The retail marketplace has undergone mind-boggling change in the way it functions. Retail businesses are experiencing the biggest shift in their business paradigm in more than 60 years. Online shopping presently accounts for about 70% of all retail sales. Prospects and customers to have more choices than before. The retail marketplace is now consumer oriented. So a new kind of consumer has emerged with a very different way of making buying decisions. Perceptions of companies and their products held by consumers are the only things that matter. Increased sales are only achieved if you understand your prospects’ and customers’ perceptions of both your product and your company. Marketers must realize that these new consumers want to feel engaged with your business on an emotional level. They are not interested in one-off transactions with conventional retailers. Astute marketers create relationships with their customers because human nature tells us that people desire relationships not just transactions. Many things may change, but people will always seek relationships and do business with people and companies they like. This book is about why they like certain businesses and not others. It’s about people as consumers. I can almost guarantee that after reading this book you’ll never see the world the same way again.

In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store What does it take to run the American supermarket? How do products get to shelves? Who sets the price? And who suffers the consequences of increased convenience end efficiency? In this alarming exposé, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on this highly secretive industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and compulsively readable prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation in which we learn: • The secrets of Trader Joe’s success from Trader Joe himself • Why truckers call their job “sharecropping on wheels” • What it takes for a product to earn certification labels like “organic” and “fair trade” • The struggles entrepreneurs face as they fight for shelf space, including essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business • The truth behind the alarming slave trade in the shrimp industry The result is a page-turning portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and exploitation required to make this everyday miracle continue to function. The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries delivers powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and the social costs therein.

Many things may change, but people will always seek relationships and do business with people and companies they like. This book is about why they like certain businesses and not others. It's about people as consumers.

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.