f1233nmoarefi | Operations and Project Management in Today's Competitive Environment

With the holidays just around the corner, PayPal has recently announced that they will be price matching, offering free shipping on returns and financing products for 6 months either online or in store up until the end of December. Doesn’t this sound pretty good? You don’t have to stress about paying those outrageous shipping charges and can return anything without hassle. Also, you can get the best deal that is out there easily.

PayPal is going one step further when consumers purchase a product within 30 days and a different store has the same item for cheaper they will give the consumer the difference in the price back. All the consumer has to do is fill out a form and write which store has the product and the price and PayPal will take care of the rest. Each PayPal user can get up to $1,000 in matching up until the end of December.

With PayPal’s free shipping policy, they are allowing customers to return any item for free providing them with free shipping labels or they customer can pay for their shipping and they will be reimburse the cost to their PayPal accounts. There are limits though on how much money you must spend to receive free shipping. For the promotion there is an $100 limit. On top of that they are providing free financing for 6 months on any purchases over $99. This is a great deal for people who may not have all the money up front and if they know they can pay it off before the 6 months, they will not be charged any interest. For people who know they cannot afford to pay a product off in 6 months or less should not finance because they will be charged interest which will accumulate over time.

These are holiday specials that PayPal is offering and is not something that will be long term. However, I think that if the company is able to generate enough customers to take advantage of these promotions I think they should keep them as long term, rather than short term. Especially having so many competitors out there such as Amazon, who offers free shipping on $25 dollars or more, PayPal would benefit from offering these services. I also think that they can potentially boost their sales because as a consumer I always look for free shipping and places that will match prices of other competitors.

I think that PayPal is heading in the right direction and if this holiday season turns out to be a success for the company, I predict more offers and deals to come. What do you all think about PayPal offering these holiday specials?

You can read about this article at the site below:

http://gigaom.com/2012/11/01/paypal-offers-price-matching-free-return-shipping-for-the-holidays/

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1517&bih=693&tbm=isch&tbnid=uCzaKyrUMHt5qM:&imgrefurl=http://www.chinahighlights.com/aboutus/member/paypal.htm&docid=MhTlTmRHriscNM&imgurl=http://www.chinahighlights.com/image/aboutus/member/paypal-big.jpg&w=458&h=480&ei=VC-UUL3uKYHSygHx7oCAAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=173&vpy=166&dur=1834&hovh=230&hovw=218&tx=104&ty=144&sig=113221418617351852125&page=1&tbnh=130&tbnw=124&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:138

Redbox was first introduced in 2002 at McDonald’s locations. Today, there are more than 31,500 different locations and people have rented approximately 2 billion DVDs and video games. At an affordable price of only $1 per day, anyone can check out a movie. You can find Redbox kiosks at Walgreens, supermarkets, food chain restaurants, 7 Elevens and even at the airport. Redbox has been so successful in movie rentals that it has put long standing movie chains out of business. However, Red box has taken on a new business venture; selling concert tickets with a fee of just $1. This sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Instead of waiting in lines at the box office or paying an outrageous processing fee, you can go to your local Redbox and grab tickets to your favorite concert. Redbox mentioned that they will not be selling front row tickets, but rather those seats that would otherwise not be sold at all. The company will continue to rent movies and games, but will now add ticket distribution at their kiosks.

You can also go online to their website and purchase tickets as well. Starting small with their new venture they will start by selling tickets to Carrie Underwood’s, November 28 concert at the Wells Fargo Center arena. If you are looking to go to her concert and do not want to spend a lot of money $1 is a great deal, even if you do not have front row seats. Going one step farther, not only will the company sell concert tickets, but will also be selling tickets to sports events which include football games and NASCAR races. How great is that? You will no longer have to worry about those high fees or even drive very far to grab your tickets anymore.

I believe that Redbox is taking a risky move, but I feel that they can potentially achieve success. The company is ultimately helping concerts and sports events by selling their unwanted seats that would otherwise be a waste. Redbox is helping venues by making them more money and reducing their losses. Redbox will also be in a new competitive market which includes such ticket brokers as Ticketmaster. Usually these companies charge a large fee for purchasing from their websites, but Redbox will charge a small fee of $1. It will be interesting to see how this affects these big companies, which have been selling tickets for years.I think Redbox has made a smart decision to step out of just being a movie and gaming rental, but a place for people to purchase tickets for both concerts and sporting events. They have already achieved great success in such a short amount of time. Time will only tell if the company’s new venture will be a success or not.

If you would like to read about this story below is the link:

:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443493304578034863064068522.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

http://www.redbox.com/facts

http://articleurge.com/2009/05/red-box-revolution-1-dollar-movie-rentals/

http://www.freecoupons.com/blog/hot-coupons-and-promotions/get-it-free/new-redbox-codes-for-free-movie-rentals/