1. Trends & External Forces

Thursday Eye-Opener:  Free Is Just Another Word For … What, Exactly?

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by Kevin Coupe

I got a note the other day from MNB reader Gary Cohen in which he attached an email that he’d received from Amazon:

Gary wrote:

Every time I get an email like this from Amazon…I think of you 😊. In a good way.

By paying $120 a year membership…actually $119.88…I can have free delivery on $35 orders!

So my Prime membership now covers an added bonus…the right to spend an additional $120 a year for free delivery.  Is that really free? LOL 😊

I think that’s an excellent and Eye-Opening point.

The Amazon/Whole Foods email represents flagrant abuse of the word “free.”

Because nothing on it really is.

The shopper pays to be a Prime member, and then pays for the grocery subscription.

And then Amazon/Whole Foods has the temerity to capitalize it:  FREE.

If this actually is a good deal, Amazon/Whole Foods is doing a lousy job of communicating it – it is a pretty good bet that Gary isn’t the only one who had this reaction.

If this is a great value, and/or a service that is worth the expense, then Amazon/Whole Foods ought to own it.  Make that case.

Don’t call it free.  When you do, it is reminiscent of the phrase, “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.”

The post Thursday Eye-Opener:  Free Is Just Another Word For … What, Exactly? appeared first on MNB.

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For more than 30 years, Kevin Coupe has been bringing to readers and audiences a wealth of experience, sharp storytelling skills, provocative and contextual insights, unique worldview and serious levity about the world of business and consumers. https://morningnewsbeat.com
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