were more likely to get candidates rejected than hired: 35% of HR professionals said social networking content had caused them to eliminate a candidate, while only 18% reported deciding to employ someone based on a profile.

The top reasons for rejection were, unsurprisingly, “provocative or inappropriate photographs or information” (53%) and information about drinking or using drugs (44%). But job candidates were also hurt by negative postings about their previous employers, poor communication skills, discriminatory remarks and other faux pas.

The findings underscore just how important reputation management has become in the digital era. While the question of whether a prospective employer should base its decision to hire you based upon your social media footprint remains a hotly-disputed one, it is likely that HR professionals will become more adept in their use of these tools over time, not less. Users of social networks should take basic precautions to ensure that any content which may be deemed embarrassing should either be removed from online networks, or at least safeguarded behind privacy filters.

via Job Candidates Both Hurt and Helped by Social Networks – eMarketer .

What we found was that the price points for how most consumers value eReaders is shockingly low–for most segments, between $50 and $99. (Currently, [...]]]> Is anyone surprised by these findings? While I own a Kindle, I acknowledge I am one of the few geeky souls out there who does, and that price is probably the reason:

What we found was that the price points for how most consumers value eReaders is shockingly low–for most segments, between $50 and $99. (Currently, eReaders in the US are priced between $199 for the Sony Pocket Reader and $489 for the Kindle DX.)

The problem here appears to be that e-Reader manufacturers have yet to receive the memo that there’s a recession going on. (Yes, I know we may technically be in the recovery phase, but until unemployment goes down, it still feels like a recession to most people.) Pricey tech items (like e-Readers) are luxuries that many people simply cannot afford.

Mybet is that Apple will destroy the established players in the e-Reader field with its upcoming iTablet. While price still matters– especially at Apple’s rumored price-point of $600 –consumers have a strange ability to reject the pangs of budgetary common-sense when it comes to the latest shiny object to emerge from the Cupertino Brain Trust.

via The Forrester Blog For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals.

There has been much speculation about whether the upcoming release of Windows 7 will revive Q4 holiday sales by encouraging consumers to purchase new PCs pre-installed with Microsoft’s new operating system. BusinessWeek sounds a note of caution, however, and urges readers to dampen expectations for a PC revival:

Given the weak economy, PC unit [...]]]>

There has been much speculation about whether the upcoming release of Windows 7 will revive Q4 holiday sales by encouraging consumers to purchase new PCs pre-installed with Microsoft’s new operating system. BusinessWeek sounds a note of caution, however, and urges readers to dampen expectations for a PC revival:

Given the weak economy, PC unit sales are expected to rise 6.9% worldwide in the fourth quarter, according to research firm IDC. That would be the first quarter-over-quarter increase this year, but far short of the boost from releases such as Windows 95. “A lot of people are going to have to rethink their assumptions,” says IDC analyst David Daoud.

Microsoft’s current operating system, Windows Vista, may ironically help drive holiday sales this year, due to consumers who have held off upgrading from XP to Vista and who now long for a modern OS.

On a side note, I find the permanent designation of Vista as “ill-fated”, or “disappointing” oddly reminiscent of the permanent appellation of “troubled” to the Russian space station Mir. Maybe that’s just me.

via Will Windows 7 Reboot PC Sales? – BusinessWeek.