CNBC: Why ChatGPT and AI are taking over the cold call, according to Salesforce leader. “Generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT are changing the way that companies and salespeople are communicating with customers for the better, said Clara Shih, CEO of Salesforce’s Service Cloud business.”
Newswise: Score a discount on Amazon? You might’ve unwittingly paid more. “More than a quarter of vacuum cleaners sold on Amazon have at some point pretended to offer a discount when they had actually just increased the price, according to new research. By pairing a price increase with the introduction of a previously unadvertised ‘list price’ for a product, Amazon signals to shoppers that they are receiving a discount when they actually pay 23% more, on average, for their new vacuum than they would have just a day earlier. Days after the price hike, the price drops and both the list price and misleading discount claim disappear.”
Ars Technica: Dealership markups are getting crazy, so this site is tracking them. “In the US, the vast majority of car buyers are not accustomed to ordering vehicles from an OEM through a dealership, instead preferring the convenience of taking a car home ‘from the lot’ that day. But as inventory has evaporated, US dealerships have reacted by adding additional dealer markups, or ADMs, to their stock, often to the tune of many thousands of dollars. One estimate of the value of the markups came to $3.6 billion…. Now, a new site… is crowdsourcing data on ADMs around the country to better arm car buyers with the information they need to avoid being fleeced.”
New York Times: In Social Media Era, Selfies Are the New Tupperware Party. “The pitch comes in the form of before and after photos posted to Facebook or Instagram by a woman you know. The focus is on her eyes, specifically her eyelashes, which at first appear ordinary and untouched — a stark contrast from a picture taken weeks later, when they look long and thick. Mascara magnifies the effect in another snapshot. Reach out, the captions enthuse, if you want in!”
CNET: Nike will soon sell you shoes on Instagram. “In a recent earnings call, athletic apparel-maker Nike announced that it’ll soon start selling shoes someplace you might not have expected — Instagram. There, it’ll join other select brands like Kate Spade and Warby Parker in using Instagram-style posts to advertise its products and make it simple for people to buy them. “
The ResearchBuzz Firehose is regular RB content presented as individual posts.
For digest-type posts a couple of times a day, please visit ResearchBuzz.
Want to know how to best use the Firehose for content discovery?
Check out this handy article.