J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF), Apple Inc. (AAPL): Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (OWW) Loses a Customer for Life but Teaches a Valuable Investing Lesson

I’m not going to shortchange Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:OWW) by failing to point out that Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) certainly has more capital to work with from an advertising perspective (plus, who would dare bet against William Shatner?), which puts Orbitz at a distinct disadvantage. However, from a strict price satisfaction perspective, Priceline also topped Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:OWW) in the latest round of surveys from J.D. Power and Associates.

Let consumers help you invest better

This gives us as investors some key points to look for when evaluating the intangible factors that could make or break a company beyond just a recent earnings report. Ask yourself the following: Do other consumers recommend this company? Are they consistent? Do they practice what they preach? If the answer is yes, you may have found another strong reason to buy a retail or service-oriented company. If one or more of these answers is no, then that could be a warning sign not to invest in a particular company.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find a new travel-booking company…

The article Orbitz Loses a Customer for Life but Teaches a Valuable Investing Lesson originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of, and recommends, Apple and priceline.com.

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