Market Knowledge

It's always interesting to see where NZ sits on the 'Big Mac' index. Based on this current assessment, our exchange rate is pretty much where it should be! http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index

The Big Mac index Authoritative weekly newspaper focusing on international politics and business news and opinion.

Before you innovate, make sure you ask the right questions! http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/02/before_you_innovate_ask_the_ri.html

Before You Innovate, Ask the Right Questions Make sure you're not solving the wrong problem.

Petrol Pricing August 2012:

I filled the car up yesterday and was surprised by the increase in the price charged at the pump. The exchange rate hasn’t changed significantly, and the price of a barrel of crude hasn’t broken through $100 for a while, and is certainly nowhere near the peak of a few years ago (near $150). Yet the pump price has quietly risen to around $2.22 per litre.

I handed over my supermarket discount voucher to lessen the blow.

So, is it that we consumers are less price sensitive? Haven’t had it drawn to our attention? Consider it to be just another thing that is going up?

Or what?

Clearly supermarkets are driving things along (pun intended) with the aggressive price discounts they offer.

And does the price of petrol already have the discount built in to the price?

Eric Crampton – Uni Canterbury

In the recent article regarding the death of cash, the author discusses a number of possible options to replace cash as we know it. Most are ‘solutions’ that reside on a smart phone.

I find it interesting that many of the possible options are far from smart, as they clearly benefit the provider, and pay lip service to the poor old end user, the consumer. I doubt if anything much will change, when a consumer has to carry around a payment option for each of the retail outlets that they frequent. When the ‘new cash’ does arrive, it has to be better than old cash, rather than just a gee-whiz technological approach. Just because it resides on your phone, doesn’t mean it is more convenient. No benefit, low uptake.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/tag/paypal-wallet/

paypal wallet - Fortune Tech: Technology blogs, news and analysis from Fortune Magazine Tech giants - and startups like Square - want you to use your phone to pay for everything from gum to train rides. Here’s how they plan to achieve cash-free nirvana. FORTUNE -- Café Grumpy is the kind of hipster hangout