Why The 12 Days of Christmas Are Worth Only 9.6.

In 1993, the Wharton School economist Joel Waldfogel published an article called ‘The Deadweight Loss of Christmas”.

He contended that when you matched the cost of each gift with how much value the recipient attributed to it, there was a shortfall of $12 billion.

Thus empirically proving the concept that it is better to give than receive. About 20 percent better in economic terms.

Which strikes me as a lesson for any business.

Knowing what you can sell your customers and knowing what they would like to buy are two different value propositions.

And when your customers finally figure out that they are more valuable to you than you are to them, they won’t be thinking about how to ‘re-gift’ you.

They’ll be thinking about how to return you.

Unopened.