This difference between cheap and free is what venture capitalist Josh Kopelman calls the "penny gap."  ​People think demand is elastic and that volume falls in a straight line as price rises, but the truth is that zero is one market and any other price is another. In many cases, that's the difference between a great market and none at all.

Americans love loyalty cards. Three-quarters of households are enrolled in at least one frequent customer account, such as airline miles, hotel points and grocery cards.

It depends on your strategy. Is it more important to have a high penny profit on select items or is it more important to have a long-term business building strategy that brings loyal customers into your store, and keeps them coming back?  All products are not created equal

Trade marketing is typically the single largest line item on a company’s income sheet, but how do you know if your trade marketing is effective? Most promotions are ineffective and fail to encourage new shopper trials – the primary goal of every promotion. While rewarding loyal shoppers to make repeat purchases can prove beneficial, new shopper engagement is the key to growing brand sales.

Organizations typically use five key capabilities or approaches (we’ll call them “levers” from now on) to improve operations that underlie journeys