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Oopsy Hall of Fame: 2011 Inductees 26 January, 2012, 11:18 am
This is the kind of fame that nobody wants, but highlighting the email marketing slips and gaffes by some of the world’s largest online retailers drives home the importance of being careful with your brand in a medium that’s high volume and lightning fast. 2011’s inductees should be a reminder that you need to be on your guard, temper speed with meticulousness, and be diligent with your pre-flight checklists. (Hopefully some of these oopsies will also make you feel better about some of the mistakes that you might have made last year.) Here’s an abridged selection of oopsies:SUBJECT LINE SLIPSAs usual, subject lines proved to be fertile ground for oopsies, which is unfortunate since they play such a strong role in determining whether the recipient opens and engages further with the email.Linens ’n Things, 11/28 — Cyber Monday Deals + Free Shipping SitewideLinens ’n Things, 11/28 — Last Chance: Cyber Monday Deals End in 60 MinutesAnd then 4 hours later they send this email:Linens ’n Things, 11/28 — Last Chance: Cyber Monday Deals End in 60 MiutesAnd then 2 hours later they send this email:Linens ’n Things, 11/28 — Oops! Sorry for the Typo: Cyber Monday Deals End in Minutes!‏Ignoring the credibility issues around when the sales was ending, there’s no reason to apologize for a simple typo, even if it’s in the subject line.Kmart, 11/11 — KZ4FRIM123: Save $70 on a Panasonic HDTV + more offers insideThe code in the subject line appears to be a bizarre broken first name personalization, as there was not a custom discount code in this email matching this.Toys “R” Us, 11/2 — A quick question, .A lack of a default value led to a blank first name personalization in this subject line.Cooking.com, 10/21 — TEST Butterscotch Dessert Recipes + Holiday Meal PlanningIt looks like this subject line was a “TEST” that misfired or that the placeholder text simply wasn’t removed before the email was sent.Macy’s, 12/20 — Last one before Christmas! Enjoy web busters + free guaranteed deliveryPer the preheader text and body copy, it appears this subject line was supposed to say, “Last one-day sale before Christmas!...”Lands’ End, 12/18 — 8 days to Christmas, 2 fun ways to save: 40% off your order + free shippingThis email, which arrived in the morning, incorrectly counted the days till Christmas. It was 7 days till Christmas, not 8.Cooking.com, 4/19 — Mother's Day is May 9th - Our Top Gift Ideas for Mom‏Mother’s Day was on May 8 last year.Costco, 9/21 — Safely Store Your Valuables And Save $200 On A Canon Safe At Costco.com“Cannon” was misspelled in the subject line, but was correct in the body copy. Special attention should always be paid to getting proper nouns like brand names spelled correctly. (Hat tip to James Gardner for pointing this out to me.)TigerDirect, 1/24 — HDTV Super Week Starts Now: 50" - 73" starting at $549...$100 Cashback from Paypal & Much More‏“PayPal” is misspelled.Babies “R” Us, 6/9 — Free $10 Gift Card with CARS 2 Kimberly Clark Purchase!“Kimberly-Clark” is misspelled.Spiegel, 2/19 — Outwear SALE, NEW MARKDOWNS! Wear-Now Styles From $29!‏“Outerwear” is misspelled in the subject line, but is correct throughout the body of the email.Musician’s Friend, 5/19 — Musician's Friend: Pre-Memorial Day Sale Is On--Save Up To $500 For A Limited Tim‏“Time” is misspelled.JCPenney, 2/1 — Click Til You Drop! Super Hot Buys Are Back‏“Til” isn’t a word, but “until,” “till” and “’til” are.Walmart, 6/6 — Shop Low Prices on Top-Selling Electronics + 97 Shipping on All Laptops‏It’s missing “cent” (or a “c”) after “97.”Ross-Simons, 7/26 — _Today's Super Deal - Italian Tri-Colored Multi-Strand Flex Necklace - From $325There appears to be inadvertent underscore at beginning of this subject line.B&H Photo Video, 5/11 — B&H Newsletter: Wednesday May, 11, 2011‏There’s an unnecessary comma after “May.”Chadwicks, 7/14 — 15% off from 12-3pm, ET onlyThere’s an unnecessary comma after “pm.”J. Jill, 2/9 — Style. be mine: 20% off companion sweaters, plus $10 off jeans!‏I think they intended it to say, “Style, be mine”—so it should be a comma instead of a period.Buy.com, 4/10 — Get ready for Spring with big savings on bags, shoes, sandals and kid's toys.It should be “kids’ toys.”Babies “R” Us, 7/7 — Save 20% ANY High Chair, Swing, Bouncer & More Plus Our Biggest feeding Sale!They probably intended to capitalize “feeding” since all the other words are at least initial caps.Sports Authority, 2/4 — Congratulations Green Bay On Your 2010 Championship Win! - Championship Gear Now Available‏There should be commas after “Congratulations” and “Bay” since the subject line is addressing Green Bay.NFLshop, 10/9 — Summer Is Over New York- Get The NEW 2011 Cold Weather Gear And Avoid The Winter BlitzThere should be a comma after “Over” since it’s addressing New York.Neiman Marcus, 9/8 — Happy Birthday Michael Kors!There should be a comma after “Birthday” since it is addressing Michael Kors.Ralph Lauren, 6/1 — Congratulations Luke Donald And Tom Watson‏There should be a comma after “Congratulations” since this is addressing Luke Donald and Tom Watson.Walgreens, 1/10 — Beauty Sale + New Years Resolution Savings | 20% OFF Contact Lenses‏“New Year’s” should have an apostrophe.Sam’s Club, 11/26 — A season of savings awaits! Check out TV's, electronics and more‏Kmart, 10/19 — Save on featured TV's + 30% OFF Halloween greetersKmart, 10/5 — All TV's on sale + FREE SHIPPING on Halloween costumesThere’s no apostrophe in “TVs.”Barnes & Noble, 9/19 — Tony Bennett's Latest! Plus Emmy Award Winning DVD'sThe plural of “DVD” is “DVDs”—no apostrophe.Lands’ End, 10/23 — New styles, big savings! 30% off all regularly-priced styles“Regularly priced” shouldn’t be hyphenated (because of the -ly ending).Sam’s Club, 7/18 — Study-up on great savings; Back to College done rightThere shouldn’t be a hyphen in “study up.”Bloomingdale’s, 9/30 — Enjoy 20% Off With Friends& Family – Now Online & In Store!There needs to be a space before the ampersand.J. Jill, 5/16 — Summer softness never felt so great. Plus,15% off!‏It’s missing space after the comma.Chadwicks, 9/6 — Buy a JACKET get PANTS half off!It’s missing a comma after “Jacket.”Northern Tool, 3/28 — Customer Top Rated Products Now On Sale‏Northern Tool, 5/19 — Top Selling Outdoor Equipment Now On Sale‏Dell, 7/12 — The reviews are in - shop our top rated products“Top-rated” should be hyphenated.Bloomingdale’s, 12/21 — Forgot to Buy Gifts? SAVE 25-50% + Last Minute Gift Ideas!Sam’s Club, 6/13 — Last minute Father's Day gifts: Grills, electronics and more!Sam’s Club, 5/2 — Great Last Minute Gift Ideas for Mother's Day‏Sam’s Club, 2/7 — Last Minute Valentine's Day gifts from Sam's Club‏“Last-Minute” should be hyphenated.Buy.com, 9/1 — Last Minute Back to School PRICE DROPS!“Last-Minute” and “Back-to-School” should be hyphenated.Walgreens, 8/31 — Award Winning Mobile App | Refill Prescriptions, Order Prints & Browse Our Weekly Ad“Award-Winning” should be hyphenated.Neiman Marcus, 7/16 — Wants, needs, must haves! Our Fashion Director dishes“Must-haves” should be hyphenated.Finish Line, 1/28 — Cupid Approved Kicks for You & Yours!“Cupid-Approved” should be hyphenated.DEPLOYMENT MISHAPSOopsies in the deployment sphere ranged from duplicate emails to botched A/B tests to segmentation gone astray.Lowe’s, 1/9 — Sorry we are a little late, but great values like these are worth waiting for.‏Lowe’s has apparently uncovered a glitch that kept them from fulfilling some of their email sign-up requests. The account where I received this email was used to subscribe to Lowe’s emails more than two years ago. I signed up via their homepage with this account so my guess is that source was not properly integrated into the email system. Best Buy suffered a similar problem a couple of years ago (hopefully fixed now). The takeaway here is to take an inventory of all of your signup sources (homepage, checkout, etc.) and audit them regularly and in the wake of any major email system changes.View this email full-sized.J&R, 2/27 — Weekend Sale -- Last Day to Save!‏TigerDirect, 3/25 — March Black Friday...72-Hour Deal Event!‏RitzCamera, 3/29 — Top 10 DSLR accessories: create your best outfit‏TigerDirect, 4/26 — April Black Friday...72-Hour Deal Event!‏The Company Store, 6/29 — Outdoor Living at its Best!Spiegel, 6/30 — You're Invited... VIP Sale from $4‏Lane Bryant, 8/22 — Get Your Shine On In Sequin Tops + BOGO 50% Jeans, $10 Bras And MoreChadwicks, 8/29 — Shhhh...Secret Clearance Web Sale, save up to 80%!Montgomery Ward, 10/12 — Winter Wise: Classic Coats + 300 New ArrivalsTigerDirect, 12/18 — 50 Gifts Under $50...Perfect Stocking StuffersEach of these emails was sent twice to at least some subscribers.Crate & Barrel, 11/25 — Top 10 gourmet items up to 30% off. This weekend only.Crate & Barrel, 11/25 — Black Friday Deals: This weekend only up to 30% off our top 10 gourmet items.‏I received this email twice with different subject lines, so apparently they were doing some A/B subject line testing and there was a glitch in the segmentation. I always look forward to these mistakes because it’s insightful to see which elements they are testing and how.TigerDirect, 11/25 — 300+ BLACK FRIDAY Deals from TigerDirect!TigerDirect, 11/25 — 300+ BLACK FRIDAY Deals from TigerDirectIt appears that this was a subject line A/B test that wasn’t segmented properly, since both of these emails had the same creative and were sent very close together.ShopNBC, 4/8 — ONCE ONLY, FINAL HOURS‏ShopNBC, 4/8 — Yikes! Time is running out for our best deals‏Looks like ShopNBC was doing some subject line A/B testing and didn’t set up their segments correctly as at least some subscribers got both emails.Fingerhut, 9/20 — Fingerhut: Ahoy! What is Your Treasure? Find Out NOW!Talk Like a Pirate Day is Sept. 19, not the 20th. Fingerhut was using a new sender address so it’s possible that the delivery of this email was delayed by ISPs.Urban Outfitters, 5/5 — You're Invited to a Special Event at Your Local UO (Details Inside)Urban Outfitters, which knows that I live on the East Coast, experienced a geo-segmentation misfire with this email. I received the correct version of the email later in the day.View this email full-sized.J. Jill, 2/8 — Important changes to your J. Jill credit card account.‏Probably exciting subscribers’ fears that they were being phished, J. Jill erroneously sent this email about credit card changes to some non-cardholders, like me.View this email full-sized.CODING & IMAGE ERRORSMistakes in coding and image formatting made for some of the most spectacular errors of 2010. There’s no missing these.Lane Bryant, 6/10 — $20 Off $40 This Weekend + Last Weekend For 30% Off Dresses And $15 Tees‏Every year there seems to be a hiccup in a retailer’s email design that results in the preheader and footer text rendering in white text on a white background, which makes the mailing address invisible and the unsubscribe instructions confusing if not impossible to understand. Either one of those puts you in violation of CAN-SPAM. In 2008, Sports Authority made this mistake (see 2008 Oopsy Hall of Fame); in 2009, J&R (see 2009 Oopsy Hall of Fame); in 2010, Ralph Lauren (see 2010 Oopsy Hall of Fame); and in 2011, Lane Bryant with this email. In this case, Lane Bryant also had a problem with their header and logo. Here’s the email (left) next to the same email highlighted so you can see the white-on-white text: Cooking.com, 5/26 — You Voted For the Top 5 Summer Cookout Recipes!Inexplicably, there’s the URL of video-sharing site http://www.dailymotion.com/us right above the No. 5 item.View this email full-sized.Lands’ End, 11/16 — Limited time! Take 40% off any one itemSome of the code is showing in this email.View this email full-sized.Crate & Barrel, 3/6 — Save big with Deals of the Week: exclusive luggage, new outdoor collections and more.‏There’s code showing at top of this email.View this email full-sized.Kmart, 3/11 — All patio furniture & gas grills on sale + save on outdoor playsets‏In addition to the 150 pixels of fixed margin on either side of the design, there’s some code showing at the top of this email.View this email full-sized.Home Depot, 10/27 — View Your Local Ad, Plus save up to 60% in Every Room with Overstock ValuesThere’s code showing at top of this email.View this email full-sized.Gilt Groupe, 6/27 — Highland, Fourth of July Style, Gilt MAN Essentials, Jiun Ho, Baron Wells, Mason's & John Smedley, Tailgate & Rxmance, Toy Watches and more Starts Today at Noon ETTheir mailing address is repeated outside of the frame of the email.View this email full-sized.Bluefly, 1/28 — Yes, We're on a MAN HUNT‏The radio buttons in this email didn’t work, as support for them is inconsistent. A simpler design would have been to have a “Man” and a “Woman” button that the subscriber would click. It’s one fewer click for the subscriber and simpler to code. Of course, the more directly actionable question is, “What are you most interested in: men’s apparel or women’s apparel or both?” Bluefly used radio buttons again in Mar. 3 and July 14 emails.View this email full-sized.Kmart, 4/20 — Save on ALL patio furniture & gas grills, plus $60 off an HDTV‏The Easter-themed background image was accidently flipped so that “hop” is backward and reversed.View this email full-sized.B&H Photo Video, 5/3 — Apple's New iMac - Available for Pre Order‏The call-to-action buttons are out of alignment with the rest of the email.View this email full-sized.Brookstone, 12/15 — ONLY HOURS LEFT to Save up to $50! Mystery Coupon InsideThere are image gaps around the HTML text unique discount code. As more and more retailers use unique discount codes to track subscriber activity, I’m seeing this issue more often each year.View this email full-sized.OfficeMax, 5/10 — Limited Time $30 Coupon + Free Shipping‏There were image alignment issues caused by the HTML text discount code.View this email full-sized.Cabela’s, 6/29 — Cabelas.com ships your order for pocket change!There were image alignment issues caused by the HTML text discount code.View this email full-sized.Buy.com, 3/6 — Did You Know We Sell Wine?The images in this email should have been all left-justified like usual.View this email full-sized.Omaha Steaks, 4/20 — 48 HOURS ONLY - Try Omaha Steaks for $5 a steak!There’s a vertical image alignment problem that’s most evident with the dot-whack text.Coldwater Creek, 12/14 — An EXTRA 20% OFF Jackets & Sweaters in OutletThe image alignment in this email was breaking up. I still see lots of retailers struggling with image alignment issues caused by Gmail (see Why are HTML emails suddenly breaking in FF/Safari/Chrome in Gmail?) and the combination of Hotmail-Firefox (see Majority of Retailers Fail Hotmail-Firefox Rendering Test).View this email full-sized.TigerDirect, 3/14 — Lucky Deals: Save up to 40% Off‏Extra space around the images in this email caused them to not fit on the width-defined rows.View this email full-sized.B&H Photo Video, 3/8 — B&H Photo Newsletter: Tuesday March 8, 2011‏When I opened this email, B&H was probably having image server issues or else a ton of wrong image URLs. But this oopsy illuminates the fantastic “defensive designing” that they’ve done, using lots of HTML text and alt text to maintain the integrity of the message when images are blocked. Truly impressive.View this email full-sized.Musician’s Friend, 9/6 — Extended for One Day Only! Save Up to $100 On the Gear You Need + Free Shipping!Image has wrong alt text.View this email full-sized.LANDING PAGE DISCONNECTSA seamless transition from email to landing page will hugely benefit conversions. With these emails, something went wrong along the way:Chadwick’s, 1/3 — We think you would really like these!I fairly regularly run across product images that link to the retailer’s homepage or to the wrong product page, but this email from Chadwick’s wins the prize for most misguided links. All eight of the product images linked to the wrong products. And while a couple of the landing pages were for tops that were similar, the rest were items like scarves, mittens and leggings that were way off.View this email full-sized.Buy.com, 10/30 — WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?Clicking on the “East” call-to-action generated an otherwise blank page with an “Invalid URL” error message.view this email full-sized.Barnes & Noble, 2/14 — Save 45% and Make Staying Indoors Fun‏All of the submessages (“Cookbooks,” etc.) has the same “Sorry. We did not find any results.” landing page.View this email full-sized.Dick’s Sporting Goods, 3/31 — Introducing Koppen - Technology for Planet Earth‏Three of the six product calls-to-action resulted in a “Your search for "" returned O results.” error.View this email full-sized.Macy’s, 5/22 — New Rwanda baskets + Free Shipping!‏The banner on Haitian products linked to the landing page for the Rwandan products.View this email full-sized.Spiegel, 9/14 — Have The Last Fashion Hurrah! Lowest Markdowns Ever, from $4.The leather satchel was nowhere to be found on the landing page (which made the headline of the email slightly ironic).View this email full-sized.Yoox, 9/15 — Top Picks - Free ShippingThe Dsquared2 shorts were nowhere to be found on the landing page.View this email full-sized.Sam’s Club, 9/26 — Get ready for fall with savings on fall outdoor and décorThe Angry Birds costume highlighted in this email wasn’t anywhere to be found on the landing page.View this email full-sized.CONTENT, SPELLING & GRAMMAR MISTAKESIncluding the wrong content, misspelling words and using poor grammar diminishes your credibility and distracts from what you’re trying to say.J&R, 8/30 — The New MacBook Air - Starting at $999There are lots of spelling, punctuation and style errors in the “at a glance” copy—at least 10 errors by my count.View this email full-sized.ShopNBC, 2/10 — 4+ ValuePay Jewelry Event‏The Chinese New Year was on Feb. 3, not Feb. 10 as indicated in this email.View this email full-sized.Fingerhut, 5/17 — Fingerhut: You Could WIN $25,000 + Get 5 Automatic Entries with Your Order!Fingerhut was still promoting Mother’s Day gifts more than a full week after Mother’s Day, which as on May 8.View this email full-sized.Dell, 4/1 — March Super Sale! Up to 70% off top-brand electronics‏Given the timing, it appears that it should have read “April Super Sale!”View this email full-sized.Ross-Simons, 4/25 — Chad, 30% Off Sitewide - Mother's Day Sale!Misspelled “iPad” and “iPhone,” and mistakenly refers to iPod touch as “iTouch.”View this email full-sized.Costco, 9/7 — Online-Only Coupon Offers Ending Sunday, 9/11/11“Pairs” should be “Pears.” The title in Costco Connections had it correct.View this email full-sized.Ann Taylor, 3/29 — THE SPRING SUIT GETS A PROMOTION: 30% Off Your Purchase Of A Full-Price Jacket & Matching Bottom!‏“Limited” was misspelled in this banner.View this email full-sized.AbeBooks, 1/26 — Avid Reader Coupon – Save 10%It should be “$15,” not “15$.”View this email full-sized.HOW TO AVOID & RESPOND TO OOPSIESMistakes are practically unavoidable in this industry, but you can put processes in place to minimize them and to respond appropriately when they occur. Some tips:1. Avoid production processes that invite errors, such as using placeholder sender names or subject lines.2. Develop a pre-flight checklist and follow it every time.3. One word: Spell-check.4. Check all the links in the email, especially key calls-to-action.5. View a test send in accounts from all the major email clients and browser combinations, or use a rendering tool, to ensure consistent rendering across platforms.6. Have someone else look over the email before it goes out. It’s difficult to catch your own errors.7. If you make a mistake in an image, simply correct the source file.8. If you make a mistake with a link, see if you can get it redirected to the correct page.9. If the error is significant, see if you can halt the send. You may be able to reduce the number of intended recipients that receive the erroneous email.10. Consider using social media to address confusion caused by email errors and to stress the correct information.11. Don’t resend emails that contain minor mistakes. Only resend those where the mistake has significantly impaired the message or could cause significant brand damage. During 2011, of the more 18,000 retail emails I tracked, only 33 were apology emails—and most of those were for site outages, not email errors.12. Develop a protocol for your apology emails so you can respond quickly when serious mistakes happen or your website suffers a substantial outage.13. Consider holding periodic post-deployment debriefings to review what went right and wrong during the email development and deployment.>>Check out the Oopsy Halls of Fame from past years: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006>>Also check out the other Halls of Fame: Subject Line Halls of Fame and Design Halls of Fame._____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
AM Inbox: Free shipping trends continues to evolve 25 January, 2012, 12:45 pm
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:OfficeMax, 1/24 — Free Shipping No Minimum + Online Only Tech EventDuring the holiday season I talked about how free shipping was evolving from limited-time offers to “every day free shipping” to no codes to no minimum to plus free return shipping (see Alert: As Free Shipping Day approaches, majority of retailers already offering free shipping. During December, most retailers were trending toward the “every day free shipping” node on the evolution curve, but on Free Shipping Day (see Dec. 19, 2011 AM Inbox) a significant number of retailers offered free shipping with no minimum. In recent weeks I’ve seen several retailers offer no minimum free shipping, including Blair, Coldwater Creek, JC Whitney, Lands’ End, OfficeMax (in this email), L.L. Bean and Staples—with those last two offering it year-round. This year I expect more retailers to adopt “every day free shipping” policies, more retailers to experiment with no codes and no minimums, and more upscale retailers to offer free return shipping.Kohl’s, 1/24 — Valentine's Day is Coming Soon. Get Your Gifts Now!‏Kohl’s has been a big user of gift services footers outside of the holiday season (see Apr. 8, 2011 AM Inbox), demonstrating that some of the design elements and tactics that retailers use in November and December can also be effective in promoting other holidays. In this email, Kohl’s tries a dedicated holiday navigation bar, which is another design element that sees very little use outside of the holiday season.View this email full-sized.SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject linesFingerhut, 1/24 — Fingerhut: Thanks for being AWESOME - Take 10% off your next order! [promoting National Compliment Day]Ross-Simons, 1/24 — Explore the Exotic - Shop Jade for Chinese New YearNewegg, 1/24 — Celebrate The Year Of The Dragon With Major Savings!Northern Tool, 1/23 — Husqvarna - Tough Name, Tough EquipmentOriental Trading, 1/23 — It's down to the final 2. Cheer on your team with FREE shippingCrutchfield, 1/23 — Step up your game - save up to $900 on a Samsung TVNFLshop, 1/23 — Get Ready For Super Bowl XLVI!TigerDirect, 1/24 — 7 Super SONY HDTV Deals for the Super Game...HDTV Week ContinuesJ&R, 1/24 — Big Deals on Big TVs for the Big Game!Bloomingdale’s, 1/24 — Great Gifts She's Sure To LoveTiffany & Co. 1/23 — The Keys to Her HeartFrederick’s of Hollywood, 1/23 — Last day for 20% off dresses. New Valentine's lingerie. Plus, free shipping.Costco, 1/23 — Surprise Your Valentine with Beautiful Roses - Starting at $75.99 Delivered with Vase!Oriental Trading, 1/24 — The nominees are in! Party like a movie star, pay $0 shippingOffice Depot, 1/23 — Tax Season Is Almost Here: Organize Your Finances & Save Up To 35%Wayfair, 1/24 — 57 days until spring. Can't wait?Lands’ End, 1/23 — Ironing Bored? Wear these right from the dryer...Lane Bryant, 1/23 — Work It – Pinstripes And Peep Toes For The Office_____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
Season Finale: Veterans Day 2011 24 January, 2012, 1:31 pm
A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:Start to finish: The first reference to Veterans Day was on Sept. 11. The final reference was on Nov. 15.The biggest day for Veterans Day emails was Veterans Day itself, Friday, Nov. 11. Retailers sent the majority of their Veterans Day-themed emails after Nov. 10.Year-over-year comparison: With the U.S. withdrawing all the troops in Iraq by the end of last year in accordance with the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement that President George W. Bush signed in 2008, I wondered if Veterans Day would suddenly take on greater prominence this year—and it did, relatively speaking. It’s not a major selling season by any stretch, but in 2011 there were roughly twice as many references to Veterans Day by top retailers.Most interesting emails: Veterans Day doesn’t get much attention from retailers for a variety of reasons, so it’s unusual to see retailers sending emails with primary messages that directly speak to veterans and their friends and family members. First, Dell sent an Oct. 1 email asking subscribers to nominate veterans to receive one of 250 PCs that they were giving away to “help military families stay connected.” Considering the attention that soldiers reading books to their kids got last year, this seemed like a timely campaign.View this email full-sized.And second, in an Oct. 24 email, JCPenney targeted returning soldiers with a sweepstakes to win $200 in gift certificates so they can get new clothes for work or school.View this email full-sized.Standout subject lines:Dell, 10/1 — Nominate a soldier to win a free PC from DellJCPenney, 10/24 — Calling All Heroes! Over 6000 IAVA Vets Will WinExplore Veterans Day tag._____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
AM Inbox: Two shades of editorial content 23 January, 2012, 1:51 pm
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:J. Jill, 1/21 — This look never takes a rain check. Plus up to 70% off.Presenting products with an editorial bent is a major trend, but there’s a huge spectrum of editorializing that goes from the high end of newsletters (see Jan. 13 AM Inbox) to the low end where it’s more about presentation than articles and videos. That’s where this J. Jill email lands, borrowing a presentation style from fashion magazines that shows products in the context of other products to form a fully composed outfit with purpose.View this email full-sized.Sephora, 1/22 — Cult Favorites + SaleThis Sephora emails is also at the lower end of the editorial spectrum, promoting a newer products from a brand by pairing it with a long-time successful product from that brand. It’s a simple story, but one that’s a step well above just promoting the newer product on it’s own.View this email full-sized.SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject linesNFLshop, 1/22 — The New York Giants Are The 2011 NFC Champions!Crate & Barrel, 1/20 — Everything you need to host halftime + 15% off Media Event.Sony, 1/20 — Up to $1,200 Off HDTV Bundles For the Big Game + More Offers | Don’t Miss OutTigerDirect, 1/20 — Championship Deals: NEW 60" HDTV under $1000...4GB Core i3 Computers from $399...ASUS Transformer Tab $299 and moreBuy.com, 1/20 — Super TV Deals Just in Time for the Big GameShopNBC, 1/21 — Big game party headquartersTigerDirect, 1/22 — HDTV Week Kicks Off w/ Big Screen Blowouts! + Free Shipping on Econoship Orders Over $50Tiffany & Co., 1/20 — Picture-perfect Valentine’s Day GiftsOfficeMax, 1/20 — Preview Our January 22 Ad + Big Deals for Tax SeasonRalph Lauren, 1/20 — Shop Now: Winter Boots At The Best Prices Of The SeasonOrvis, 1/20 — Add a warm layer - our best-selling men's sweatshirt.Crate & Barrel, 1/22 — The easiest spring color to live with + 15% off Media Event.‏Jill, 1/20 — Jet. Set. Go--to the J.Jill Resort Shop. Plus, save up to 70%.Lands’ End, 1/20 — New Resort Collection: 9 staples for your suitcaseBlair, 1/20 — Click to reveal a special buy and free shipping.Musician’s Friend, 1/20 — Day 2 Live From NAMM 2012: Pre-Order The Hottest Gear Now!_____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
Week-End Trends: Valentine's Day messaging suppressed by more 'Big Game' messaging 21 January, 2012, 8:26 pm
Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.6 promotional emails on average during the week ending Jan. 20, 2012. That’s down 2% week-over-week, down 32% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 24% year-over-year.The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Last week we got our first reference to Easter, which is on Apr. 8 this year, a couple of weeks earlier than in 2011. Valentine’s Day is off to a slower start this year compared to past years, seemingly suppressed by more “Big Game” messaging than usual.Selling Seasons on the Horizon:Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14): 2011 Season FinalePresidents’ Day (Feb. 20): 2011 Season FinaleLeap Day (Feb. 29): Leap Day campaigns from 2008St. Patrick’s Day (Mar. 17): 2011 Season FinaleEaster (Apr. 8): 2011 Season Finale_____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
Ping Time: Banning email appending, deliverability vs. revenue, etc. 20 January, 2012, 1:21 pm
My latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:>>CheetahMail joins Responsys, ExactTarget and other ESPs in forbidding email appending among their clients. >>Follow the ping>>George Bilbrey of Return Path discusses the perceived tension between deliverability best practices and maximizing email revenue. >>Follow the ping>>Adam Sutton of MarketingSherpa lists the effectiveness of several list growth tactics, with the top three all being organic. >>Follow the organic ping>>Bronto Software shares its 2012 retail email marketing trends. >>Follow the ping>>TechCrunch reports that social media influenced the holiday buying decisions of 20% of shoppers—which was interpreted as really low by most of the commenters but based on past figures I’ve seen is way up over 2010. >>Follow the ping>>In Responsys’ latest Email Insider column, Wacarra Yeomans talks about the need to balance our data-driven decisions with our intuition when it comes to email design. >>Follow the ping_____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
AM Inbox: Why I'd want to watch your TV commercial 20 January, 2012, 11:57 am
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:Office Depot, 1/19 — Stop. Watch and Enjoy.“What’s in it for me?” Subscribers are asking themselves that question every time they receive an email from you, so you should be constantly trying to answer it. The reason behind Office Depot sending this email appears to be that they have new TV commercials—about what is unclear. On its own, that’s hardly a compelling reason to engage with this email. Few people like TV commercials, which is in part why DVRs are so popular. So there needs to be more to why a subscriber would want to spend their time watching your commercial: Is the commercial instructive? About a charity effort? Is someone cool in the commercial? Is it a preview of new merchandise (see Old Navy email in the July 10, 2007 AM Inbox)? Are you sharing a longer, director’s cut (see Bluefly email in the Sept. 20, 2006 AM Inbox)? Is there a survey connected to the commercial (see Bluefly email in the Mar. 12, 2007 AM Inbox)? Is the commercial “too hot for TV” (see Lane Bryant email in the Apr. 27, 2010 AM Inbox)? Is it a sneak peek of your Super Bowl ad?As fate would have it, on the same day that Office Depot sent this email, Staples sent an email promoting a contest where they are giving away a free 15-second TV commercial. That made Office Depot’s pitch seem even more off target.View this email full-sized.Sears, 1/19 — Sneak peek at daily Real Deals: Get in on the savingsSears is promoting their daily deal emails all this month and they’re doing so by sharing a few of the deals and giving subscribers the chance to opt in. I’m always a fan of the “show, don’t tell” approach and appreciate the restraint that they are showing—they’ve only sent one other email like this so far this month, so they’re not pushing too hard.View this email full-sized.Neiman Marcus, 1/19 — New arrivals up to 65% off: Last Call SaleSeasonal references don’t have to hit subscribers over the head. They can be as subtle as a color choice, as in this Neiman Marcus email that uses pink and red to quietly connect to Valentine’s Day.View this email full-sized.SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject linesStaples, 1/19 — Win a free TV commercial from Staples!Newegg, 1/19 — Watch the Game in Style This Year! $619.99 Toshiba 42" 1080p LED-LCD TV…Wayfair, 1/19 — Up to 30% off Super Bowl Party HostingWalmart, 1/19 — Save on Family Entertainment Essentials: TVs, Furniture, Fan Gear & MoreLands’ End, 1/19 — Free Shipping + up to 65% off our best for winter's worstL.L. Bean, 1/19 — 100th Anniversary Celebration--Gear Giveaways, Special Events and MoreDrs. Foster & Smith, 1/19 — The Importance of Yearly Veterinarian ExamsNike Store, 1/19 — Introducing the Nike+ FuelBand_____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
AM Inbox: Scroll down for more 19 January, 2012, 10:49 am
>>Subject Line Hall of Fame: Check out the 2011 inductees.The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:Coldwater Creek, 1/18 — $20 off + 5 Must-See Spring Things‏Commenting on a recent post, a reader asked if designing for preview panes and above-the-fold placement was still necessary. Articles like this one have lauded scrolling over clicks in web design, but web and email are different animals—most importantly in that people are more engaged and invested in a webpage they are visiting than they are with an email that was pushed to them. Emails have to convince readers to take further action—whether it’s opening, enabling images, scrolling or clicking—while visitors are already on a mission when they visit a website. All of that came to mind when I saw this Coldwater Creek email that has a rather subtle direction in the hero image to “Scroll for more” with a down arrow. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an email marketer ask a subscriber to scroll before. In sidescrolling emails, retailers like 1-800-Flowers.com (see Aug. 9, 2011 AM Inbox) and Urban Outfitters (see Oct. 7, 2008 AM Inbox) have used arrows and words to indicate that subscriber should scroll/slide to the right for more, but that’s because sidescrolling is not the norm. But perhaps subscribers could use some extra encouragement to scroll even in vertical-scrollers.That said, this is a bit of a special case with Coldwater Creek because traditionally their emails have been postcard-style, with a secondary banner at most. So this email is considerably longer than normal, which is why they were clearly concerned about subscribers not scrolling and therefore missing the additional content.SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject linesHarry & David, 1/18 — See what's new for Valentine's Day.Ross-Simons, 1/18 — Win a 1 Carat Diamond Necklace and More - Like Us On FacebookTigerDirect, 1/18 — 24 Hour Deal on HP Core i5 ProBook...Plus, special HDTV deals for the Super GameeBags, 1/18 — Travel Tips, Trends, & Advice from The Bag ExpertsCoach, 1/18 — Coach News, Men's Edition: new arrivals and monogramming.Orvis, 1/18 — Shop the products our staff loves the most.‏Sam’s Club, 1/18 — This week's top sellers at SamsClub.comLands’ End, 1/18 — Free shipping + One small step for feet, one giant leap toward spring!Eddie Bauer, 1/18 — New for Spring + Extra 30% Off Clearance!Ralph Lauren, 1/18 — Blue Label New Arrivals: Perfect For Your Warm Weather GetawayWayfair, 1/18 — Celebrity designer Taniya Nayak's new lighting collection, only at Wayfair.J. Jill, 1/18 — Oh, for Henley's sake open this email! Plus up to 70% off sale._____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
AM Inbox: 'Back Alley Syndrome' strikes again 18 January, 2012, 11:42 am
>>Retail Email 2011 Year-End Trends: View the infographic.The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:HP, 1/17 — HP's Hottest New Gaming Machine is Here! Watch the demoI’ve been warning marketers about not falling prey to “Back Alley Syndrome” for more than two years now, but I still see major brands directing subscribers to dead end pages like HP does in this email. Watching the demo for their new Phoenix PCs is a major call-to-action that’s right in the subject line, even though it’s a little buried in the body of the email. When you click on that demo image……the landing page that you’re taken to (shown below) doesn’t include any product information, an “add to cart” button, a navigation bar, or even HP branding. Subscribers that arrive here are actually forced to go back to the email to make their way to product info. That’s not user-friendly, hurts conversions, and may make some people think that the product isn’t available for purchase yet.Backcountry.com, 1/17 — New Jackets For Every Condition + Free 2-Day ShippingA picture really is worth a thousand words—at least the right picture is. And Backcountry seems to have a bit of a knack for finding great ones that communicate cleanly while also being fun and light, like the one in this email. I’ve called out their photography a few times recently (see July 12, 2011 AM Inbox and June 22, 2011 AM Inbox).SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject linesVictoria’s Secret, 1/17 — The All New Gorgeous Collection, Just in Time for Valentine's Day...Ross-Simons, 1/16 — 25% PLUS 5% Off - Valentine's Gift Guide DebutTiffany & Co., 1/16 — Hearts of GoldJ. Jill, 1/17 — Ease into 2012 with 75 new styles + up to 70% off.SmartBargains, 1/16 — It's not snow, but it is a WHITE SALE. 10 Home Deals Inside.Lands’ End, 1/16 — Outerwear savings + Free Shipping arrive with the cold - good timing!Walgreens, 1/16 — Save Up to 50% on Winter Health Needs + EXTRA 15% OFF $50 Vitamins Purchase | 20% OFF All ContactsdELiA*s, 1/17 — dELiA*s Fashion Alert: New Spring Dresses NOW IN + Free ShippingThe Children’s Place, 1/17 — Up to 40% Off - Spring Sale Starts Today!Neiman Marcus, 1/17 — Beauty Awards: Your chance to win big, too!JC Whitney, 1/16 — Get 20% OFF with coupon TWENTY! 2 Days Only!_____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked
Season Finale: Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2011 17 January, 2012, 11:31 am
A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:Start to finish: The first reference to Breast Cancer Awareness Month was on Aug. 30. The final reference was on Nov. 5.The biggest day for Breast Cancer Awareness Month emails was Oct. 1. Retailers sent the majority of their Breast Cancer Awareness Month-themed emails after Oct. 8.Most interesting emails: In recent years, most of the retailers that have supported Breast Cancer Awareness Month have done so by selling pink merchandise and donating a percentage of the proceeds to research and support organizations. But this year Breast Cancer Awareness Month messaging was considerably more diverse. For instance, while Sports Authority was selling a variety of pink ribbon products, they made those products more relevant and more tightly linked to the issue of breast cancer by pairing them with educational material about how nutrition and exercise can reduce your risk. Here’s the email……and here’s the landing page:And Ralph Lauren’s campaign—which used the subject line “Show Your Support With Pink Pony & Paperless Post Hope Cards”—had a nice viral component to it whereas they’ve had four web personalities create a collection of e-cards at Paperless Post. The designs include a call-to-action for the recipient to donate to Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony Fund.Standout subject lines:Sports Authority, 10/1 — Sport Your Pink - Learn More and Show Your Support!Coach, 9/30 — Pretty in pink for a great cause.Ann Taylor, 9/30 — Giving Back Is Always In Style...Harry & David, 10/1 — Pink Pears - join us in supporting cancer research.Buy.com, 10/9 — PINK ISN'T JUST A PRETTY COLORRead previous Breast Cancer Awareness Month Season Finales: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006Explore Breast Cancer Awareness Month tag._____________________BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

HotinlittleRock

We’re ’bout this! 4 June, 2009, 7:38 am
We’re ’bout this! June 4, 2009 We are foodies. We love good food. Most of the time this translates into elegant meals – both at home and at restaurants. But sometimes it’s the simple things we crave. So often in our lives we’re in fast-forward mode. So a simple meal is a welcome respite. Since we’ve relocated our office to the Argenta Area of North Little Rock, we’ve had a chance to try out new places for lunch. Cafe La Pace was one of the first places we tried, and we’ve been back several times. What we like most about Cafe La Pace is it’s simple theme: everything is served on a pita. From the sandwiches to the pizza, it’s all about the pita. Cafe La Pace is an interesting combination of cultures. The owner, Sam, is from Greek descent, and his restaurant in the style of a New York deli. So the pita makes sense. But how does it taste? Deliciously simple. The pizzas are fresh and made to order, and the produce tastes as if it was grown out back. One of our favorites is the Caprese salad – fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, greens, and balsamic vinegar. It’s served with pita wedges, of course! The greens are so tender, they almost melt in your mouth. And for dessert? We usually can’t leave without a taste from the sweet side. Sam’s grandmother makes baklava that is so fresh and so delicious, we haven’t been able to try anything else. We wish we had a grandmother like that! Walking into Cafe La Pace, you’ll be greeted like an old friend. There’s nothing fancy about it – just good food at a good price. We like finding these kind of small, family-owned establishments. They balance everything out, and provide a great alternative when all you want is simple. And the baklava. Oh yes, we’re still thinking about that! Cafe La Pace 318 Main Street North Little Rock (501) 379-9120 Monday – Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Cool Memories 3 June, 2009, 8:34 am
Cool Memories June 3, 2009 When we were growing up back East, the highlight of our summer was a trip to Maine. Tucked in a small cove, our summer house was magical. It was a simple white clapboard house with no air-conditioning. The wooden stairs creaked to the upstairs bedrooms and we all shared one bath. But the cool summer salt breezes from the ocean kissed our cheeks on the front porch and always inspired art. We wouldn’t have changed a thing about those special summers. So when we were introduced to Rebecca Thompson, we were immediately taken back to our vacation days in Maine. Rebecca’s art is soft and has a bit of whimsy in the strokes. Her paintings of interiors remind us so much of our little summer retreat, especially the ones that show glimpses of the ocean outside the windows. Rebecca also paints some fabulous landscapes. Some capture you and make you find a story that fits. Others calm and soothe. We can see our little cove and hear the ocean crashing on the rocks. We can feel the heat of the sun as the light breaks through the trees. The wonderful thing about Rebecca’s work is that it’s tangible. We can insert our memories into each one of her paintings, as if they were painted just for us! Whether you’ve been to Maine or not, Rebecca’s art is approachable and welcoming. Your memories will fit into her pieces just as easily as ours. And we’ve got the insider scoop on where to find her work locally: she was recently picked up by Greg Thompson Fine Art and many of her pieces will be on display during the opening of his new gallery space during Third Friday Art Walk in historic Argenta on June 19. Come find your memories. Rebecca Thompson available at Greg Thompson Fine Art 429 Main Street North Little Rock (501) 664-2787 http://www.gregthompsonfineart.com/
Raise a Glass: Wine Picks of the Week 2 June, 2009, 6:35 am
Raise a Glass: Wine Picks for June 2 June 2, 2009 Rain or shine, summer is definitely here. For us, summer means house guests at our vacation home. Usually, folks arrive in time for lunch, which we like to serve on the screened-in porch overlooking the river. No matter how hot, a light lunch with a chilled wine is always appropriate and appreciated. One of our favorite lunches is a quiche with salad, and fresh fruit for dessert. We must confess that when we make quiche we often (OK, almost always) buy a frozen, deep dish crust from the market. The rest is all homemade. The custard is 6 eggs, a half cup of milk or cream, chopped fresh basil and thyme, salt and pepper. But before we pour that into the crust, we place 3 slices of Swiss cheese on the bottom of the crust. To this we add a sauté of diced onion and fresh asparagus and three more slices of Swiss. Bake at 374 until the middle is firm and the knife comes out clean. We like a mustard vinaigrette on whatever fresh greens from our garden or the farmer’s market are in season. Any fresh fruit, served any way, is a perfect dessert. We hadn’t had any rosé for years until a year or two ago when we rediscovered them. Too many unwanted servings of “White Zinfandel” had soured us on blush wine. Too bad for us! The rosé of choice for this meal is a 2006 Domaine de Fondreche L’Instant Rosé. The wine is very pretty, pale rose-petal pink. The grapes are a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah. The slight aroma of herbes de Provence alone make this wine perfect for this meal. There is strawberry on the nose and the addition of watermelon on the palate. It is a dry and slightly spicy wine that is perfect when chilled and sipped on a warm afternoon. Available locally for about $18.
Swing Those Hips! 1 June, 2009, 6:26 am
Swing those Hips! June 1, 2009 We can’t believe it’s already June. And this past weekend sure felt like summer had arrived. With four days left of school, our mini-staffers are wild with the anticipation of summer. And summer always means outdoor to us. We know that the heat will get us at some point, but until then, we want to stay outdoors and enjoy all the beauty around us. Saturday morning greeted us hot and sticky. But it wasn’t raining, and we were thrilled. So off to the CAFM Farmer’s Market we went. (Yes, it’s a Saturday routine for us.) Things were hopping. And the craft market was open! We wandered in and out of the aisles, enjoying the sight of so many beautiful creations made right here in Arkansas. And then we found the Hula Senations booth. Surrounded by brightly colored hula hoops, a woman was hula dancing. Now, this was intriguing. Upon further inquiry, we discovered that the woman’s name is Whitney, and she makes hula hoops. After making a very durable ring of black rubber tubing, (much more durable than the plastic ones you find in the big box stores) she creates colorful designs by using electrical tape. She’ll even custom make you one if you ask. She makes the hoops in all different sizes, too. Smaller ones for kids, and then varying sizes for adults. The bigger the hoop size, the easier they are to use because the longer they take to swing around your body. So a beginner wants a larger hoop. She has even developed a portable hoop. So when you go out for a picnic or travel, just pop this hoop in your bag and you’re ready to go! Well, we couldn’t leave this booth without a few hoops of our own. And the mini-staffers appreciated the fun and different activity. We stayed outside laughing and swinging our hips until the mosquitoes got the best of us. And we’ll do it again today. So whether you’re looking for an activity to add to your summer days, or you need a fun gift for yourself or the kid down the street, Whitney offers a variety of sizes and colors of hoops that will make everyone smile. Hula Senations Custom made HOOPS by Whitney (501) 319-5833 hulasenations@comcast.net $15 and up.
Weekend Happenings 29 May, 2009, 5:25 am
Weekend Happenings for May 29 May 29, 2009 We keep getting fooled into sun. But maybe the sun we see outside our window this morning will last for a few days…at least that’s what the weather reports say. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a full weekend of sun? Even if it does get sticky hot, we love the first (but maybe not the last) days of an Arkansas summer. And so many things happening this weekend are outside events! So let’s keep our sun dances going that everyone of them is successful and dry. Be sure to visit our calendar athttp://www.hotinlittlerock.com/ to see what all is happening and to post your events. Here are our Top Three: Get Moving. It’s time once again for Dino Dash at the Museum of Discovery! This event continues to grow and is always a favorite with our mini-staffers. Not only is there a 5K race, but also a 1K family race (complete with dinosaurs at the end) and lots of activities to keep everyone busy once the race is over. This is one race you don’t want to miss. Saturday. 8:00 a.m. 5K start; 9:00 a.m. 1K start. Visit http://www.amod.org/for more information. Get Dancing. Saturday night will hopefully bring cool breezes on the beautiful grounds of the home of Chip and Cindy Murphy. Enjoy food, drink, and live music as you bid on great silent auction items and stroll around the pool on a lovely spring night. And all the time you’re helping to raise money for Women and Children First. The party begins at 6:30 p.m. Call (501) 376-3219 for more information and to purchase tickets. Get Outside. Want to play some games on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion? Your chance to do just that is this Sunday afternoon during the Second Annual Governor’s Mansion Garden Party. Enjoy summer food and mix and mingle with friends in the beautiful gardens created by P. Allen Smith. Included with your admission is membership in Friends of the Mansion. $25. Sunday, 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Call (501) 324-9805.
Doggone Good! 28 May, 2009, 5:04 am
Doggone Good! May 28, 2009 One of our favorite things to do on a Saturday morning is to head over to the Argenta area of North Little Rock and go to the Farmer’s Market. But you probably knew that about us already. One morning a few weeks ago, we were hovering around the always delicious Argenta Market stand and were offered a treat for our puppy. She ate it up. As we looked closer into what our puppy had just eaten – we were pretty amazed. It was dog food that is made right there in North Little Rock. Jason and Carissa Godwin have created Frank + Izzy’s dog food. With loving care, they make wholesome (and apparently delicious) food that any canine would be hard-pressed to pass up. It comes in quarts, although you can pre-order larger sizes. And the ingredients? Nutritious goodies like beef, Arkansas sweet potatoes, Arkansas spinach, wheat germ, eggs, and molasses. Yes, there are no artificial ingredients in there at all, and they use Arkansas products whenever they are available. We have two dogs. We don’t use it as food, but rather as the treat they will do anything to receive. We keep it in the refrigerator (remember – there are no preservatives!) and each time we reach for the container, our dogs put on their best behavior. We were thrilled to discover such a healthy and delicious treat to offer our dogs, and look forward to each new week at the Farmer’s Market, when our supply is replentished. Frank + Izzy’s A Dogtown Delicacy (501) 749-6713 frankandizzys@gmail.com
A Storybook Tale 27 May, 2009, 5:57 am
A Storybook Tale May 27, 2009 Isn’t it nice sometimes to just sit back and escape to a simpler time? We love the theater for just that reason. Sometimes the productions are serious; sometimes they have a profound message; and sometimes they’re just fun. That’s what Arkansas Festival Ballet brings to us in their production of Coppelia this weekend. Coppelia is a storybook tale about a doll that seems to come to life. Ahhh – the old “doll comes to life story” you say. But did you know that this ballet is the one that introduced marionettes, dolls, and automatons to ballet? This is the original. The ballet is based upon the stories of E.T.A. Hoffman, who also wrote The Nutcracker, so it makes sense that it would have some similar gimicks involved in the story. But Coppelia is a comedy and a love story more than a fantasy. When a young woman becomes jealous that her fiance seems to love a doll more than her, she switches places with that doll. The toymaker (a slightly mad scientist, as well) believes his doll has come to life, and the comedy begins. In this ballet, all ends well with a grand wedding. Don’t you just love happy endings? Some members of our staff love opera, and while we enjoy opera, so many of them are tragic and the lead often dies. Ballet provides a lighter and happier side of life (most of the time) and certainly Coppelia is one of those ballets. So join in the laughter this weekend, and enjoy seeing some wonderful dancers from right here in Arkansas. Arkansas Festival Ballet presents Coppelia Saturday, May 30, 2009 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 31, 2009 2:00 p.m. Tickets: $20 in advance ($15 for children & students) $25 at the door ($20 for children & students) Visit http://www.arkansasdance.org/ for tickets and more information.
Raise a Glass: Wine Picks of the Week 26 May, 2009, 6:25 am
Raise a Glass: Wine Picks for May 26 May 26, 2009 After the excesses of the Memorial Day Weekend—which wet weather did not inhibit one bit—we thought pasta topped with roasted vegetables would be both light and satisfying. So we cut an onion into eight pieces, cut up broccoli into bite-size pieces, and did the same with a red pepper. After tossing them in a bit of olive oil and some kosher salt, we spread them on a baking sheet and roasted then in a hot (about 475) oven. Meanwhile we toasted some pine nuts in a dry skillet. When everything was ready we tossed the pasta and vegetables with the pine nuts, a crushed garlic clove, torn fresh basil, olive oil and some good parmesan-reggiano. A salad from our garden completed the meal. Our Trusty Wine Merchant had suggested we try a 2006 Viognier from Hidden Jewel in Lodi, California. Hidden Jewel is produced by Gold Crown Wine Company and we think that, based on this bottle, it is an appropriate name. Honeysuckle in a bottle, we wrote as we inhaled the aroma of this pale yellow wine. We also noted peach and apricot. On the palate, this un-wooded white added citrus to the tasting equation. We also noted the good, round mouthfeel, and a nice finish. The only excesses here were of flavor. The Viognier was the perfect accompaniment for our roasted vegetables and pasta. Or perhaps we ought to say the pasta was the perfect accompaniment for the ever-delightful Viognier. About $14 locally.
Rainy Days & Mondays 25 May, 2009, 6:44 am
Rainy Days & Mondays May 25, 2009 Oh, what a Memorial Day! The rain seems like it’s never going to stop – and that’s not good for our plans to get outside today. We were going to share with you some of our favorite outdoor destinations today, just in case you wanted to get out and get moving on this last Monday in May. But we’ll have to share those with you on a sunny day. So instead, if your plans to hang out by the pool or bar-b-que in the backyard seem to be looking washed out, we’ll share with you some of our favorite inside stops. These are places you can take your whole family on this Memorial Day Monday, have fun, and escape the dreary elements. Our first stop is The Museum of Discovery. Yes, they’re open today! This is a really good thing when the stir-craziness of rain gets the best of you. Pack up the kids and have fun being a pirate or catching some lobster in their Room to Grow area, stop by the Imagination Station and let your creativity go wild, or enjoy their current special exhibit, “Science & Art.” This is a really neat exhibit where you can experience the interplay between science and art in five mini-exhibits. Enjoy some amazing origami art and connect it to geometry, look through the microscope, or “play” with water on a digital screen. This is always a great choice for kids of all ages to learn and play. 500 President Clinton Ave, Suite 150. (501) 396-7050. Next up: the Clinton Presidential Center. Today is the last day to enjoy their current exhibit, Peter Max Paints America. This is a fun trip through time as you see Max evolve from realist to pop artist. His work is not only in the gallery, but scattered throughout the museum. So enjoy the permanent collections, stay for lunch, and spot the Max’s along the way. 1200 President Clinton Ave. (501) 374-4242. While you’re downtown, stop by the Historic Arkansas Museum. Our mini-staffers love to visit the old homes and pretend they live in the “olden days.” They also have a plethora of exhibits inside to keep you interested and dry. Learn about the Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw Indian tribes in “We Walk in Two Worlds,” or learn about the history of the sword in “A Double Edged Weapon: The Sword as Icon and Artifact.” They’ve got plenty to keep you busy today. 200 E. Third Street. (501) 324-9345. So get out of the house. Don’t let the rain keep you from enjoying some of the great treasures Central Arkansas has to offer – inside! Enjoy your Memorial Day, and take time to remember we have this day off to honor those men and women who have given their lives to keep our country safe.
Weekend Happenings 22 May, 2009, 7:28 am
Weekend Happenings for May 22 May 22, 2009 Happy Memorial Day Weekend! The sun is shining, the pools are open, and we have a three-day break. Could life get any better than this? If you’re leaving town this weekend – be safe. If you’re staying around to celebrate right here, like we are, there’s lots to keep you busy. Be sure to check out our online calendar atwww.hotinlittlerock.com/calendar and post your events if we’ve missed them. Here are our Top Three: Join in the Fun. Yes, it’s time once again for Riverfest! This fun festival takes place on both sides of the Arkansas River and offers something for every member of the family. Tonight’s musical line up may take a coin toss to decide where to go as the B-52s, Willie Nelson, and Gavin Rossdale all take to their various stages at 9:30 p.m. Saturday brings the KidsZone, arts and crafts, and of course, food! The fun continues through Sunday and culminates with the Osborne Family Fireworks. Don’t miss out! Friday, 6pm – 11pm; Saturday, 10am – 11pm; Sunday 12pm – 10pm. Tickets $25 for all three days. Kids 7-10 are $5 each day and 6 and under are free. Visit http://www.riverfestarkansas.com/ for a complete line-up of the weekend’s festivities. Grab a Bite. Before you head over to Riverfest on Saturday morning, be sure you stop by one (or both) of the farmer’s markets. There’s one at the River Market, with fresh produce and arts and crafts from Arkansas and beyond. Then there’s the Certified Arkansas Farmer’s Market at the corner of 6th & Main Street in downtown North Little Rock. This market allows only Arkansas grown produce and expands each week as new produce becomes available. Don’t miss the fresh baked goods from the Argenta Market or the locally roasted fair trade coffee. Your day will be better because of this stop. Both markets open at 7am. Take a Break. Hot? Tired of the crowds? Then plan a break from the outdoor fun with an evening at the Weekend Theater. This is the last weekend for their current production, Rabbit Hole. This play won the Pulitzer Price for Drama in 2007 and takes you on a journey with a family recovering from the death of a child. This play is heartwrenching, of course, but there is lots of humor to relieve the soul. Join this couple and share in their search that takes them deep into the dark, but ultimately brings them back to the light of day. Saturday & Sunday, 7:30pm. Visithttp://www.weekendtheater.org/ for more information.

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Retail Contratrian

Don't ask permission 11 January, 2012, 6:15 am
I have a question: Is your customer's experience better when someone on your staff is involved in their experience than when you're not? Of course it is. You and your team have the knowledge, experience, and information that benefit your customer. You can help them find the right products(s) that meet their needs and wants. If they're in a hurry, you can get them out the door faster. If they're not, you make their shopping experience much more enjoyable. So if we add value to the customer's experience, why do we ask permission? Shouldn't we just do it? We ask for permission more often than we know. "How may help you?" That's asking permission. "What can I help you find?" That's adding value. "Can I answer any questions?" That's asking permission. "That's a very popular widget." That's adding value. "Would you like help carrying your purchase out?" That's asking permission. "Let me get someone to carry your purchase to your car." That's adding value. "Would like to see the matching wallet?" That's asking permission. "Here's the wallet that goes with that bag." That's adding value. That's why we don't ask for permission. Even if a customer says "no" to our offer, we've at least demonstrated that we add value to his/her experience. That's something many of our competitors never do. The same holds true for exceeding your customer's expectations. Don't ask for permission. "Can I get you a bottle of water?" That's asking permission. "Here's a drink for you to enjoy while shopping." That's exceeding the customer's expectations. "I can call the other store to see if they have them in stock." That's asking permission. "I'll call the other store to see if they have them in stock." That's exceeding your customer's expectations. "I can call you a few week's before your wife's birthday." That's asking permission. "Hello, Mr. Jones. I'm calling to see if I can help you pick out a couple of gifts for your wife's birthday." That's exceeding a customer's expectations. Even if your customer declines your offer, you have still demonstrated your point of differentiation and your desire to WOW them. That's what makes you special. So let me ask, are you asking for permission to deliver an extraordinary customer experience? --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Your 2012 resolutions 4 January, 2012, 6:09 am
I know how busy for the last few weeks, so I've taken the liberty of putting together some potential resolutions for you and your team in 2012. This is a fairly extensive list, and you're probably already very good at most of these things. Even so, there might be one or two areas where improvement will have a positive impact on your business. If you will, let me know which of these are right for you, and tell me about any of your resolutions that I've missed. 1. Taking your customer experience to the next level. Your store/company's customer experience is good, but deep down you know it could be so much better. 2. Improve your staff's sales abilities. Your staff is really nice and delivers a very good customer experience. Now you aim to translate that to higher conversion and average sales. 3. Better clienteling. As online sales continue to grow and outpace traditional retail, in some segments the personal relationship between the customers and staff will become vital to keeping and maximizing customers. 4. More relevant marketing. The good news is you've got your Facebook page up and you're posting on a fairly regular basis. The bad news is you have no idea the impact it's having on your business. That probably means it isn't having much. 5. Increase accountability within your store/company. This could be in all sorts of different areas. Maybe it's expecting more from your frontline employees. It might also be holding managers and district managers more accountable for each store's sales performance. 6. Move the underperformers up or out. If you're tired of talking about the same underperformers over and over, maybe 2012 is when you finally improve their performance or promote them to customer. Yes, this goes hand in hand with #5. 7. Challenge and grow your top performers. The worst thing you can do is to not continue to develop your top people. It might be time to either create a new program for high-potential employees or, at the very least, figure out a way to better leverage their talents. 8. Invest more time and focus on developing your people. Unless you're competing on price you're probably competing with your people and the service/experience they deliver. Are you spending the appropriate time and energy on them? 9. Be more comfortable giving people the direct feedback they need to be successful. One of the managers I work with recently said to me, "I can't believe I coach without thinking about it! It feels natural now to give feedback at anytime, to anyone, and not worry about how it will be taken. We all "get it" that it is just information we need to get the results we want!" That's how we all need to think. 10. Improve your hiring process. This could be interpreted to be about improving the quality of the people you hire, but I don't want anyone to think that you haven't hired good people. You just need to get better at your process so you can do that more consistently. 11. Standardize your training and development. Chances are you and your stores/staff are good at training new people. The challenge is that no two new hire trainings are the same. 12. Work more strategically. Some people say you should work smarter but not harder. I think if you've survived the economy we've had for the last few years you're pretty smart. A lot of people they just need to work from a better-defined plan and then work the plan. 13. Delegate more. I hesitated about putting this on the list since most of the time delegation isn't the real issue. It's usually either that people can't give up control or they don't have the quality of staff to delegate to. Whatever the reason, you probably need to do less. 14. Become a better merchant. Whether it's buying, visual presentation, or financial management, you know that if you improve in this area you'll see an improvement to the top and bottom lines. Frankly, I put this at the bottom of the list since I know that most of you I know are stronger at these things that the above items. But hey, they're your resolutions. 15. Be more action oriented. Your list of things you were going to do or wanted to do is probably longer than what you did. Don't feel bad, that's true for most of us. But did you do what you know you needed to do to be more successful? The road to mediocrity is paved with good intentions. So let me ask, what will your resolution be for 2012? --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Flip It 27 December, 2011, 3:08 pm
One of the keys to being successful this week is the ability to flip customers who come in for a refund or exchange into making a big purchase. It won't happen with every customer, but it rarely happens at all if you don't try. The game/contest Flip It makes trying a lot more fun. The goal of Flip It is to have the largest sale of the day that began with a return or exchange. I like to make the prize a $20 bill or gift card and then have the prize passed around as one employee tops another. I used to do this back in my Sharper Image days, and I'm convinced some of the salespeople enjoyed taking the prize from a colleague more than the prize itself. Here's an example of how it works. The first customer of the day comes in with a $20 return, but the salesperson then sells him $60 of additional items. That means the current top Flip It sale is $40. (You have to net out the return or exchange.) The next customer has a $130 item to exchange, and the salesperson sells her additional items worth $200. The net Flip It sale is $70. He/she now gets to take the cash or gift card from the other salesperson. Another way to play Flip It is to pay everyone a prize for flipping customers. You could, for example, say that any return or exchange that has a net increase of $100 or more wins a $5 gift card. The key to flipping the customer is to NOT ask if he/she wants to see something else. Use proactive phrases like, "You have to see these items on sale" or "I have the perfect widget to go with the red one you're exchanging." While I'm sure I don't have to remind you of this, it's important to make sure trying to flip the customer doesn't have a negative impact on his/her experience. It's all in the passion and enthusiasm you use to move your customer to other products, and remaining keenly aware of how each customer is reacting. So let me ask, are you and your team successfully flipping returns and exchanges into bigger sales? --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Which leader will you be this week? 19 December, 2011, 8:38 am
How are you doing? You, not your store, although I'd love to hear about last week's sales. Right now I'm more interested in how you are. I ask because the energy and attitude you as a leader bring this week has a huge impact on your results. This is the week to be an extraordinary leader. Retail leaders usually fall into one of these categories at this time of year: 1. The tired leader. If you ask this owner/manager how he's doing he'll tell you how tired he is. If you don't ask how he's doing he'll still find a way to work it into the conversation. Not surprisingly, everyone on the staff is pretty tired too, or at the very least tired of hearing about it from the owner/manager. And of course when everyone is that tired, more opportunities are lost than are created. 2. The stressed-out leader. You can find these owner/managers without ever setting eyes on them. All you have to do is talk to stressed-out staffers. This owner/manager might try to tell you everything is fine, but the short fuse and tense facial expression is a dead giveaway. The stress could result from any number of other reasons, none of which really matter. It all leads to more lost opportunities. 3. The overworked leader. This owner/manager loves to tell anyone who will listen how much he/she is working. I had a manager once who would refuse to take a day off between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then spend every day talking about how she hadn't had a day off! This owner/manager's need to talk about him/herself results in lost opportunities. 4. The overwhelmed leader. While this owner/manager may at first appear to be a stressed-out leader, you can spot them by the lack of leadership and confusion within the team. This manager/owner is working extremely hard but the store is slowly spiraling out of control, taking opportunities out of reach. I'm the first to admit that at one time or another in my retail career I've been every one these leaders. I also learned from some great mentors to become the fifth type of leader. 5. The crunch-time leader. This leader is far from perfect. As a matter of fact they're just as likely to be tired, stressed-out, overworked, or maybe even overwhelmed, as any of the other leaders. The difference is that they're not showing it. The crunch-time leader leads. The busier the store, the more she elevates her game. She shows more energy, not less. She's demonstrating more passion and giving out more encouragement to her team. She's keeping everyone focused on the customer and, most importantly, she's keeping it light and fun. Leaders lead, especially in busy times when the opportunity is there. So let me ask, which leader will you be this week? Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas - or Happy Hanukkah - or if you have no holiday preference a Happy Holiday! - Doug --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Rock the boat! 14 December, 2011, 7:26 am
I recently spoke with a retailer who is disappointed with the performance of one of her key employees. When I asked how she is handling the situation she replied, "I haven't really said much. I don't want to rock the boat this close to Christmas." I hope your reaction is the same as mine. Rock the boat! Here's why. A mentor of mine recently explained that people and organizations have a finite amount of energy and focus at their disposal. This energy and focus is used both externally in creating sales and building your community, and internally in dealing with organizational problems, challenges and opportunities. What he said next really stood out for me: Any additional energy and focus that's required internally is taken away from the external customer side. We may fear rocking the boat during the holidays, but not quickly resolving issues during the holidays will cost you a lot more money than will rocking the boat. Here's my advice for that retailer and any other owner/manager in the same position. If an employee is falling short of your expectations, address it now. As I've said many times, most employees want to do a good job. They can't improve if you don't let them know what to work on. Nine times out of ten these conversations go better than we expect. Remember, keep the focus on future behaviors and don't dwell too much on past actions. Keep it positive. Express your support of the employee and be done with it. Take the internal distraction, fix it, and get the energy and focus back on the customer. Also, don’t forget to praise and thank all of your employees at the end of each day. It’s Showtime! So let me ask, do you need to rock any boats? --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Assume a HUGE weekend 7 December, 2011, 7:57 am
Can you believe that after this weekend there is only one more full weekend until Christmas? Every customer who comes into your store offers you the chance to connect, deliver a memorable experience, and win him/her as a customer with the biggest possible sale. When I talk about making the biggest possible sale, I'm not saying that we should be pushy or try to sell people a bunch of stuff they don't need or want. What I am saying is that by maximizing the relationship you build with your customers, you can help them purchase more of your wonderful products for the people on their list. Most salespeople believe that the outcome of a sale lies in the customer's motives and actions. I believe that our actions, and the language we use, influence sales as much as anything the customer thinks or does. Let's go into the weekend assuming that if you use these three tips, you and your colleagues will have a HUGE weekend. 1. Assume that every customer is walking into your store to make a purchase. I know this sounds line a no-brainer, and I bring it up from time to time, but my own shopping experiences remind me that not everyone thinks this way. At 7:30 on Black Friday morning a sales clerk actually asked me if I was out shopping. I felt like responding, "No, I'm playing a round of golf and I think I sliced my shot into your store." Of course I'm out shopping! And we want to go beyond that initial assumption. Don't just assume the customer is out shopping; assume the customer is walking into your store with his holiday list. With less than three weeks to go and the crowds only getting bigger every day, why wouldn't a customer be out buying? If you're assuming that your customer is ready to buy more than he thinks he is, remind him of the benefits in buying now. (Shorter line, better selection, faster gift wrap, getting to work with you as their sales associate, etc.) 2. Use assumptive language to maximize your opportunity. Of course, this goes hand in hand with assuming the customer is coming into your store to buy for their list. Assumptive language conveys to your customer that you are ready to help her make a purchase, and helps her picture the people on her list receiving and using the gifts she gives. It also does the same if she is buying something for herself. Try these key assumptive words: Will - "You will really enjoy this" or "This will look beautiful on her." When - "When he opens this" or "When she puts it on for the first time." Use or Wear - "When you use this you'll be amazed at how well it works" or "When you wear this I'm sure you'll just love it." (Come to think of it, Love is another great assumptive word.) 3. Assume your customer will buy multiple products for multiple people on his list. As I've said many times, let the customer decide when he is done. Here are some examples of using assumptive language to continue the sale "Here are the matching earrings" instead of "Would you like to see the matching earrings?" "This smaller one is a perfect compliment to this one." instead of "If you're interested, there is a smaller version." "Who else is on your list?" instead of "Will there be anything else?" Remember, it's only rude if you keep showing the customer products when she says she is ready to leave. Give yourself a goal of allowing every customer to make the decision to go to the register. So let me ask, are you ready for a wildly successful and assumptive weekend? --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Don't wait - create! 29 November, 2011, 3:36 pm
On Monday I was in a store and asked a few employees who were standing around how business was. Well, I really wanted to ask why they were standing around talking among themselves, but I restrained myself. But I digress. The employees said they had been pretty busy over the weekend, but now they were "just waiting to get busy again." I totally get it. The first full week of the holiday season is always a bit maddening. At times it doesn't even seem like it's the holiday, and then BAM you get slammed for a while. Then it's back to slow again. You can approach the next couple of weeks in two different ways. You can wait for success or you can create it. Don't miss the opportunities that are before you because you're waiting for future opportunities to show up. The slower periods offer an incredible opportunity to get to know your customers better and deliver an experience that is second to none. As matter of fact, these slower times should allow you to greatly increase your average sale and units per transaction. When not with customers I would be on the phone or on email inviting customers to come into the store. Work off a short script that gives your customer three benefits to coming in soon. 1. During the early part of the holiday it is more relaxing to shop in the store. 2. You are able to spend more time helping them find the perfect gift and/or items for themselves. 3. More products are in stock. You especially want to share this if you have a gift with purchase that is in limited supply. Don't wait for success to find you this holiday...create it! --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
The leadership holiday effect 23 November, 2011, 6:21 am
There are several somewhat intangible staff attributes that separate the good from the great stores over the course of the holiday season. They aren't things we train on, but are the result of the leadership and the effect they have on his/her team. These intangibles directly impact the customer's experience and, ultimately store results, in a positive or negative way. Here are some key intangible for your consideration. Attitude Well-led teams are excited about the upcoming holiday. They know that the next six weeks will be very busy and at times very tiring, but they're also eager to get started because they know how important Christmas is to a store's long-term profitability. In other stores, the staff is dreading the holidays. They're talking about how difficult customers are, how the store hours stink, and everything else they believe is going to be bad about the holiday. The attitude of the leader is the attitude of the team. Beliefs Well-led teams believe they control what happens this holiday. They don't dismiss how challenging the economy has been for a lot of people, but they also know they have the products and store experience that people will pay for. Other teams are already preparing for failure. They've been told that customers prefer other stores so they just do the best they can. Unfortunately for them, when the bar is set so low the best isn't going to be good enough. Staff beliefs come directly from the leader. Energy This may well be an outcome of attitude and beliefs, but customers can feel the energy and passion from a well-led team. Energized teams have a bounce in their step as they work the floor and enthusiastically welcome their customers into their store. Not so for the other teams. Maybe they'll find it when the holiday crowds hit - but if they don't have the energy now I'm not sure they'll get it later. The daily energy level of the leader sets the energy level for the team. Focus Well-led teams are laser focused on the customer. Their goal is to win every customer who walks in the door, maximize the opportunity, and extend the relationship by setting up the next visit. Everything else is secondary. The holiday is well underway in these stores. Other teams are still waiting for the holiday customers and are juggling current customers with getting everything ready for the big day. They fail to see that every day is now the big day. A team's focus is determined by the leader's expectations and own actions. As a leader, all you have to do is look around to see what your attitude, beliefs, energy, and focus are. Your team is displaying them today. I hope you like what you see. --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Go BIG on your holiday events 17 November, 2011, 6:43 am
There are many reasons to host holiday events. They're great ways to drive your best customers into the store and best of all, most of them arrive intending to make a purchase. Events are going to be key for a lot of independent specialty retailers this holiday. If you go BIG and follow these tips you'll not only deliver a better customer experience, you're also more likely to sell more, a lot more, at your event. 1. Go BIG - even overboard - with your event. I've been to a lot of store events in my life and the ones that stand out the most are the ones that exceeded my expectations at the time. If you're going to go to the hard work and expense of hosting an event for your customers, by all means spend the extra money to impress your guests. Surprise people by taking your food and drink up a level. Use higher quality plates, utensils and serving pieces. Give out gifts and prizes that people will remember. Do something that you know will wow your guests. Although you may not see the extra effort and expense pay off at the event itself, the impression it makes on your customers will pay long-term dividends. 2. Make a BIG effort to get your best customers to the event. You can't leave the important subject of which customers attend your event up to chance. You need those top 10-25-50-100 customers to show up. You also want those customers who spent big at last year's event to come back this year. Take time right now, before you get too busy, and create a customer wish list for your event. You know, the customers you want to attend. Right before the event these customers should be sent handwritten invitations and called. You may need to take an employee off the floor to do this, or bring in a temp. The owner or manager should consider personally calling the top five or ten customers on the wish list. 3. Go BIG on staffing by bringing people in for non-selling activities. This is especially important for holiday events. I once attended a men's night at a boutique where it seemed the staff was doing everything except selling. Use temporary staff such as family members and friends of the staff to serve food and drinks, gift wrap, and take care of any other non-selling activities. You want sales people selling BIG. 4. Offer BIG incentives for your staff the night of the event. Not only do you want sales people selling, you want them to maximize every customer opportunity. Consider having progressive payouts and prizes for higher levels of performance. If you can, make an even bigger impact by paying out the incentives at the end of the night. 5. Have a HUGE sales goals for your event. If you're going big with everything else, then you should be able to put up huge sales numbers at a holiday event. Aim high! So let me ask, are you going BIG enough for your upcoming holiday events? --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.
Purposeful parties and events 9 November, 2011, 10:07 pm
Last week one of our clients announced to their employees that the traditional holiday party will not be held this year. The employees were very disappointed. The annual event has long been a high point of the year because it brought families together together for an evening of food, drinks, and socializing. The disappointment turned to excitement when the owner announced that the holiday party hasn't been completely cancelled, but will be replaced by a smaller scale event that will enable people to give back to their community. The company is giving each employee a gift card to use to purchase holiday gifts for children in need. The employees, along with their families, will bring their purchases to a giftwrapping party held over consecutive nights at the company's office. The giftwrapping party will be catered and is shaping up to be a wonderful evening. LOVE IT! It's a holiday party with a purpose. Employees are still recognized for their contribution to the company, but at the same time the organization is able to give something to their community. It's a win/win that makes a difference, and in this particular instance it could spell the difference between a child having a present under the tree or not. Whether you currently do something like this or not, it's a great reminder of the opportunities to touch more lives we have in our businesses. You also can't underestimate the impact this has on both employees and customers. Here are a few more suggestions for ways to add more purpose to holiday parties and events: * Donate a gift or make a contribution for every customer who shows up at a VIP or Wishlist event. This gesture could be the tipping point for a customer who is undecided about whether to attend or not. * Ask customers to bring a gift or canned goods as the price of admission for an event. Even better, match the donation. * Offer a gift card or discount for bringing in a gift or canned goods. This is a great way to start the sale. It's up to you and your team to finish it. * Let customers vote on Facebook and/or in the store for your holiday charity. * Partner with a local shelter or charity to create a Wishlist tree. Customers can purchase an ornament that helps a particular person or family in need, and those customers are invited to an exclusive evening or weekend holiday event. So let me ask, how can you add more purpose to your parties and events? --------------- Doug Fleener is a proven retail and customer experience expert that helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results. Visit our website or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.

Retail Design Diva

Trend Alert: The Anti-Salon 16 January, 2012, 5:00 am
Trend alert! Here at Retail Design Diva, we love discovering new retail design concepts, product offerings, visual merchandising, sustainability projects, etc. – if it’s retail - we love it. We also (if you’ve ever met any one of us) love our hair. So, when the two merge together, it’s sort of a big deal. Now, that we’ve got your attention, here’s the trend: a salon that does nothing more than blow out your hair. If you’re a man, you probably have no idea what this means. We’ll explain. A blow out is when your hair is freshly washed and then blown dry into the lusciousness that you always knew your hair could be, but that you can never get it to be on your own. For only $35, customers can enter Drybar, sip a tasty beverage (champagne perhaps?), watch a favorite movie, relax and walk out with movie star hair. Have I mentioned that we love this? It gets better. Drybar is mixing it up by creating several choices for thier customers (so smart!). They host parties for girlfriends, offer a variety of blow-out options (from the Straight Up to the Cosmo-Tai to the Hot Toddy), and even – now this is really smart – offer monthly memberships for ladies who rely on a blowout as their signature look. And the reason we’re calling this a trend is that Drybar is popping up all over the place. They currently have locations in NYC, Atlanta (the home of DDI), Texas, California and Arizona. Now, if I can just talk them into opening a location in Portland, Ore.… Part of Drybar’s expansion and success may be linked to bringing on Karen Kelley as COO and president. Kelley is a retail executive with more than 20 years of experience with a host of national retail chains. There just might be a connection... OR it’s just a wicked awesome concept. You decide. First things first, have you been to a Drybar? If so, details please! Secondly, what do you think of the “anti-salon” concept? Leave your illustrious thoughts here! -Heather Strang
Welcome to 2012! But First, Some 2011 Holiday Shopping Results 9 January, 2012, 5:00 am
Happy 2012! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season. And now, for the important stuff. Drum roll, please… The results from the 2011 Christmas holiday season are in (thank you ShopperTrak – who had the data out before any of us were even back to work!), and they are spectacular. In all ways, the 2011 holiday season rocked. Let’s review: Roughly $44 billion was spent the week ending Dec. 24, a 37.8 percent increase over the week prior and a 14.8 percent increase over the same time period in 2010. Month-to-date sales for December 2011 were 4.7 percent higher than December 2010. We’re still procrastinators – 32.4 percent more of us were out shopping the week ending Dec. 24 than the week prior. And yes, that was me on Dec. 24 hitting a few stores for local wine and cheeses (it’s amazing who you forget to put on your list in all of the holiday shopping hub-bub!). The day after Christmas was also a booming shopping day; it was fourth in foot-traffic and sales for the entire holiday season, with foot traffic increasing 25.9 percent from the same day last year. Consumers spent approximately $7.1 billion, a 25.5 percent increase from the same time period in 2010. Whew! So we shopped until we dropped, or until the ball dropped on Jan. 1, 2012 that is. I know I was guilty of last-minute Christmas shopping, were you? If you’re a retailer did you experience the same stellar results that ShopperTrak discovered? Leave your comments here. -Heather Strang P.S. And here’s to an even more outstanding year in 2012 for everyone! Image credit: © Nevit Dilmen found at Wikimedia commons
Mobile Mayhem 5 January, 2012, 5:00 am
Diva loves having a smart phone and all the conveniences that come with it. Case in point: a few weeks ago, Diva made an unexpected stop at a local Gap store during one of her holiday shopping marathons. She actually found a few items on sale that would make perfect gifts and proceeded to the checkout line, wishing that she'd remembered to print out that $10 coupon she received in her e-mail from Gap several days earlier. Diva's only hope was that the store would accept the coupon via mobile phone (plenty of other stores do, so this was not a long stretch). Here is what went down: Diva: (Standing at the register, Diva shows the sales associate her phone screen.) Do you accept e-mail coupons via smart phone? Sales Associate: Ummm, I don't know, let me check. (Looks slightly exasperated, as if a partial eye roll is on the verge at any moment. Turns to coworker at other register.) Ummmmm, like, John, can we use coupons off phones? Coworker John: Yea, definitely. Just have her expand it so you can see the code and type in the number. Sales Associate: Okay, yea, just like, expand it (mimes the technique used for zooming on an iPhone with his fingers, which Diva does not find helpful since she has a Blackberry). Diva: (Tries to zoom in, accidentally clicks a link that navigates away from the coupon, but quickly goes back and zooms in properly, then hands phone over to cashier.) Sorry about that, here it is zoomed in, is that close enough? Sales Associate: Uhhhhhh, yea. (Starts to type code in, then places one hand on his hip and cocks head over his shoulder to another coworker.) Jamie, this is exactly what I was talking about. Diva: (Stands in shock, cannot believe this employee is copping such an attitude and clearly talking smack about Diva right in front of her.) Excuse me???? (Glares at employee with dagger eyes, then shoots an "are you serious"-look at the coworker/supervisor to cashier's left. [Diva has younger siblings and knows the fastest way to retribution is always through an authority figure.]) Sales Associate: (Gets reprimanded by his coworker/supervisor and is told to "knock it off." Then completes the transaction, hands Diva her merchandise in a bag.) Have a great holiday! Diva: (Still fuming, only offers up a death stare.) And, scene! The moral of this ridiculously long story: mobile marketing is convenient and great, but if your sales staff is not trained on how to implement it at the store level, than it really does more harm than good. While Diva loves a smart phone, she does not love a snippy, untrained sales associate giving her attitude. Period. --The Diva
Happy Holidays! Macy's Is Open 24/7 Until Christmas 22 December, 2011, 5:00 am
Happy Holidays! As we inch ever closer to Christmas Day (3 days and counting!), retailers are turning up the heat. Macy’s recently announced its plans to remain open for 83 hours leading up to the big Christmas holiday. In fact, beginning yesterday, Dec. 21, 14 Macy’s locations are open 24/7 through 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 24. Now, there’s really no excuse to miss out on getting any holiday gifts. Guys, are you hearing us? You can’t bail with the whole, “I ran out of time” excuse. Macy’s just ripped it from you. In addition, 27 stores will remain open until 2 a.m. on the three nights leading up to Christmas Eve. I’m a bit worried for Macy’s employees, although Macy’s notes that employees volunteer to work these shifts (and surely they’re receiving time and a half pay, right??). I’m not sure if this is pure craziness or not. I mean, do we really need our retailers to be this available? Or is Macy’s beating out the competition with this ultra-smart (and possibly exhausting) business move? The final holiday reports will show us the results. In the meantime, happy shopping! Be sure to leave comments below if you shop at Macy’s at 4 a.m. or any other wacky time or have a pulse on whether these extended hours are too much even for crazed holiday shoppers. May this be your best holiday season yet, and may 2012 shine brightly for you and yours! -Heather Strang
Arch + Design Makes Job Hunting Easy 19 December, 2011, 7:37 am
Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a one-stop resource for jobs in architecture and design? And wouldn’t it be great if the top brands posted jobs on this resource, and also included career news and tips? Yeah, we thought so, too. And that’s why we’re thrilled to announce the start of Arch + Design Job Market, a career resource for architecture and design professionals. Powered by Adicio and launched by Nielsen Expositions Design Group, Arch + Design features more than 5,000 jobs and an audience of more than 100,000 professionals. Not a bad way to kick off a job site, eh? Arch + Design intends to provide a connection between hiring companies and recruiters to engage with its brands, such as: Contract, Hospitality Design, Kitchen & Bath Business and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, along with the rockin (if we don’t say so ourselves) DDI and GlobalShop. The site not only features 5,000+ jobs, but also the latest in industry news, salary research, a resume builder, writing guide and career tips. So, are you ready to get your career on? Check out Arch + Design and let us know what you think. Leave your comments below. -Heather Strang
When Bad Gifts Happen to Good People 15 December, 2011, 8:18 am
Remember when grandma gave you that extra large fuzzy sweater for Christmas a few years ago or that hard-as-a-rock loaf of fruit cake from Aunt Nancy? While the holidays present an opportunity to get everything we do want, we can also end up with some stuff we would never want in a million years. Luckily, this happens to everyone, so we can all commiserate together. In fact, there’s even a survey out by Consumer Reports that tracks what people do when they receive terrible gifts over the holidays. And as far as surveys go, this is one of my favorites; it’s right up there with the top 10 Halloween costumes report. The survey uncovered something very lovely about human beings. We are far too nice when it comes to receiving bad gifts—40 percent of respondents made the “best of” the lousy gift, while 39 percent hid it somewhere (like the back of the closet or under the bed, perhaps?), and 18 percent donated it to charity. While fairly passive-aggressive options, it’s far better than what some folks choose to do. There’s a tenacious 2 percent of respondents who actually have the gall to return the gift to the gift-giver. Wouldn’t you just love to be a fly on the wall for that showdown? Yikes! The report went on to share the culprits of this horrible gift-giving. It’s the usual suspects, of course: in-laws, friends, and grandma and grandpa. However, because we’re so nice, at least 44 percent of respondents believe the thought is more important than anything else—even a bad gift. Aww…aren’t we sweet? But really, I would like grandma to know I wear a medium and that camel is not my color. Ever. With Americans set to spend $707 each on holiday gifts this year (up 4 percent from last year!), there’s a lot of room for bad gift-giving. We just hope it doesn’t happen to you. What do you do with your bad/ugly/awful holiday gifts? We hope we’ve at least given you some good ideas, but if not, please share your responses below. -Heather Strang
Will the Tablet Be Next to Rule the World? 12 December, 2011, 5:48 am
Remember when the iPhone was the biggest thing around? Then, before we knew it the iPad was here and a brand new revolution launched. Well folks, the evolution of technology is continuing (shocking!), and it has a big impact on how consumers shop and how retailers, well, retail. A May 2011 report from BizRate Insights / Forrester Research study found that: 60 percent of tablet owners use their tablet to shop 21 percent of online/mobile commerce is tied to tablets Tablet shoppers are five to six times more likely to buy than smartphone shoppers, and nearly two times more than PC shoppers. They also spend 28 percent more on each order than non-tablet users. (What is it about that tablet?!) 56 percent of tablet users download shopping apps The folks at Revel Touch have taken this data and their love of retail/shopping to create an interface that allows users to shop at an optimal level. Anthropologie is one of the first to utilize this new technology for its customers. When a retailer uses Revel Touch to create its very own app, customers can then have access to the retailer’s entire inventory, and have all of the retailer’s social media and online components integrated in one place. My personal favorite aspect of this new technology is that users can build their entire outfit via the interface. I love this “build-your-outfit” concept, and I hope more retailers will jump on board. Let me mix and match, and play with different styles on my tablet (when I get one, that is); I’m sure to buy more that way and have a lot more fun. And that means I’ll be telling everyone and their mother about this cool new interface that lets me design my entire wardrobe without having to stand under poor lighting and spend hours taking my clothes on and off. That’s a win-win for everyone. It will be interesting to see if the tablet becomes the new shopping mechanism for consumers and if Revel Touch will be a bigger part of our online shopping experiences. Do you love the tablet concept? Shop with yours currently? Tell us about it here! -Heather Strang
Macy's Makes Us Believe Again—Enter to Win Today! 8 December, 2011, 6:47 am
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. There, I said it. And not just because of the gorgeous, sparkling trees, smells of cinnamon and baked treats, cheerful holiday tunes, or cozy romantic nights (the power of white twinkle lights!). It’s also wonderful because of the giving spirit that encompasses both consumers and retailers during the holiday season. Macy’s is one such retailer. Beginning Dec. 9, Macy’s will launch its Believe campaign. The campaign is aimed at reclaiming the magic of the holidays (in surprisingly creative and mobile ways), and runs through Dec. 24. Macy’s has done a fantastic job creating a Believe campaign that’s worthy of our attention. Check this out: Stores nationwide, as well as online, feature letter-writing Believe stations and Santa Mail letterboxes. For each letter received, Macy’s donates $1 to The Make-A-Wish Foundation (so far they’ve received nearly 550,000 letters!). A “Macy’s Believe-o-Magic” app can be downloaded for IOS and select Android users allowing folks to interact with characters from the “Yes, Virginia” holiday classic. Customers can take a photo—which can then be uploaded into a holiday card template—to share via e-mail or Facebook. Believe fans will be entered into Macy’s Facebook “Believer of the Week” contest with the chance of being featured as Macy’s profile photo (hint: you need a lot of “likes” for your photo to win). In fact, Macy’s is so ga-ga about their Believe campaign (and we gotta say, so are we) that they're offering a free Snode Snowglobe to one of our lucky blog readers! Simply write a comment below with your thoughts about the Believe campaign. Can Macy’s lure you into the magic of the holidays? Believe with us! Happy Holidays! -Heather Strang *Please note: Only one comment per reader.
Holiday Shopping 2011 Is Off To a Successful Start 1 December, 2011, 7:45 am
As if eating enough turkey and pumpkin pie for 10 people all while spending time with the people we love wasn’t enough to make our Thanksgiving 2011 the best ever...Then retail sales skyrocketed on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday (we’re still awaiting word on Small Business Saturday)! ShopperTrak was right on all the action releasing its Black Friday results the day after the big sales. According to ShopperTrak reports, Black Friday sales increased 6.6 percent over 2010, accounting for $11.40 billion in retail purchases. Retail foot traffic rose as well – jumping 5.1 percent over last year’s shopping frenzy. Cyber Monday seemed to follow in Black Friday’s footsteps. Forbes reported that an estimated $1.25 billion was spent online, a 22 percent increase from last year (wowza!). Online deals ranging from retail to travel seemed to be getting everyone’s attention – my inbox was practically imploding on Monday with all of the deals offered. Cyber Monday’s success was attributed to not only an increase in the number of consumers shopping online – 11 percent - but folks also spent 9 percent more than they did last year at this time. All in all, it’s safe to say that holiday shopping for 2011 is in full swing and that it’s rockin! The prognosis for the rest of the shopping season looks grand, especially with such a strong start. It appears that we’re all ready to celebrate the holidays big this year and give our economy the nudge it deserves. How did you celebrate Black Friday and Cyber Monday? What’s your retail prognosis? Leave your comments here! -Heather Strang *Photo courtesy of Jobsearch on Wiki Commons.
Gaga's Workshop Sets a New Bar for Retail Displays 28 November, 2011, 7:33 am
Never before in the history of holiday window displays have celebrities turned out to gawk, stare and enjoy. But, they are now. People.com caught Neil Patrick Harris and his partner at the opening of the Barneys Gaga’s Workshop, not to mention a host of other A-B-listers vying for a glimpse at this much-hyped display. One of the most prominent features in the workshop that’s catching our eye is the 11.67-ft. by 6.25-ft. laser phosphor display (LPD) video wall by Prysm. It’s titled as the “Gaga Constellation” and is located in a window next to the Barneys front door. This isn’t just any video wall (as if it could be for Gaga!). Oh no, this thing has it all – including social media and film. There’s a 90-second film directed by Tim Richardson that showcases Lady Gaga as she morphs into a variety of constellations along with a LIVE Twitter feed. Barneys and Gaga fans can send Tweets that will show up right on the video wall. Who even knew that was possible?! It’s classically Gaga – over the top, indulgent and raising quite the ruckus. It’s perfect for Barneys, perfect for Gaga and even allows customers to engage (right alongside celebrities). If this isn’t the best display idea, I don’t know what is. And while I’m not a Gaga fan (she frightens small children!), there is no denying her draw and ability to get attention. I certainly hope we see more retailers using video wall displays. Can you imagine all of the creative possibilities that exist with this option? What are your thoughts on this display? Love the video-wall? Know other retailers who are utilizing this stellar technology? Leave your comments here! -Heather Strang *Photos courtesy of Prysm Inc. P.S. The Diva can't wait to see these windows in person! She'll be in New York next week for the annual DDI Winning Windows competition—click here for more info!

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ARTS Social Retailing Blueprint 11 January, 2012, 6:09 am
At ARTS, we focus on helping retailers succeed with using technology. Technology can be a competitive advantage, but it can also hold companies back if its allowed to grow stale. Its important for every retailer to stay abreast of emerging technologies, and understand how adoption may or may not benefit the business. Using social media is the latest topic being addressed by ARTS. The ARTS Social Retailing Blueprint is a 143-page whitepaper that describes the use of social media by the retail industry. It includes ten specific tactics, examples of those tactics in use, and suggestions on organizational alignment. The document was written by representatives from the following companies: 8th Bridge, MicroStrategy, Verizon, Cisco, IBM, Oracle Retail, Versatil, Epson, SAP, Pier 1 Imports, Meru Networks, Red Prairie, Safeway, Criti, Cellpoint Mobile, and Push Science (in no particular order). Below is my favorite part of the blueprint, a summary of the ten tactics on a maturity scale. Retailers should first determine which of the ten tactics makes sense for their business, then for each tactic there are varying levels of maturity. Retailers will ideally start with the Novice level and grow to the right toward Advanced. If you're having trouble reading this eye-chart, click here for the raw version in which you can zoom. At the ARTS User Conference last year, I delivered a presentation on the Social Blueprint which you can find here. Two other great articles are at the NRF Big Blog and RIS News. There is no perfect recipe for social retailing, so its necessary for each retailer to experiment to find what works for them. Also, set realistic expectations for your social media efforts. Its unrealistic to think you'll substantially increase sales by creating a Facebook page, for example. Social media campaigns are an investment in your relationship with your customers, so give it some time to grow and strengthen. There is great potential for a relatively small investment.
Retail Orphan Initiative 10 January, 2012, 7:18 am
A few years back we had the CIO of SuperValu, Paul Singer, speak at Oracle Open World in the retail track. While I was expecting the usual stories about retail IT, Paul surprised everyone by showing a very inspiring video about the benefits and importance of adoption. Not only was Paul an adoptive parent, but he used his influential positions at SuperValu and Target to be an advocate for kids. I recall two people in the audience, Greg Buzek and Jeff Roster, both analysts for the retail industry, being moved by Paul's passion. It wasn't long before they helped form the Retail Orphan Initiative along with Marc Millstein and Rose Spicer. The organization, called RetailROI for short, raises funds from the retail community for the benefit of orphans all around the world. This is the third year for the SuperSaturday session at the NRF Big Show, a very informative event that doubles as a fundraiser. Oracle's Rose Spicer, who is also on RetailROI's board of advisors, has collaborated with Build-A-Bear to raise awareness and funds for RetailROI at NRF. On Monday morning she and many customers will meet at the local Build-A-Bear to create 150 stuffed animals that will be donated to New York orphans in partnership with the KIDS organization. Additionally, anyone that donates $20 to RetailROI in the Oracle booth will receive one of the bears pictured above. With just 2,000 donations, RetailROI will get $40,000 which will support 1,000 kids in Malawi. As you can see, there are several opportunities to support this worthy cause next week during the Big Show.
Engineered Systems for Retail 9 January, 2012, 11:11 am
I've been speaking to analysts in preparation for attending the NRF Big Show next week, and one comment I heard concerned me. The analyst said there's a misconception amongst some retailers that Oracle's software only runs on Oracle hardware. Clearly that's a misconception, but I understand how people may have jumped to that conclusion. Just to review, Oracle has announced three important engineered systems. Exadata is the database machine, Exalogic is the middleware machine, and Exalytics is the BI machine. Each system includes the hardware and system software built to work together for that specialized task. Typical engineered systems provide about a 3X performance boost on average, with some tasks significantly faster. Oracle's engineered systems are hardware and software built to work together. The "software" part of the equation includes things like the operating system, database, and middleware but not the business applications. One of the key benefits of this approach is that applications require no changes, so they will run on anyone's hardware as well as Oracle's engineered systems. And specifically for retail, we continue to partner with different hardware vendors to test and certify our applications. None of our retail products require Oracle hardware. Buying hardware from Oracle is optional, and that's the plan for the future as well. That said, there are lots of benefits from running Oracle Retail applications on Exadata, Exalogic, and Exalytics that retailers should consider. Blazing performance, hardware consolidation, reduced energy consumption, and easy expansion are a few.
Best Buy in a Downward Spiral? 3 January, 2012, 2:45 pm
Larry Downes seems to have struck a nerve with his popular Forbes article Why Best Buy is going out of Business...Gradually. As of this writing, he's already had over 550,000 views for the five-page, somewhat long-winded diatribe that was posted yesterday. Larry basically lays out his reasoning for Best Buy's demise based on poor customer service while refuting the excuse that cheaper online retailers like Amazon have an unfair advantage. He cites the recent cancellation of orders by Best Buy just before Christmas as the ultimate failure to serve customers. As a former Circuit City employee, I can feel Best Buy's pain. Electronics is a tough market. The products become obsolete quickly, installation and configuration can be customer service nightmares, and the Web has made competition more fierce than ever. I haven't shopped at Best Buy in quite a while, so I don't have any good or bad recent experiences to relay. But I did have three good customer experiences recently, so I thought I'd share: 1. We decided to do some remodeling in the kitchen so I ordered a faucet, cooktop, and range hood from Lowes.com. They were available to be delivered from the local store in two weeks, but since we'd be on vacation I put a specific date in the comments. Within an hour of submitting the order, my local Lowes called to verify exactly when I wanted the items delivered. Everything arrived as planned. 2. I ordered a MicroSD card from Amazon, but the wrong type of card was delivered. My order was accidentally switched with another Austin resident who got my product. I called Amazon and they immediately shipped my original product via 2-day delivery with no questions asked. I understand mistakes happen and just want them rectified quickly. 3. Lastly, I bought an expensive blender from Costco which went on sale the next week. I called and they happily refunded the difference. By the way, I chose to buy the blender from Costco not because they were cheapest but because they have an excellent return policy. All three situations had a few things in common. First, the employees I spoke with had good attitudes. I felt they enjoyed their jobs, and it made the conversation that much better. Second, all three retailers had the necessary systems to enable my purchase and handle post-purchase issues. Third, the people I talked to were empowered to make me happy. There was no runaround at all. In this blog I focus lots on the technology that powers retailers, but in the end its the human touch that makes it work. Perhaps Best Buy needs to get back to its customer service roots.
Retail Strategy for 2012 20 December, 2011, 2:48 pm
Earlier this month I reviewed my 2011 predictions and made new ones for 2012. Of course I wasn't the only one thinking about what's next for retail. RIS News published their 2012 outlook, Retail Touchpoints has their 2012 insights, and Stores has their 2012 predictions so there's no shortage of opinions. Reading these articles, its easy to pull out the major themes and they're exactly what you'd expect. I could write about each theme, but I thought it would be more fun to remove all but the buzzwords. See if you can still understand my summations... Mobile-- anywhere/anytime commerce, always on consumers, omni-channel, Amazon's showroom, ubiquitous access to product info, QRCodes, online inside, NFC, loyalty, empowered employees, endless aisles, tablets Social-- one-to-marketing, f-commerce, big data, customer analytics, psychographics, contextual offers Cloud-- deployment, management, access data from anywhere, lower TCO, elastic, utility pricing, security, SLAs, SaaS, outage This shortened version of writing sure saves time! Here's the point. Now is a good time to reflect on this year and think about your strategy for next year, which had better address all three mentioned areas. I'm not saying you need to embrace all three, but you do need to have a point-of-view on how each can affect your business. As you're reviewing your strategy, here's a little advice for the new year: Don't get caught up in the buzzwords. Look past the coolness factor and figure out how things directly impact the business. A Twitter account might increase sales, but old-fashion supply-chain management might move the needle even more. Put a little money toward innovation, and invest the rest toward improving the basics. Skate to where the puck is going. Your strategy must not only address your customers but also your future customers. Run ideas past your teenage kids because they will soon be your customers. This is especially important for matters relating to privacy, which continues to vary greatly by generations. Measure twice, cut once. Strategies must be based on data, not gut feelings. Execute only after you've done the necessary analysis and have metrics in place to assess results. Challenge the statistics and use multiple sources. Food for thought. See you next year at NRF!
2012 Predictions for Retail - Part 1 20 December, 2011, 12:57 pm
2012 is less than a month away, so this is the time of year we start seeing annual predictions.Susan Reda at Stores just published her take and I know IDC and Gartner have also released theirs. Many of last year's predictions could easily move forward to this year's: we'll continue to see lots of new alternative payment types, more engineered systems, better social analytics, more 2-D barcodes, greater adoption of cloud, and improved f-commerce. In past years we've seen the rise of Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon but 2012 will mark a year of war between these juggernauts on the retail battlefield. They will fight over NFC, tablets, digital content, and most importantly, trust from consumers. Retailers must keep a close eye on all four companies.1. Mobile Loyalty Often, loyalty cards are just a way for retailers to give away margin in the hopes that consumers will select them as their preferred store. But strong programs involve a trade-off: consumers get discounts, and in return retailers get to learn more about their customers (and serve them better), and have the opportunity to influence their behavior. The loyalty card was a blunt instrument that worked well for the consumer, but didn't deliver for most retailers. The concept of geo-fencing has been around a while, but there are few retailers that have really adopted it. The smartphone, with geo-fencing enabled, needs to become the consumer's loyalty card where retailers can incent, learn from, and communicate with customers. In 2012, geo-fencing will take off and deliver value for both consumers and retailers. Look for new loyalty programs built around smartphones. 2. Facebook Levels Off, Google+ Stalls, Groupon Withers, Amazon on Fire To put Facebook's 800 million users in perspective, that the same number of people that were using the internet in 2004 worldwide, which incidentally is when Facebook got its start. Only India and China have bigger populations. That kind of growth just can't continue, nor do I think engagement can increase. The novelty is wearing off, so while there are lots of users, I believe the engagement of those users will wane. Some of those users will feel more at home with Google+, but I seriously doubt many will close their Facebook accounts and make a permanent move. Google+ may continue to grow is user base, but users will spend more time on Facebook. Google will continue to dip its toes in retail with more small stores, a possible free-shipping program (similar to Amazon Prime), and of course Google Wallet and Google Offers. Other than Wallet, these efforts will go nowhere. The potency of Groupon offers will dilute with all the "me-toos" that pop up, and retailers will learn that their exchange of profits for new, disloyal customers isn't sustainable. Not taking $5.75 billion from Google will down in history as a huge mistake. Amazon's success with the Kindle will translate into more Prime customers and greater loyalty. The trend for shoppers to skip Google searches and go directly to amazon.com will continue, and Amazon will get more aggressive with books, movies, and music. Look for Amazon to acquire in the digital content area. Also, expect Amazon to have another AWS hiccup that gives retailers pause about using the cloud, but overall AWS usage continues to grow. 3. Apple Payments With all the news about alternate payments, this isn't a stretch at all. Apple will finally release the iPhone 5 with NFC support and start to leverage their iTunes customer base for payments in non-Apple stores. I don't see how this will be financially viable with both Apple and credit cards taking a cut of each sale, so look for Apple to push customers toward ACH (debit/checking) as PayPal does. Look for Apple to start a loyalty program to incent consumers to use the new payment vehicle. While we're on the subject of Apple, I'm betting they will release a new Apple TV product in 2012. Retailers should care because it will eventually allow viewers to "click on commercials" to get more details on products and sales. 4. Mobile Self-Checkout Self-checkout, especially at grocery stores, has been around for a while. Some love it, and some don't. Smartphones now make it possible to simulate an e-commerce experience in the physical store. As you add items to your physical cart, you can scan them into your transaction, then pay and walk out the store. No need to stand in line at all. Retailers are already putting mobile POS in the hands of its associates, so its not a huge step to expose that functionality directory to customers. As Apple leads the way, look for grocery chains to quickly add the capability followed by home improvement stores. More predictions in my next post.
Happy Holiday From a Friend 13 December, 2011, 8:16 am
As you may have learned from TV commercials, retailers like Walmart, Toys-R-Us, and Kmart are offering layaway programs this holiday season. The programs are welcomed by families living paycheck to paycheck that might not have the cash on hand to take advantage of great deals. They can lock in a good price and pay the amount off over weeks without having to worry about stores selling out of hot items and disappointing the kids. While this has been great news for many, something even better is happening across America. In Grand Rapids, Michigan a woman entered a Kmart and asked to see a list of layaway accounts so she should could pay a few off. At first the associate thought the lady wanted to take the items, but that was not the case. She chose three accounts that each included kid's toys and paid them down to a $10 balance. "They said that someone had paid $180 on my layaway and there was only $10 left," one of the beneficiaries says of being told about the mystery woman's gift. "I thought it was a joke...I thank her. It's the best gift that I ever received, and it's the gift of believing in people... And believing that there's good out there, 'cause you don't always see that." On the receipt the Secret Santa wrote, "Happy Holiday from a friend." Once a local TV station reported the deed, more such acts of kindness have been occurring across the country. Its tempting for Kmart to take advantage of the situation to boost its bottom line, but it claims it will not. “The beauty of this is that it's organic and coming from the customers and not from us,” said Salima Yala, the retailer's division vice president for layaway. “It's being driven by outside the company. It's just people to people.” Fantastic! Secret Santa picks up 3 layaway bills: woodtv.com
2012 Predictions for Retail - Part 2 6 December, 2011, 10:29 am
I think the first four predictions are pretty likely, so let's look at some things that are a bit of a stretch. These next four predictions are based on emerging technologies making inroads but not widespread adoption. Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments. 5. Usable Augmented Reality The first usable augmented reality app I used was Yelp when they had a semi-secret backdoor to access Monocle. The concept has been accessible to us since Apple combined the camera, GPS, and accelerometer in the iPhone, but I haven't seen anything I would use on a regular basis. Amazon's Flow is certainly a step in the right direction as is Tesco's subway store, and I think we'll see some more useful applications of AR next year. And AR isn't limited to consumers. It can be helpful for store managers to be able to get information about sales and inventory as they walk the store. If a manager wants to know how many transaction per hour a checkout associate is doing, she need only point her camera. 6. Accurate Indoor Location GPS has saved my marriage in several situations, and I can't live without it anymore. Its perfect for driving, but its not accurate enough to help me navigate my local Lowes and Home Depot. That's because GPS doesn't work well indoors. Smartphones typically use a combination of GPS satellites and WiFi access points to triangulate your position. The WiFi part is getting more accurate, and some systems leverage closed-loop security cameras to help. This year will be first rollout of accurate in-store directions for a big-box retailer. Not sure which one will be first, but I think the home improvement chains have the most to gain. Imagine standing in an aisle and pressing a "help me" button on your phone, and a clerk walks right to you for assistance. Or getting turn-by-turn directions to find the garage door openers, for example. Accurate indoor location also helps with geo-fencing that I mentioned earlier. You might receive location-specific offers and product information as you walk. 7. Shopping with Siri Apple's Siri is bringing to light the augmented humanity concept, the collaboration of humans and machines in transparent ways that enhance our everyday lives. A subset of the concept is using natural user interfaces that are easy to manipulate. In the case of Siri, voice response systems that understand questions and provide useful answers in context. As smartphone adoption continues to grow in 2012, so will our dependence on them for providing information. New mobile application that take advantage of voice response, computer vision, and even eye-tracking (remember, while you're using your iPhone, there's a camera pointed at your face) will begin to emerge. This means it will be even easier for consumers to get any and all information about products and brands. Look for Google and Apple to take the technology lead, and Amazon to capitalize on the advancements. 8. Behavior Profiling When I shop, there are certain things that persuade me to buy: free shipping, good reviews, great price, perceived quality, easy returns, etc. But those things vary by person and situation. What if a retailer had a shopping profile on each of its customers and knew how to efficiently market to that customer? While I don't that we'll get to that point in 2012, I do think significant progress in that direction will occur. Take myLowes for example. Lowes is collecting valuable information about each of its customers and will be better able to tailor offers that are more likely to be of interest. Lowes will sell more, and its customers will have a better experience. Look for retailers to offer more differentiated loyalty programs and then develop sophisticated marketing plans at more granular levels using all that psychographic big data. 2010 was the year when mobile went mainstream in the retail industry. 2011 marked widespread adoption of Facebook to drive sales and engage consumers. I think 2012 will be the year that cloud computing gets serious. Look for lots of acquisition in this space, and more retailers to dip their toes in the water.
Reviewing Retail Predictions for 2011 23 November, 2011, 6:16 am
I've been busy thinking about what 2012 and beyond will look like for retail, and I have some interesting predictions to share. But before I go there, let’s first review this year’s predictions before making new ones for 2012. 1. Alternate Payments We've seen several alternate payment schemes emerge over the last two years, and 2011 may be the year one of them takes hold. Any competition that can drive down fees will be good for everyone. I'm betting that Apple will add NFC chips to their next version of the iPhone, then enable payments in stores using iTunes accounts on the backend. Paypal will continue to make inroads, and Isis will announce a pilot. The iPhone 4S did not contain an NFC chip, so we’ll have to continuing waiting for the iPhone 5. PayPal announced its moving into in-store payments, and Google launched its wallet in selected cities. Overall I think the payment scene is heating up and that trend will continue. 2. Engineered Systems The industry is moving toward purpose-built appliances that are optimized across the entire stack. Oracle calls these "engineered systems" and the first two examples are Exadata and Exalogic, but there are other examples from other vendors. These are particularly important to the retail industry because of the volume of data that must be processed. There should be continued adoption in 2011. Oracle reports that Exadata is its fasting growing product, and at the recent OpenWorld it announced the SuperCluster and Exalytics products, both continuing the engineered systems trend. SAP’s HANA continues to receive attention, and IBM also seems to be moving in this direction. 3. Social Analytics There are lots of tools that provide insight into how a brand is perceived across popular internet sites, but as far as I know, these tools are not industry specific. The next step needs to mine the data and determine how it should influence retail operations. The data needs to help retailers determine how they create promotions, which products to stock, and how to keep consumers engaged. Social data alone does not provide the answers, but its one more data point that will help retailers make better decisions. Look for some vendor consolidation to help make this happen. In March, Salesforce.com acquired leading social monitoring vendor Radian6 and followed up with acquisitions of Heroku and Model Metrics. The notion of Social CRM seems to be going more mainstream now. 4. 2-D Barcodes Look for more QRCodes on shelf-tags, in newspaper circulars, and on billboards. It's a great portal from the physical world into the digital one that buys us time until augmented reality matures further. Nobody wants to type "www", backslash, and ".com" on their phones. QRCodes are everywhere. ‘Nuff said. 5. In the words of Microsoft, "To the Cloud!" My favorite "cloud application" is Evernote. If you take notes on your work laptop, you will inevitably need those notes on your home PC. And if you manage to solve that problem, you'll need to access them from your mobile phone. Evernote stores your notes in the cloud and provides easy ways to access them. Being able to access a service from anywhere and not having to worry about backups, upgrades, etc. is great. Retailers will start to rely on cloud services, both public and private, in the coming year. There were no shortage of announcements in this area: Amazon’s cloud-based Kindle Fire, Apple’s iCloud, Oracle’s Public Cloud, etc. I saw an interesting presentation showing how BevMo moved their systems to the cloud. Seems like retailers are starting to consider the cloud for specific uses. 6. F-CommerceTop of Form Move over "E" and "M" so we can introduce "F-Commerce," which should go mainstream in 2011. Already several retailers have created small stores on Facebook, and it won't be long before Facebook becomes a full-fledged channel in the omni-channel world of retail. The battle between Facebook and Google will heat up over retail, where both stand to make lots of money. JCPenney and ASOS both put their entire catalogs on Facebook, and lots of other retailers have connected Facebook to their e-commerce site. I still think selling from the newsfeed is the best approach, and several retailers are trying that approach as well. I just don’t see Google+ as a threat to Facebook, so I think that battle is over. I called 2011 The Year of F-Commerce, and that was probably accurate. Its good to look back at predictions, but we also have to think about what was missed. I didn't see Amazon entering the tablet business with such a splash, although in hindsight it was obvious. Nor did I think HP would fall so far so fast. Look for my 2012 predictions coming soon.
Four Emerging Payment Stories 14 November, 2011, 3:06 pm
The world of alternate payments has been moving fast of late. Innovation in this area will help both consumers and retailers, but probably hurt the banks (at least that's the plan). Here are four recent news items in this area: Dwolla, a start-up in Iowa, is trying to make credit cards obsolete. Twelve guys in Des Moines are using $1.3M they raised to allow businesses to skip the credit card networks and avoid the fees. Today they move about $1M a day across their network with an average transaction size of $500. Instead of charging merchants 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction, Dwolla charges a quarter -- yep, that coin featuring George Washington. Dwolla (Web + Dollar = Dwolla) avoids the credit networks and connects directly to bank accounts using the bank's ACH network. They are signing up banks and merchants targeting both B2B and C2B as well as P2P payments. They leverage social networks to notify people they have a money transfer, and also have a mobile app that uses GPS location. However, all is not rosy. There have been complaints about unexpected chargebacks and with debit fees being reduced by the big banks, the need is not as pronounced. The big banks are working on their own network called clearXchange that could provide stiff competition. VeriFone just bought European payment processor Point for around $1B. By itself this would not have caught my attention except for the fact that VeriFone also announced the acquisition of GlobalBay earlier this month. In addition to their core business of selling stand-beside payment terminals, with GlobalBay they get employee-operated mobile selling tools and with Point they get a very big payment processing platform. MasterCard and Intel announced a partnership around payments, starting with PayPass, MasterCard's new payment technology. Intel will lend its expertise to add additional levels of security, which seems to be the biggest barrier for consumer adoption. Everyone is scrambling to get their piece of cash transactions, which still represents 85% of all transactions. Apple was awarded another mobile payment patent further cementing the rumors that the iPhone 5 will support NFC payments. As usual, Apple is upsetting the apple cart (sorry) by moving control of key data from the carriers to Apple. With Apple's vast number of iTunes accounts, they have a ready-made customer base to use the payment infrastructure, which I bet will slowly transition people away from credit cards and toward cheaper ACH. Gary Schwartz explains the three step process Apple is taking to become a payment processor. Below is a picture I drew representing payments in the retail industry. There's certainly a lot of innovation happening.

Rick Segal's Retail Blog

Refocus, Reposition, Regrow… 10 January, 2012, 1:00 am
Every year I look at the webinars that I will be doing for the upcoming year and I look at the hot topics of the day and how they will affect my readers. This year, there is an overabundance of new ways of doing business for all of us to consider. The majority of the changes are within the area of communications with our customers. As new technologies are uncovered, they open up new opportunities for all of us to change the way we do business to make it more customer focused, enhancing the shopping experience, and in many cases reducing our cost of doing business. The world is changing and we must change with it. Business conditions are challenging but there is business to be had and great stores are doing business. They are finding their niche for merchandise that they sell and they cater to a select group of customers who appreciate what the store does and how the store does it. Let me give you the cold hard facts that you probably already know and really don't want to accept. 2011 will go down in retail history as the peak year for in-store traffic. The exodus from the brick and mortar store to buying online has reached epic proportions. The sales increases for online merchants are in the double digit range which is remarkable considering all of the increases this sector has had. It’s no longer having a website and selling from the website, online selling has become a requirement and, for many, a great source for revenue. Here is the list of webinars we will be conducting starting the end of January. They are as follows: January 25, 2012 What’s Hot in Communicating with Your Customers The way we reach customers today has become our most valuable asset. At one point, all we needed was their home address and phone number and we were connected to that customer. We’ve gone beyond that stage to e-mail marketing and now social media – texting and sharing our planned events. Retail communication technology has come a long way. This program is not for “techies.” The participant will learn the hottest new trends in reaching your customers and treating your preferred customers as preferred customers. You will learn: The things that you can implement immediately and have the biggest bang for your buck. The power of QR codes. Why there are better alternatives to e-mail marketing. Mastering calls to action. The power of landing pages. Why advertising as we know it is dead. An overview of Twitter and Facebook. This power packed session will open your eyes and even change the way you think about communicating with your customers. This is not to be missed. February 29, 2012 Retailing is Selling Customers crossing the threshold of a retail store today have become as rare and valuable as gold. We cannot afford to lose a sale and we can’t let add-on sales opportunities slip through our fingers. The Retail Sales Bible has become an instant success and the training packages that accompany the book are now being used by some of the biggest and best retailers in the world. This program reviews the steps it takes for sales excellence. You will learn: The first step of selling is selling ourselves. The secrets to Likeability and having the customer buy us first. The Greeting – how powerful it is and the effects it has to set the mood and get the customer ready to buy. Researching – study after study proves that the more we ask questions of potential customers the more they will buy Experimenting – suggesting merchandise to the customer and the secrets to avoid painting yourself in a corner. The Add-On – this is where retailers make their money; you already have the customer who likes you and has bought from you, failure to suggest another item is criminal. Tethering – the skill of extracting information about a customer so that we can service and sell them better. The do’s and don’ts of selling – the things to avoid and the things to embrace that will make everyone a more effective salesperson. March 28, 2012 Motivating your Employees for Peak Performance The success of our business depends on the performance of our employees. Learn the techniques of the masters and become a more effective manager who generates strong sales results. You will learn: How to master the skill of being up when they’re down and down when they’re up. How to understand monkey management and the subconscious power of copying. The effectiveness and the team building capabilities of the compliment concept How to identify the pillars of good management. How to understand bad management and how businesses fail. We are only as strong as our weakest link. We need the skills to strengthen those links that this program offers. April 25, 2012 The Returnability Quotient What’s the sense of building a website where the customer only goes once? The goal is to make your website exciting with the power to make you return again and again. This program is the result of a research project that Rick Segel & Associates was asked to participate in and conduct for the best ways that retailers and small businesses employ to have their customers return to their site over and over. There will be excerpts from the book 101 Ways to Have People Return to your Website Again and Again. You will learn: The most common, proven techniques that can be implemented easily at a minimum cost. How to harness the power of event marketing The surprising impact that product reviews have had on retail businesses The effects of texting and other communication vehicles> The use of surveys and customer opinion goals Some of the off the wall techniques that are considered on the fringe today but will be mainstream in a relatively short period of time. The more people go to your website, the greater opportunities they have to buy from you. The key element of returnability is the word “free” and the consistent and long-term management commitment to this type of endeavor. May 23, 2012 Planning your Promotional Calendar – Event/Promotional Retail stores have become event driven. The challenge comes when we define what events are. They are not all sale events or price reduction events. These events include things such as trunk shows, fashion events, educational workshops and seminars, clearance sales, bounce back coupon events, online only promotions, etc., etc. This program is the complete package of retail tools and tips that will make all of us better retailers. You will learn: Ways to handle price reduction events. How to promote your event and to what audience. How to coordinate your social networking with your in-store promotions. That rarely is there a bad promotion or a great promotion. That the key is constantly promoting and building a base from these promotions. This is why it is important to plan your promotions in advance so that you can have on your calendar a list of things that need to be done prior to the promotions. June 20, 2012 Visual Merchandising for the Artistically Deprived and Financial Handicapped This program is one of the few programs that is being repeated from previous years. However, the program is always different because we will be featuring different stores and critiquing their visual expressions and how their store looks and feels in the eyes of the consumer. You will learn: Basic customer service skills. Why selling is really service and service is really selling. What colors work well together and what colors don’t. Visual merchandising challenges from real stores and real people and what we can learn from their experiences. We will be accepting applications from stores that would like to be evaluated online by Rick Segel himself which will pay huge dividends in the near future. This program will accommodate as many people as possible and is one of the longest programs we will do this year. July 25, 2012 Website Review This always popular program will critique 3-5 websites and give pointers on how to improve them and techniques that are being used by many but might not be used by yours. Or this program, we will be looking for any stores that would like to have their websites reviewed. You will learn: How to attract more customers to your website. Proven techniques that build consistent traffic. The power of the Call-To-Action and what it can do to the effectiveness of your site. Why product reviews should be on your site. The effective use of the logos for Twitter and Facebook on your site. The way customers surf and find us. Why landing pages are part of effective websites. This program will accommodate all volunteers who are willing to submit their website for review and commentary. This has been our number one program every series and will probably receive the same high marks as in previous years. August 29, 2012 The Power of PR and How to Get It Advertising you pay for and public relations you pray for. Advertising has the ability to transform a business overnight. An appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show has represented millions to that vendor. The majority of the guests on all of the major and minor talk shows don’t just happen; they are “pitched and proposed” by some of the best public relations people in the business. A few years ago I worked with a store that had been in business for 28 years and would always maintain a 3-5% sales increase until one year where sales jumped way over 40%. How is this possible? That person wrote a simple guide to buying a wedding dress that was picked up by a news service and the rest is one of the greatest retail success stories known to mankind. Many people believe that’s not a maintainable increase in sales. There are two ways to answer that. It’s OK, an increase in sales is an increase in sales. It sure beats a decrease in sales. Plus, you are exposing so many more people to your business. This program will cut through the maze of public relations advice and narrow it down to the techniques that you can adopt as you feel comfortable and are capable of implementing immediately. You will learn: The power of the headline in everything you do. How to write benefit-oriented material . Why timing is key . The killer words and phrases that get noticed . How to get your reader excited about what you’re writing. In addition to the list above, there are five more must-know techniques in becoming a darling of the media. This program has the ability to change your business forever. September 19, 2012 Learning how to Read your Financial Statement , AKA Know the Numbers that Affect your Business This program is not for bookkeepers or accountants. It is also not for anyone who can analyze a financial statement. This is a basic, “The numbers you need to know, what they represent, and how it affects you” type of program. There are far too many retailers every year who hear the message from their accountants indicating that they had a strong sales year but they don’t have any money to show for it. Why does that happen? Simply because the retailer spent all of their money and profits on stock and their assets are hanging on their shelves and on their racks. You will learn: That just because you’re doing business doesn’t mean you’re making money. The effects of markdowns and markups and why they are so critical. Why some stores are highly successful staying small and why larger stores can experience financial Armageddon. Why overbuying is NOT the root that causes financial disasters. Simple formulas that will make you a better owner, a savvier business person and your own personal consultant. In addition to the above, you will learn simple controls that will address your needs, your concerns, and are appropriate for any size retailer today. It is accounting for people who hate accounting. October 24, 2012 Store Layout and Design Recently, a major retail chain did a store layout change. They changed their floor plans from a straight line with displays on the end caps to a circular racetrack type of style. The people who worked in the store hated it and their customers complained constantly about this new layout. After only a seven week test, the company adopted the design for all of their stores even though everyone hated it. Why would they do that? The answer is simple. They hated it because they were not used to it. As people get older they don’t like change or surprises. Therefore, this major change would have upset a rather vocal group. The reason why they adopted the change was because the sales numbers were so spectacular that they couldn’t help but adopt this change. The question is, “What was so powerful?” It was the simple fact that customers were exposed to more merchandise. Look at it this way – if a customer were to go into a supermarket and their eyes reviewed 500 different products and labels and they ended up buying 70 pieces what would it be like if they were exposed to 1,000 items? This program on layout will discuss various store designs and models that can make immediate impacts on a business. It is a combination of organization, display and financial savvy that can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. You will learn: The best layouts for your business. The power of creating a positive shopping experience. How to change layouts for maximum performance during various season . Why a store should always look full regardless of the season and the techniques to making it appear full . A better understanding of the use of color and props that enhance store layouts and designs . Join us in speaking with Brian Dyches, a leader in the field of store design to help you to better understand how important a store’s layout can be and how it can affect the moods of a customer. November 28, 2012 Networking and How to Do It and Ways to Build Advisory Committees and Boards of Directors (Details to follow later) December 19, 2012 Breakthrough tools to use for a better 2013 (Details to follow later)
2012 and The New Rules of Retailing 3 January, 2012, 1:00 am
My mother used to tell me stories about her father, a grandfather I had never met, who was a produce peddler in Superior, Wisconsin. He would use a phrase constantly to explain all of the changes taking place in the country in the early part of the 1900s. He would simply say, “It's a new America.” Can you imagine if he were alive today? As the great entertainer of that generation, Al Jolson, would say, “You ain’t seen NOTHING yet.” We are experiencing changes at lighting fast speeds. We better adapt and adopt quickly, otherwise we will be left holding an empty shopping bag. The traffic count of shoppers going into stores has reached its ALL TIME PEAK in 2011. Oh sure, you can be clever and creative and have a successful promotion that will bring a new peak in the amount of people crossing your threshold. I don’t mean to take those initiatives lightly, after all that is the backbone of my business, creating promotions that make registers ring. However, the facts speak for themselves. You don’t need to even read all the surveys, sales data, and all of the online reporting to see the shift from buying at retail to purchasing online. (I am writing this article as I am traveling with my wife back home after the holidays. She got up to go to the news store at the airport. She said she was looking for a book to read on the trip. That seemed strange to me because she now reads all of her books on her iPad. She returned without a book and I asked, “Didn’t you see anything you wanted?” Her response was, “Oh no. I have 3 good ideas. I just want to check the reviews online then download it from Amazon.” The poor retailer was just a free catalog for Amazon. That is just the beginning. Brides think nothing of going into bridal shops to try on bridesmaid dresses, have the store take all the measurements, and buy it online. That sucks but that is the new Retail Reality. The new acronym is P.C.R. which stands for Party, Conversion, and Returnability. There are the 3 Legs of the Stool of The New Retail Reality. The Party Principle means that a store must be Event Driven. We need to attract more people through our front doors. We must create an event calendar of all type of activities, from Anniversary promotions, to classes, to book signings by local authors and, of course, price-driven events. We MUST become party planners and event mangers. Thus the name. What is the biggest part of any party? Deciding who to invite and how you are going to invite them. Then you want your guests excited about coming to your party. We need to create the buzz, the spin, the word of mouth advertising that turns a party into an Event. That’s why the most important part of the process is our commitment to all of the new ways to communicate that Social Media provides. From blogs, to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This might be tough for some BUT it is a requirement today. The Conversion Formula is all about making the register ring. It is all about converting lookers into buyers. It is where the rubber meets the road. Here is the formula to generate additional revenue immediately: Interested Buyer + Visual Enhancements + Human Touch Point = Sales! Visual Enhancements encompass all of the ways that we visually display our merchandise including the store layout and our interior advertising initiatives, AKA our instore signage program. Signs Sell. This is not only the title of my new book but it is the single fastest way to immediate sales increases. The other aspect of the conversion formula is the Human Touch Point. It is the service we offer but it is also how we sell. Yes, Retailing is Selling. I strongly recommend that every retailer adopt my GREAT Selling System. It is from my book, The Retail Sales Bible, and knowing how to sell is a critical element to the Conversion Formula. The Returnablity Quotient is the part of the process that insures that customers return again and again. Not only to the store but return on a regular basis to your website. Look for my new book this year called the Returnability Quotients… 101 Ways to Have Customers or Clients Return to Your Websites Again and Again. This is a science today and I can’t wait to share my finding with all of you. Until then, think about the 3-legged stool. With one leg for The Party, one for Conversions, and one for Returnability. Of course, you could also look at it as the 3-headed dragon that is all-powerful making, this an all-powerful concept!
Are You A Positive Paula Or A Negative Nancy? 27 December, 2011, 1:00 am
As I get older I am really learning to believe in the power of thinking positively more than ever before. I see more people who believe they can do things… in fact, doing them. While the people who say they can’t do things… don’t seem to do anything. Many of us don’t even realize we are doing it. Maybe because it’s the end of the year and it is a time to reflect, I look around at both old and new friends and all of the different businesses I have contact with over the course of a year. I realize there are certain people I really want to associate with and those are the people who haven’t given up, are looking for ways to make things work and just have that can-do attitude. Someone who has known me for a long time reminded me last week of what I had accomplished from my early days of working with my mother in a 900 square foot dress shop in a suburban downtown location. He said that it seems like I am a far cry with what my life is today. I thought about all of the places where I have spoken professionally across the United States and around the world. I have written 15 books and have had my articles published in more countries than I can name. So what, who cares? In writing this I am feeling awkward because it sounds as if I am bragging and full of myself. Anyone who does know me, knows that is the farthest thing from who I am. I am saying this because I rarely look backwards. I am constantly looking for ways of making things better and I look at the world which holds infinite possibilities.There are more opportunities today than ever before for the independent and small business person. Sure, there are a thousand reasons why a business will fail but all it takes is one idea to make it stand out and differentiate itself from its competition.This past year has been a challenging and difficult year for many while a wonderful year for many as well. Is there a common denominator? Perhaps there is. Maybe it is more a common personality trait that is constantly looking for ways to make something work. Oh sure, knowing what doesn’t work may help you to eliminate paths not to journey down. Does that negative talk help you to find the path that has that gem of an idea to put you on a path to make it work?Last week I worked at a wonderful bridal business in Plano, TX that is helping to recreate the wedding industry with the use of only one word. They don’t have salespeople, sales associates, sales coordinators, or even use the word consultant the way many bridal shops will. They use the word “stylist” to refer to members of their staff who help to style the entire wedding. It’s as if they are brand managers who are controlling every aspect of the brand. After all, every brand has a personality and everything a company does must reinforce that personality. An example would be you will never see Ozzy Osbourne endorsing a Betty Crocker product. It just doesn’t go together. Every wedding has a personality as well. The wedding stylist is working to control that personality in every aspect of the wedding from invitations to the look of all involved in the wedding and the look and feel of where the wedding is held and what kind of experience the guests will experience. By looking at themselves as stylists, it opens the door to so many possibilities. It increases the level of service and the connection between the bride and the business and the stylist. The stylist becomes a valuable resource as opposed to a salesperson trying to earn a bigger commission. The wedding industry has been challenging, to say the least, over the past few years due to pricing and competitive reasons and has seen many stores close. And every one of those stores will probably tell you the reasons why it closed. Maybe it is because they didn’t have enough reasons why customers would find a path to their doors instead of looking for reasons why the business wouldn’t work. This is just one small example of making an old concept re-invented and re-vitalized. The world is changing because of the new inventions that are changing our lives. We can change our world by looking for and changing the way we do what we do. Instead of telling us the reasons why something won’t work, let’s look for those reasons that will make 2012 the greatest year you have ever had. I am committed to make 2012 that kind of year for me. We have more innovative ways of making your lives better and more profitable than any other year. Get ready for the excitement and the fun.I look forward to sharing these ideas in the weeks ahead. Happy Holidays and remember, 2012 will be filled with great opportunities.
A Retailer's Christmas Wish 20 December, 2011, 12:00 am
t’s the week before Christmas and all through the storeThere’s not a pleasant customer even close to the door. Their nerves are shattered, their Christmas lists are tatteredAnd it’s the store clerk’s fault for everything that matters. Merry Christmas to all is misery to someLet’s not let some spoil our good fun. It’s easy for us to see who’s naughty and niceCan’t Santa take the naughty and we take the nice? We better not complain, and sarcasm is so temptingBut we are the retailer, and cranky customers are really something. Smiling takes its toll on Father Time.Miserable customers steal our smiles, time after time Is the customer always right? No way no how!But they are the customer and to them we must bow. Santa Clause himself could not please the masses.But it’s getting more difficult to fit some of their asses. What are we to do with Mr. CrankyPants and Mrs. Grumpy?When they make demands that make the experience so bumpy? But it’s Christmas, good will to allWhoever wrote that never worked at the mall. What is it that makes normal people turn?Even Kris Kringle has a lot of concern. So what’s the point of this rhymeless Rhyme?It’s to be prepared for customers lurking behind. They will say things like “Is that all you have?”And you feel like saying, “Where were you when we had.” “How much for me?” and “why is the price so high?”Really get us a smack, right in the eye When will it be marked down? Is another famous Christmas carolThat lately has been used by Ted, Alice and Carol. “Can I get my money back?” or “Do I need a receipt?”And you wonder why they focus on the negative rather than the feat. We try not to lose it but often we doJust know you are not alone, there are thousands like you. So the next time that a customer asks for your manager dearAnd you’re wearing a name tag and say “I’m right here”. Just remember to smile and never cast a negative glanceBecause that customer will tell all and take a stance. Ah but it’s Christmas, the time for good cheerSo it’s time for our customers to look forward to the New Year. Before the New Year comes and the ball fallsWhere one week of returns and sales, when all the prices must fall. We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New YearLook forward for Next Year’s customers full of New Cheer!
Are You Running Your Store With Passion? 13 December, 2011, 12:00 am
I’ve been reading the Steve Jobs’ biography and recently saw an interview with a reporter asking him about being successful in business. One of the key themes that is continuously repeated is how important it is to work and get involved in activities that you are passionate about. It struck a sensitive part of me because my positioning statement (the line that comes after your company name) is Retailing is my Passion. I have two other sets of business cards that say Marketing is my Passion and Business is my Passion. That is as honest and straight forward and, according to me, as accurate as a statement can be. I love being in business, I love marketing any business and retailing has been my life. Having said that and looking back over my career, I realize that the things I have been most successful in are the things that I am the most passionate about. I recently worked with the owner of a business in Canada who is as passionate a person as I have ever encountered. I related so well to her because I could see myself in her and see the successes and the dark side of passion that can cause pain, hurt, and regrets. I have been described as a person whose greatest asset is my passion and my greatest detriment is my passion. At first, when this woman would have a meltdown, I thought she might have been unstable or just had the shortest attention span on record. She would, as I have, go from ecstasy to the deepest of depression over the simplest issues. Why is passion so good and why is passion so bad? When someone has passion about a topic or an activity, they don’t punch a clock, they don’t complain about what should or should not be done, they do whatever it takes to make it work. They look at every knock as a boost and they never look at things as failures but rather the steps that one takes in order to be a success. Failure to them is not an option because they never look at failure as a negative. When we are passionate about something we become so highly focused that hours seem like minutes. I have a friend of mine who is a passionate poker player and can play poker for 10 to 15 hours straight and think nothing of it. If he has to go to the theater with his wife, he is constantly looking at his watch and a layer of sarcasm permeates every word out of his mouth. How should we treat passion within our lives? The first and most important point is to not settle for any activity, job, or friend that you are not passionate about. The last two years that I owned a retail store were probably the most challenging time of my professional career. Was the business doing well? Yes, it was. Was the staff loyal, dedicated, and experienced? Absolutely they were. Out of 36 part-time employees, 20 of them worked there for more than 15 years. So what went wrong? What happened to my passion for my store? It was seduced by a greater passion for writing, speaking, traveling, and making a difference in the lives of people who I related to because of my background. The excitement of multiple sales was replaced by the challenge of writing speeches, sharing ideas, and performing literally around the world. I guess some people could call it the alienation of my affection but the advice that I received was simple and to the point. If you don’t love it – get out of it! This is the same advice I gave to this retailer in Canada. She would go from extreme highs to extreme lows. My advice to her was to harness her passion and remember one quote that I say to myself at least once a week and often even more – “we are never as good as our greatest victory and never as bad as our worse failure.” Realize that our passion can open up doors and can be the direct route to success. The reason for that is that people want to associate with passionate people. We want to do business with businesses that are passionate about their business and industry. We avoid doing business with those negative types who only want to focus on how bad things are, whey they cannot do something, why it will never work and live their lives like a person who keeps saying “poor me.” At least with Christopher Robbins’ donkey Eyor you know what you’re getting all the time. If you’re a passionate person you can be all over the board. The interesting part of the store owner in Canada was that she was fully aware of this irrational behavior, and yet had problems recognizing and controlling it. Her key to solving her problems became easy because she realized that sarcasm replaced enthusiasm. What’s my advice? It’s not running away or avoiding these negative people, yet professional after professional will tell you to avoid dealing with people who have these tendencies and traits. You could do that, but you’re going to miss out on those moments of magic when that passion and enthusiasm permeates the air and makes us feel unstoppable. I will follow a leader who is passionate. Just as logic makes our customers shop – emotions make them buy. Be a real friend and tell your friend when the sarcasm occurs. You will be doing them a big favor… that is if they talk to you afterwards. Have a great week.
The Numbers Don’t Lie... We Just Got Our Wake-Up Call 6 December, 2011, 1:00 am
The numbers are in from Black Friday, Small Store Saturday and Cyber Monday and the results are nothing short of spectacular and amazing. I haven’t said those two words in years. For the past six plus years The National Retail Federation and gurus around the world were predicting either sales increases of 1 or 2 percent or decreases from 1 to 5 percent. Online sales had spectacular increases when it was new but certainly tailed off as it became more difficult to have double digit increases. Across the country, almost every type of larger retailers experienced significant increases in sales over last year’s Black Friday’s numbers. That doesn’t mean that all small stores didn’t participate in the sales boom. It’s just that many smaller mom and pop merchants were never positively affected by Black Friday’s business. The reason for that is they weren’t promoting to the extent a large store can and they weren’t giving things away the way a large store can. There are lessons to be learned from these sales results. The first lesson we had to learn is that there are customers out there who are buying. If the merchandise and the pricing represent value, they will buy. More important than the buying, they will go to stores and buy. Carry good quality merchandise and promote, promote, promote. Now let’s look at the results from Cyber Monday. Twenty five to thirty percent increases were the norm. Cyber Monday is no longer a cute sale name – it’s a real event. It tells us that our customers are shopping in stores while buying online as well. The term “multi-channel retailer” means we are selling our merchandise in multiple ways – online and in the store. Customers are telling us they want it both ways. I laugh when I hear a store owner say “we give great customer service” but they don’t have a website; shame on them. I was approached within the last month to work on a project to help to franchise a retail business. I asked to see their website and I was told they didn’t have one. My response was to call me when they have a website or call me to help you create a strong website. We can’t be in business today without having a website that does two things: You need a site where customers can buy something from you online. I am not saying that you have to put all of your merchandise online for sale, but what I am saying is for you to offer a few items for sale. We need to have websites that our customers want to return to again and again. I call it the returnability quotient. The tools, mechanisms, merchandise offerings, widgets or call it what you like, anything that will make going to your site a regular occurrence as opposed to a single event. On Friday we even got positive news about the employment numbers. The unemployment dropped a little more than was expected. I say that but in my heart I believe those unemployment numbers are not telling the whole story. What I mean is that there are lots of jobs out there today but we have people who are not skilled to fill these new jobs. No, we don’t have classic manufacturing assembly line union high paying jobs of the past that didn’t require the skills of today’s jobs. Maybe it’s not an unemployment problem but rather a skill training problem. For now let’s just look at the bottom line. Customers are buying, they are going online, they are buying online, they are going to stores, better merchandise is selling, and we must always have promotional items. If we’re not doing these things, we had better start. Look at your store as a customer would. Do you have promotional items? Are you promoting your website in your store? Are you promoting your store on your website? The key word today is seamless integration. We differentiate between an in-store sale and an online sale. The customer looks at your store as one entity. Make sure your store and your website give the same feeling. The wake-up call has been made and it is time to look at what we do and what other successful retailers are doing and it is time to start to adopt and adapt these winning practices before technology and the times make us insignificant. On the positive side, celebrate our successes and appreciate the people who are working for us. They can be your competitive edge and the exciting difference which is the difference.
How Thick Is Your Skin? 29 November, 2011, 1:00 am
This week I had an experience with a marketing firm that defies reality. Let this be a lesson to all of us. I had a wonderful face-to-face meeting with this marketing firm that I had planned on using and recommending to my readers. I was so impressed with their ideas and observations, and following our face-to-face meeting, I was convinced that the chemistry was just perfect. I even recommended the firm before signing any contract. Our meeting was just about perfect with one small exception. They mentioned that the first phase of working together would require them to prepare an expensive and extensive plan. When they mentioned it at the meeting I bristled a bit because over the years I have been burnt by many companies which love to prepare plans but never seem to have them implemented. My recommendation was to implement some of the action steps and after a few months of a mutually profitable relationship where trust had been established, then I would invest in the expensive plan. Other than that the meeting was great. I then received a written proposal outlining the plan which needless to say took me by surprise considering it was the only thing I objected to. I was terribly disappointed and called up to share any necessary changes. The principal of the company set up a time for a telephone conversation which was later canceled due to a doctor’s appointment. We rescheduled the meeting knowing that it would be taking place while I was driving. I even called in to let her know I was a little early. However, she sent me another e-mail again canceling the meeting. Of course I was driving and really didn’t get a chance to review my e-mails. At that end of the day I wrote and asked what had happened and questioned if they had decided to go in a different direction. I received a curt response indicating an e-mail had been sent and was questioning why I thought she was untruthful. I wrote back and said if I thought you were untruthful I would not want to meet with you at all. I have learned over the years that when someone says “you can trust me” or “I am honest” or “I am truthful” they are typically the ones you should never ever trust. Why are they even thinking along those lines? Then I finally have a telephone meeting with the principal of this company who gave another pitch for the expensive plan. I was starting to lose patience when she wanted to know what happened to my previous firm, which indicated that I was perhaps a problem account. I was more than a bit surprised but I stepped back and shared my philosophy on disagreements and how they are truly a healthy step in understanding and compromise. Ask any business person-- they will always share a story about how one of their best customers started out on a bad foot, but then went on to become one of their best and most loyal. I actually forgave some of the principal’s sophomoric communication skills and I was willing to give this company an opportunity to do business with me and even with you. To my surprise I received a voice message saying that the company had decided to go in a different direction, which is what I had asked them a few days earlier. I only have pity for this company. As the expression goes “if it’s too hot in the kitchen, get out.” Difficult customers are still customers. Difficult people are still people. Difficult situations are opportunities. Sometimes we have to make our skin a little thicker and don’t let the minutia of the day-to-day he-said-she-said trivia lose sight of the big picture. Because I disagreed I was no longer a prime prospect when in reality we were establishing a much stronger bond because of the conflict in the initial dealings. Always remember to keep your friends close but your enemies closer. It is much easier to deal with someone whom I have to be careful with every word than to deal with someone who I like. You work harder in making the deal and the deals tend to last longer. We dot every “i” and cross every “t.” All things are for a purpose and I will be signing a contract with a firm that was more responsive to my needs and understanding of my concerns and my readers. I believe that every deal must be a win/win between two parties. Although the road is not always smooth, when two parties overcome obstacles and make things work, it makes for a stronger and long lasting relationship. Maybe the title of this article should have been Opportunities Lost but from my position it is a new door opening.
Forrest Gump Was Right – Stupid Is What Stupid Does 22 November, 2011, 1:00 am
I want to share three examples of sheer stupidity. Is the tail wagging the dog or is the dog wagging the tail? This week I had an eye opening experience that made me feel so stupid that I am compelled to write about it so that you can learn from my mistakes. If you had five customers come into your store and ask for a specific product, would you go out and buy it? YOU BET YOU WOULD. We would pat ourselves on the back for being attentive and listening to our customers by jumping on a trend as early as possible. We all love to say that we enjoy listening and reacting to our customers. That’s what we call good customer service. Now let’s update that experience into the social media world by writing an article in your newsletter, blog or Facebook. The article you write is about a new product that you just got in. It might not even be an original article by you. You could just offer a link to an article about the product. Now what if your customers responded to your article or link about this new product and asked if you had the product in stock or where they could buy it? Would you think you might have a hot product? Of course you would. What if a hundred customers wrote to you and told you how great it was and expressed an interest to buy it? How excited would you be? How stupid do you think you would feel if you realized you never responded to even one inquiry? Pretty dumb! I was interviewing a new marketing company that analyzed the data on my website. They even could tell me how many people read an article and passed it on to friends and colleagues. They asked me how dramatically my business changed since April. I was puzzled and didn’t know what they were referring to. They then informed me that the traffic and buzz surrounding 2 of my articles in the month of April generated an additional 67,000 views of these articles. Shame on me for not knowing that, shame on me for not responding to that interest and shame on me for not offering the type of products my readers were interested in. Can this happen to you? Yes and it’s happening every day because we are getting feedback from our customers in ways we never had. The customers didn’t call or write and say they wanted it, but they expressed interest by sharing with their friends what I wrote. It happens because we add a link that we don’t totally read and we don’t have the time to read or understand all of the analyses available. The lesson to be learned is to monitor the increase in traffic to your site, blog or any social media component. It could change the direction of your business. Don Quixote lives. State and federal governments need money; there is no question about that. Jobs and the unemployment rate are the single biggest domestic issues our country is facing. Small businesses generate more jobs than any other part of the economy. Retailing is one of the biggest components of small business. Having said that, how stupid can the governments, both state and federal, be that online merchants can sell products across state lines without having to charge a sales tax. That gives an online merchant a 5, 6 or 7 percent advantage over the local business. That hurts the local business and it’s an unfair advantage, and the state is losing out on all of that revenue. THIS MUST CHANGE! I feel like Don Quixote fighting windmills when I mention this to politicians who say “I would never raise taxes.” Don’t you get it? You’re not raising taxes-- you’re just enforcing the taxes that already exist. There will be more to come on this. It’s more than money. Being in the retail business we have an advantage in hiring and staffing our businesses. That advantage is our ability to hire people who like what we sell. People who work in jewelry stores like jewelry. People who work in clothing stores like clothing. People who work in car dealerships like cars. The common denominator is they are there for more than the weekly paycheck. The son of a friend of mine was looking to change jobs. His approach in changing jobs was not the same as most of us. He didn’t send out resumes or respond to ads. He sent out a few strategic letters on ways those companies could increase their revenues and profits. Three letters went out and they all responded. They all invited him to their company to explore his idea. Two of those companies made him offers that are truly beyond the comprehension of the average person – myself included. Granted this person is brilliant with two pristine degrees from the finest colleges in the world. His approach applies to every employee we have. If we could only teach, train or create the mindset for our employees that this young man adopted which was people will pay for great ideas. I was working in a downtown and this merchant was bragging about this one employee who said “I have an idea how we could rearrange the store and do more business.” The owner liked the idea and told him to go for it which meant he had to work extra hours after the store was closed. The owner didn’t care because he believed in the idea. The bottom line was that employee needed to earn more money and he did it in a creative way. So the next time one of your employees says “I need more hours or I need more money” tell them you need more ideas to justify what they are asking. Employment is a partnership and it must be treated that way. It must be a win/win and when we get a buy in from our employees, it becomes magical.
Are you Working On Your Business or In Your Business? 15 November, 2011, 1:00 am
There are two parts of running a business. The first part is the operational aspect of your business. Another way of saying that is “what do you do on a day-to-day business?” The second part is being the visionary of your business. Knowing where you’re going and trying to out-strategize your competition and look for breakthrough opportunities. There are some people who are brilliant visionaries while there are others who are task oriented. The 2011 recipient of Restaurant of the Year Award from the Retailer’s Association of Massachusetts owns a restaurant called Chianti’s in Beverly, MA. His name is Richard Marino. He is a true visionary. Although I ‘m sure he would be embarrassed being called that but most visionaries are like that. A visionary is the person who works on the business and is not as concerned with the day-to-day operations of the running of the business. How can an independent restaurant owner not work “in the business?” In Richard’s case it’s easy because he has this global view or as some people describe it looking at your business from 30,000 feet up as opposed to looking at it from ground level. Richard’s overall vision of the business is that the business would empower their employees to make the right decisions once the guidelines were established for what great customer service meant to the business, the customers, the employees and the management. Every employee treats the business as if it were their own. My first visit to the restaurant was when Richard was not there, but you would never have know that the boss was away. Richard concerns himself with the big picture and because of that he has been able to help transform a blighted downtown into a place where people want to go, hang out and enjoy the old fashioned downtown experience. He took a small restaurant with a single storefront, expanded it to over 3 storefronts, and introduced a jazz club that has been selected as one of the top 100 jazz clubs in America today. His customers define his business not by saying he makes a great lasagna, but they talk in terms of it being a place to go if you want to dress up or dress down. Now compare Chianti’s to your local diner where the mother, the father and the kids are all working the business. The father is doing the cooking and making sure everyone is happy with the food, the wife/mother is at the cash register ringing in the sales and the kids are either serving the food or cleaning up the tables. This is a perfect example of somebody working in the business. Many of us can relate to the owners of the diner. Who has time for dreams or visions? “We have a business to run.” Maybe that’s what happened to Blockbuster’s. Didn’t they see the new technology on the horizon? Didn’t they see the Red Box phenomenon? Didn’t they see the effect that Netflix was going to have to an industry they helped to create? It looks like Blockbuster was simply working in and not on their business. When you’re working in your business, you’re involved in generating the product or service your business provides. When you’re working on your business, you’re maintaining your pipeline: researching new products, researching new markets, networking with other businesses, preparing sales initiatives and strategies. You are insuring the future of the business. So what’s the problem? We need both parts in order for a business to thrive and grow. A great idea is worthless unless it is executed properly. The other problem is that there are may people who are reading this article right now who would just like to work on their business and cannot stand the day-to-day minutia in running the business. That means people describe you or you describe yourself as an idea person, the dreamer, the person who is challenged when someone says it can’t be done. They are the ones who make it work. Too many times we get hung up putting out fires in our businesses because no one else can do it the way we can do it. When someone says that means they won’t have time to work on their business to insure the long-term success. They might survive by doing it that way, but chances are they won’t thrive. This is the same scenario when businesses introduce a new technology and the employees say “I like it better the old way.” When the owner succumbs to that type of pressure, they generally lose the opportunity to explore the potential the new technology can bring. Things are always difficult when we first learn them, but once we master them, they become easy. So how does someone start to work “on their business?” Attend trade shows and the seminars at your trade shows. You just need one good idea that can change your business. Network with businesses in your industry. Network with businesses outside of your industry. Form mastermind groups where you meet 4-6 times a year to exchange new ideas. Send one letter or e-mail a week to a potential new customer. Set short-term and long-term goals. Take a course. Review the top businesses of the year and find out what they are doing. You will notice that most of these activities will take place outside of the store. The reason you want to do that is so you are not tempted to stop the activity and start working in your business. An example would be the person who decides to take an online course at the store but overhears one of his salespeople saying the wrong thing. He quickly stops the course to correct the salesperson. He never goes back to working on the course again. Next week we will be exploring the pros and cons of working on your business and why working on your business represents 20% while working in your business represents 80%. It always seems that it’s the 20% always is generating the 80% of the business that we do. It even applies to working in or on our businesses. And if you’d like to learn more about successfully working on your business, join me in the webinar this Wednesday, November 16th at 4:00 PM Eastern for Ways to Work On Your Business, Not In Your Business.
Whoever Would Have Thought that Filene’s Basement And Syms Would Go Out of Business? 8 November, 2011, 1:00 am
Being brought up in Boston, we took the legendary Filene’s Basement for granted. I remember as a small child my Auntie Bea and her friends would travel into Boston by public transportation which meant traveling on a bus and an underground train. The ride in was a challenge because they would leave early in the morning and be commuting with all the people who worked in Boston. The ride back was even worse because they had to take all of their purchases in bags on the train and bus. This was a ritual that would be repeated at least once or twice every month. When I got old enough to start traveling outside of New England I was amazed how many people would ask about Filene’s Basement. Filene’s Basement had an automatic markdown pricing guarantee that insured merchandise would be moving out of that store faster than any other retailer. I don’t recall the exact terms but the merchandise was given to charity after I believe was 5 weeks on the selling floor. One of the reasons why Filene’s Basement was so well known country and worldwide was because they would buy out complete inventories of major department stores. At one point that type of merchandise would be referred to by other retailers as merchandise no one wanted. Filene’s Basement was known worldwide for their bridal gown sale. It came to be known as the “running of the brides.” People would fly in from other parts of the country just to go to this sale. Brides would join forces with their bridal party in a military type style to strategically snag that wanted piece of merchandise. People would be lined up the night before just to go to this sale. So what went wrong? How could a store with that type of reputation falter? Before we get to that, understand that Filene’s Basement was purchased by another legendary retailer, Syms. Their slogan stated “where the educated consumer is our best customer.” You would see both the father and daughter constantly wherever a Syms was located and they would be talking about educated consumers. So what happened? There will be plenty of post mortems as to the shortcomings of the management and how they did this and didn’t do that. Let’s not look at it from a retailer’s point of view. Instead let’s look at it from the customer’s point of view. The real lesson to learn was that they were no longer relevant in today’s marketplace. Certainly a bridal event as legendary as “the running of the brides” at Filene’s Basement will probably be sold off as an asset as part of the brand by a bankruptcy court. Someone will buy that name and make some money for a few years but the Filene’s Basement name/brand that was once featured on 20/20 by Barbara Walters was named the second biggest tourist attraction in Boston. It has been synonymous with the city since 1911 but is probably worthless. The Syms brand that they spent millions of dollars on developing is also probably worthless because neither brand means or represents anything in the mind of today’s shopper. What their founders did to make these stores great includes a sense of adventure, a spirit, not being afraid to do something different and having the belief in their convictions to dare enough to do that different thing. Many people will write that the reason why these stores died was because they owned the market in tailored clothing. Yes, that is true, but people are not wearing suits and tailored clothing the way they once did. Instead of trying to develop new markets, they waited for their market to return. I have two comments to make. First, saddle shoes are coming back but I’m not going to buy a pair on sale now and wait for their return. Second, when the horse is dead you need to get off of it. It was time to reinvent yourself to do what your founders did to make it a leader rather than a follower. Are you waiting for your market to return or are you creating a new market? I had a discussion with an older fellow who said “America is going to pot – we don’t make anything anymore.” My response to him is “your grandchildren will be working in fields that haven’t even been created yet.” Whoever thought that people would be making a living from EBay or Google or a start-up company like Apple? Don’t stop the world because you want to get off, get into the world because you want to go for the ride of your life. When people hear that Filene’s and Syms went out of business they say “isn’t that too bad.” Don’t have them say it about you. Watch the video Memories of Filene's Basement from Michael Bavaro's upcoming film "Voices from the Basement".

Oracle.com

JCPenney Starts Their Journey 26 January, 2012, 12:43 pm
Ron Johnson's contributions to the Apple stores were many, but it remains to be seen if that experience will translate to JCPenney where he's now CEO. After all, the two companies couldn't be more different. Apple is a technology company with very few products and a loyal fan base. JCPenney, on the other hand, is a promotions-driven mass-merchant with many products and large stores anchoring malls. I doubt the genius bar will fly at Penney's. Yesterday the journey began when JCPenney revealed its four-year blueprint to bring the brand back from the brink. The focus is on providing what the American shopper wants. This includes dropping the plethora of promotions and simplify pricing. The redesigned logo is clearly influenced by our flag, and the in-store experience is changing to better reflect main street, complete with a town square in the middle of the store. Susan Reda did a fine job describing the changes, so I'll just refer you to her article for details. Only time will tell if the changes make a difference, but I must say its impressive that JCPenney is willing to make such sweeping changes. From what I've seen so far, they are on the right track. I'll close with a video announcing the changes, which are set to begin on February 1st.
Navigating the Store 26 January, 2012, 11:45 am
Here's an update on my 2010 posting Going Inside the Store. Has you phone ever displayed a message saying you'd get better map results if you enabled WiFi? That's because companies like Skyhook, Apple, and Google send people to public places to correlate WiFi signal strength with locations. Then they use the information to more accurately determine your location, which is especially important when line-of-sight to the GPS satellites is not possible. Retailers like Home Depot, IKEA, and Macy's have provided store floor plans to Google so that Android maps actually extend from the streets to the aisles, making it easier to navigate big-box stores. Similar efforts are ongoing for airports, malls, and arenas. Wouldn't it be nice for the mapping on your phone to take you directly to your seat in the stadium, your gate in the airport, and a product on the shelf? Here's a short video showing how you can navigate inside an IKEA store using your phone.
ARTS Social Retailing Blueprint 11 January, 2012, 6:09 am
At ARTS, we focus on helping retailers succeed with using technology. Technology can be a competitive advantage, but it can also hold companies back if its allowed to grow stale. Its important for every retailer to stay abreast of emerging technologies, and understand how adoption may or may not benefit the business. Using social media is the latest topic being addressed by ARTS. The ARTS Social Retailing Blueprint is a 143-page whitepaper that describes the use of social media by the retail industry. It includes ten specific tactics, examples of those tactics in use, and suggestions on organizational alignment. The document was written by representatives from the following companies: 8th Bridge, MicroStrategy, Verizon, Cisco, IBM, Oracle Retail, Versatil, Epson, SAP, Pier 1 Imports, Meru Networks, Red Prairie, Safeway, Criti, Cellpoint Mobile, and Push Science (in no particular order). Below is my favorite part of the blueprint, a summary of the ten tactics on a maturity scale. Retailers should first determine which of the ten tactics makes sense for their business, then for each tactic there are varying levels of maturity. Retailers will ideally start with the Novice level and grow to the right toward Advanced. If you're having trouble reading this eye-chart, click here for the raw version in which you can zoom. At the ARTS User Conference last year, I delivered a presentation on the Social Blueprint which you can find here. Two other great articles are at the NRF Big Blog and RIS News. There is no perfect recipe for social retailing, so its necessary for each retailer to experiment to find what works for them. Also, set realistic expectations for your social media efforts. Its unrealistic to think you'll substantially increase sales by creating a Facebook page, for example. Social media campaigns are an investment in your relationship with your customers, so give it some time to grow and strengthen. There is great potential for a relatively small investment.
Retail Orphan Initiative 10 January, 2012, 7:18 am
A few years back we had the CIO of SuperValu, Paul Singer, speak at Oracle Open World in the retail track. While I was expecting the usual stories about retail IT, Paul surprised everyone by showing a very inspiring video about the benefits and importance of adoption. Not only was Paul an adoptive parent, but he used his influential positions at SuperValu and Target to be an advocate for kids. I recall two people in the audience, Greg Buzek and Jeff Roster, both analysts for the retail industry, being moved by Paul's passion. It wasn't long before they helped form the Retail Orphan Initiative along with Marc Millstein and Rose Spicer. The organization, called RetailROI for short, raises funds from the retail community for the benefit of orphans all around the world. This is the third year for the SuperSaturday session at the NRF Big Show, a very informative event that doubles as a fundraiser. Oracle's Rose Spicer, who is also on RetailROI's board of advisors, has collaborated with Build-A-Bear to raise awareness and funds for RetailROI at NRF. On Monday morning she and many customers will meet at the local Build-A-Bear to create 150 stuffed animals that will be donated to New York orphans in partnership with the KIDS organization. Additionally, anyone that donates $20 to RetailROI in the Oracle booth will receive one of the bears pictured above. With just 2,000 donations, RetailROI will get $40,000 which will support 1,000 kids in Malawi. As you can see, there are several opportunities to support this worthy cause next week during the Big Show.
Engineered Systems for Retail 9 January, 2012, 11:11 am
I've been speaking to analysts in preparation for attending the NRF Big Show next week, and one comment I heard concerned me. The analyst said there's a misconception amongst some retailers that Oracle's software only runs on Oracle hardware. Clearly that's a misconception, but I understand how people may have jumped to that conclusion. Just to review, Oracle has announced three important engineered systems. Exadata is the database machine, Exalogic is the middleware machine, and Exalytics is the BI machine. Each system includes the hardware and system software built to work together for that specialized task. Typical engineered systems provide about a 3X performance boost on average, with some tasks significantly faster. Oracle's engineered systems are hardware and software built to work together. The "software" part of the equation includes things like the operating system, database, and middleware but not the business applications. One of the key benefits of this approach is that applications require no changes, so they will run on anyone's hardware as well as Oracle's engineered systems. And specifically for retail, we continue to partner with different hardware vendors to test and certify our applications. None of our retail products require Oracle hardware. Buying hardware from Oracle is optional, and that's the plan for the future as well. That said, there are lots of benefits from running Oracle Retail applications on Exadata, Exalogic, and Exalytics that retailers should consider. Blazing performance, hardware consolidation, reduced energy consumption, and easy expansion are a few.
Best Buy in a Downward Spiral? 3 January, 2012, 2:45 pm
Larry Downes seems to have struck a nerve with his popular Forbes article Why Best Buy is going out of Business...Gradually. As of this writing, he's already had over 550,000 views for the five-page, somewhat long-winded diatribe that was posted yesterday. Larry basically lays out his reasoning for Best Buy's demise based on poor customer service while refuting the excuse that cheaper online retailers like Amazon have an unfair advantage. He cites the recent cancellation of orders by Best Buy just before Christmas as the ultimate failure to serve customers. As a former Circuit City employee, I can feel Best Buy's pain. Electronics is a tough market. The products become obsolete quickly, installation and configuration can be customer service nightmares, and the Web has made competition more fierce than ever. I haven't shopped at Best Buy in quite a while, so I don't have any good or bad recent experiences to relay. But I did have three good customer experiences recently, so I thought I'd share: 1. We decided to do some remodeling in the kitchen so I ordered a faucet, cooktop, and range hood from Lowes.com. They were available to be delivered from the local store in two weeks, but since we'd be on vacation I put a specific date in the comments. Within an hour of submitting the order, my local Lowes called to verify exactly when I wanted the items delivered. Everything arrived as planned. 2. I ordered a MicroSD card from Amazon, but the wrong type of card was delivered. My order was accidentally switched with another Austin resident who got my product. I called Amazon and they immediately shipped my original product via 2-day delivery with no questions asked. I understand mistakes happen and just want them rectified quickly. 3. Lastly, I bought an expensive blender from Costco which went on sale the next week. I called and they happily refunded the difference. By the way, I chose to buy the blender from Costco not because they were cheapest but because they have an excellent return policy. All three situations had a few things in common. First, the employees I spoke with had good attitudes. I felt they enjoyed their jobs, and it made the conversation that much better. Second, all three retailers had the necessary systems to enable my purchase and handle post-purchase issues. Third, the people I talked to were empowered to make me happy. There was no runaround at all. In this blog I focus lots on the technology that powers retailers, but in the end its the human touch that makes it work. Perhaps Best Buy needs to get back to its customer service roots.
Retail Strategy for 2012 20 December, 2011, 2:48 pm
Earlier this month I reviewed my 2011 predictions and made new ones for 2012. Of course I wasn't the only one thinking about what's next for retail. RIS News published their 2012 outlook, Retail Touchpoints has their 2012 insights, and Stores has their 2012 predictions so there's no shortage of opinions. Reading these articles, its easy to pull out the major themes and they're exactly what you'd expect. I could write about each theme, but I thought it would be more fun to remove all but the buzzwords. See if you can still understand my summations... Mobile-- anywhere/anytime commerce, always on consumers, omni-channel, Amazon's showroom, ubiquitous access to product info, QRCodes, online inside, NFC, loyalty, empowered employees, endless aisles, tablets Social-- one-to-marketing, f-commerce, big data, customer analytics, psychographics, contextual offers Cloud-- deployment, management, access data from anywhere, lower TCO, elastic, utility pricing, security, SLAs, SaaS, outage This shortened version of writing sure saves time! Here's the point. Now is a good time to reflect on this year and think about your strategy for next year, which had better address all three mentioned areas. I'm not saying you need to embrace all three, but you do need to have a point-of-view on how each can affect your business. As you're reviewing your strategy, here's a little advice for the new year: Don't get caught up in the buzzwords. Look past the coolness factor and figure out how things directly impact the business. A Twitter account might increase sales, but old-fashion supply-chain management might move the needle even more. Put a little money toward innovation, and invest the rest toward improving the basics. Skate to where the puck is going. Your strategy must not only address your customers but also your future customers. Run ideas past your teenage kids because they will soon be your customers. This is especially important for matters relating to privacy, which continues to vary greatly by generations. Measure twice, cut once. Strategies must be based on data, not gut feelings. Execute only after you've done the necessary analysis and have metrics in place to assess results. Challenge the statistics and use multiple sources. Food for thought. See you next year at NRF!
2012 Predictions for Retail - Part 1 20 December, 2011, 12:57 pm
2012 is less than a month away, so this is the time of year we start seeing annual predictions.Susan Reda at Stores just published her take and I know IDC and Gartner have also released theirs. Many of last year's predictions could easily move forward to this year's: we'll continue to see lots of new alternative payment types, more engineered systems, better social analytics, more 2-D barcodes, greater adoption of cloud, and improved f-commerce. In past years we've seen the rise of Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon but 2012 will mark a year of war between these juggernauts on the retail battlefield. They will fight over NFC, tablets, digital content, and most importantly, trust from consumers. Retailers must keep a close eye on all four companies.1. Mobile Loyalty Often, loyalty cards are just a way for retailers to give away margin in the hopes that consumers will select them as their preferred store. But strong programs involve a trade-off: consumers get discounts, and in return retailers get to learn more about their customers (and serve them better), and have the opportunity to influence their behavior. The loyalty card was a blunt instrument that worked well for the consumer, but didn't deliver for most retailers. The concept of geo-fencing has been around a while, but there are few retailers that have really adopted it. The smartphone, with geo-fencing enabled, needs to become the consumer's loyalty card where retailers can incent, learn from, and communicate with customers. In 2012, geo-fencing will take off and deliver value for both consumers and retailers. Look for new loyalty programs built around smartphones. 2. Facebook Levels Off, Google+ Stalls, Groupon Withers, Amazon on Fire To put Facebook's 800 million users in perspective, that the same number of people that were using the internet in 2004 worldwide, which incidentally is when Facebook got its start. Only India and China have bigger populations. That kind of growth just can't continue, nor do I think engagement can increase. The novelty is wearing off, so while there are lots of users, I believe the engagement of those users will wane. Some of those users will feel more at home with Google+, but I seriously doubt many will close their Facebook accounts and make a permanent move. Google+ may continue to grow is user base, but users will spend more time on Facebook. Google will continue to dip its toes in retail with more small stores, a possible free-shipping program (similar to Amazon Prime), and of course Google Wallet and Google Offers. Other than Wallet, these efforts will go nowhere. The potency of Groupon offers will dilute with all the "me-toos" that pop up, and retailers will learn that their exchange of profits for new, disloyal customers isn't sustainable. Not taking $5.75 billion from Google will down in history as a huge mistake. Amazon's success with the Kindle will translate into more Prime customers and greater loyalty. The trend for shoppers to skip Google searches and go directly to amazon.com will continue, and Amazon will get more aggressive with books, movies, and music. Look for Amazon to acquire in the digital content area. Also, expect Amazon to have another AWS hiccup that gives retailers pause about using the cloud, but overall AWS usage continues to grow. 3. Apple Payments With all the news about alternate payments, this isn't a stretch at all. Apple will finally release the iPhone 5 with NFC support and start to leverage their iTunes customer base for payments in non-Apple stores. I don't see how this will be financially viable with both Apple and credit cards taking a cut of each sale, so look for Apple to push customers toward ACH (debit/checking) as PayPal does. Look for Apple to start a loyalty program to incent consumers to use the new payment vehicle. While we're on the subject of Apple, I'm betting they will release a new Apple TV product in 2012. Retailers should care because it will eventually allow viewers to "click on commercials" to get more details on products and sales. 4. Mobile Self-Checkout Self-checkout, especially at grocery stores, has been around for a while. Some love it, and some don't. Smartphones now make it possible to simulate an e-commerce experience in the physical store. As you add items to your physical cart, you can scan them into your transaction, then pay and walk out the store. No need to stand in line at all. Retailers are already putting mobile POS in the hands of its associates, so its not a huge step to expose that functionality directory to customers. As Apple leads the way, look for grocery chains to quickly add the capability followed by home improvement stores. More predictions in my next post.
Happy Holiday From a Friend 13 December, 2011, 8:16 am
As you may have learned from TV commercials, retailers like Walmart, Toys-R-Us, and Kmart are offering layaway programs this holiday season. The programs are welcomed by families living paycheck to paycheck that might not have the cash on hand to take advantage of great deals. They can lock in a good price and pay the amount off over weeks without having to worry about stores selling out of hot items and disappointing the kids. While this has been great news for many, something even better is happening across America. In Grand Rapids, Michigan a woman entered a Kmart and asked to see a list of layaway accounts so she should could pay a few off. At first the associate thought the lady wanted to take the items, but that was not the case. She chose three accounts that each included kid's toys and paid them down to a $10 balance. "They said that someone had paid $180 on my layaway and there was only $10 left," one of the beneficiaries says of being told about the mystery woman's gift. "I thought it was a joke...I thank her. It's the best gift that I ever received, and it's the gift of believing in people... And believing that there's good out there, 'cause you don't always see that." On the receipt the Secret Santa wrote, "Happy Holiday from a friend." Once a local TV station reported the deed, more such acts of kindness have been occurring across the country. Its tempting for Kmart to take advantage of the situation to boost its bottom line, but it claims it will not. “The beauty of this is that it's organic and coming from the customers and not from us,” said Salima Yala, the retailer's division vice president for layaway. “It's being driven by outside the company. It's just people to people.” Fantastic! Secret Santa picks up 3 layaway bills: woodtv.com
2012 Predictions for Retail - Part 2 6 December, 2011, 10:29 am
I think the first four predictions are pretty likely, so let's look at some things that are a bit of a stretch. These next four predictions are based on emerging technologies making inroads but not widespread adoption. Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments. 5. Usable Augmented Reality The first usable augmented reality app I used was Yelp when they had a semi-secret backdoor to access Monocle. The concept has been accessible to us since Apple combined the camera, GPS, and accelerometer in the iPhone, but I haven't seen anything I would use on a regular basis. Amazon's Flow is certainly a step in the right direction as is Tesco's subway store, and I think we'll see some more useful applications of AR next year. And AR isn't limited to consumers. It can be helpful for store managers to be able to get information about sales and inventory as they walk the store. If a manager wants to know how many transaction per hour a checkout associate is doing, she need only point her camera. 6. Accurate Indoor Location GPS has saved my marriage in several situations, and I can't live without it anymore. Its perfect for driving, but its not accurate enough to help me navigate my local Lowes and Home Depot. That's because GPS doesn't work well indoors. Smartphones typically use a combination of GPS satellites and WiFi access points to triangulate your position. The WiFi part is getting more accurate, and some systems leverage closed-loop security cameras to help. This year will be first rollout of accurate in-store directions for a big-box retailer. Not sure which one will be first, but I think the home improvement chains have the most to gain. Imagine standing in an aisle and pressing a "help me" button on your phone, and a clerk walks right to you for assistance. Or getting turn-by-turn directions to find the garage door openers, for example. Accurate indoor location also helps with geo-fencing that I mentioned earlier. You might receive location-specific offers and product information as you walk. 7. Shopping with Siri Apple's Siri is bringing to light the augmented humanity concept, the collaboration of humans and machines in transparent ways that enhance our everyday lives. A subset of the concept is using natural user interfaces that are easy to manipulate. In the case of Siri, voice response systems that understand questions and provide useful answers in context. As smartphone adoption continues to grow in 2012, so will our dependence on them for providing information. New mobile application that take advantage of voice response, computer vision, and even eye-tracking (remember, while you're using your iPhone, there's a camera pointed at your face) will begin to emerge. This means it will be even easier for consumers to get any and all information about products and brands. Look for Google and Apple to take the technology lead, and Amazon to capitalize on the advancements. 8. Behavior Profiling When I shop, there are certain things that persuade me to buy: free shipping, good reviews, great price, perceived quality, easy returns, etc. But those things vary by person and situation. What if a retailer had a shopping profile on each of its customers and knew how to efficiently market to that customer? While I don't that we'll get to that point in 2012, I do think significant progress in that direction will occur. Take myLowes for example. Lowes is collecting valuable information about each of its customers and will be better able to tailor offers that are more likely to be of interest. Lowes will sell more, and its customers will have a better experience. Look for retailers to offer more differentiated loyalty programs and then develop sophisticated marketing plans at more granular levels using all that psychographic big data. 2010 was the year when mobile went mainstream in the retail industry. 2011 marked widespread adoption of Facebook to drive sales and engage consumers. I think 2012 will be the year that cloud computing gets serious. Look for lots of acquisition in this space, and more retailers to dip their toes in the water.

ShopperJourney

IKEA’s Male-Only Play Space MÄNLAND 19 September, 2011, 4:29 pm
After SMALAND for the kids, IKEA has introduced MÄNLAND for retail-weary men. Not sure if it’s a PR gag since it was just piloted during Father’s Day weekend in Sydney early September. But it’s acknowledging the old truism that “men buy, women shop”. Ever realized how much men appreciate it if a clothing store offers a “boyfriend chair”? So there is clearly a need. If only IKEA came up with a solution how to get the female counterpart’s “permission” to not join the shopping trip
Korea’s TESCO Home Plus: Virtual Grocery Shopping With OR Codes 9 July, 2011, 4:28 pm
Long time, no write 17 May, 2011, 1:55 pm
Sorry for not having updated the blog for a very long time. There is actually so much to blog, but so little time to write. Will try to update and post some interesting news within the next couple of days.
“New Shopper Journeys” by Microsoft and Carat 9 February, 2011, 8:11 pm
Microsoft, in collaboration with media agency Carat, recently released a new research paper called “New Shopper Journeys: the important new role of digital media” (download here). It’s a good read for starters, nothing groundbreaking. What I like is that they provide lots of quantitative data. What I don’t like is their classification of shopper journeys into “habitual”, “impulse” and “research”. That’s misleading, because it’s based on category and buying behavior, not the shopping behavior. Shoppers change their mindsets depending on context and different touchpoints across their journeys, regardless of the product category. Anyway, good to see that even Microsoft and a media agency have realized that “The old Purchase Path based on an AIDA funnel” is gone.” For an older (posted here in July 2009), but still better introduction into the digitally enabled shopper and her “new shopper journey” I’d recommend to read this.
Interactive Store Window 13 January, 2011, 6:45 am
Might not work well with multiple people in front of the window at the same time, but it is a great idea anyway! (click on pic or link below) Interactive Display Window Concept from Gustaf Engström on Vimeo.
Sales Assistant demonstrating Kinect @ Best Buy 29 November, 2010, 4:44 pm
Who needs product demos when there’s a great product (and therefore passionate people) anyway?
YouTube meets E-Commerce 10 October, 2010, 8:06 pm
While YouTube has been used by brands to advertise so far, now more and more brands are using it to establish their retail presence. Like Orabrush (read the story here). Or the British apparel brand French Connection (FCUK). They went a step further and recently launched its “YouTube Boutique,” featuring a series of fashion tips and advices. With a stylist as host and presenter, users can view the short videos and buy one of the items afterwards just by clicking on the „buy“ pop-up buttons in the video itself. They will then be directed to the FCUK site. Although it is a great concept, the user experience is slightly interrupted by leading the user to the different environment of the FCUK website. But I guess it is just a question of time when we’ll see shops on the YouTube platform and the whole transaction process will then be happen there, too.
Humorous Luxury by Hermès 5 October, 2010, 5:07 pm
I’ve already mentioned several times that I am an admirer of creative store windows. Especially Hermès stores have created a lot of exciting “street theater” over the last couple of years in different places all of the world. This is yet another example, found on Retail Design Diva. I like their key learning especially: “The lesson here is that a little humor goes a long way. People like to be delighted, so put them in a good mood, and they just may open up their wallets.“ Want to see more? Then you should probably order this book …
Shopping & Sex: Different Stimulus. Same Experience. 20 September, 2010, 12:50 pm
Well, I am sure this headline will increase the blog’s traffic a bit … According to a recent research study by the University of Westminster, commissioned by the Institute for Promotional Marketing, shopping in a sale is pretty much the same experience as being sexually aroused. The researchers compared the brain activity, recorded eye movements and emotional responses in the body of 50 volunteers when presented with a series of clippings from sales promotions and when watching a pornographic movie. The study discovered that special grocery offers make people so happy that the brain is turned on to the same level of excitement that it gets from sex, due to the rush of endorphins. A NY Post article about this study saved the best for last: “It’s just like sex,” said the personal assistant. “Sales feel great for a moment, then you wake up the next morning, see the bill, say, ‘What the hell did I just do?’ and your emotions go crazy, and that’s when reality sets in.”
Target lets Shoppers customize ads 30 August, 2010, 9:18 pm
Not a day goes by without some exciting news about Target. This time, Target has initiated “My Target Weekly,” another innovation that simplifies peoples life and improves their shopping experience. The customizable version of its online weekly ad, which draws more than 1.2 million visitors each week, enables shoppers to create deal alerts that notifies them when their favorite items are on sale, to view coupons, see top 10 deals, and share them via Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, shoppers can create their own mobile shopping lists.

Kiddiebase

Do you have a storage dilemma? 26 January, 2012, 2:32 pm
KiddieBaseHave you too many Christmas gifts (bought from KiddieBase ) just hanging around, do you know where you are going to store them? Storage is an issue in our house and we’re sure in some of yours as well, however we have a few ideas that could de-clutter those gifts or just tidy up a child’s bedroom or playroom. Our Children love books, however like many kids they read them and discard, this idea from bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox can help you tidy the home and keep those books in great condition and easily accessible – a great baby & toddler book case. You can even personalise it too by decorating it. How about a classic storage bench with baskets from Guidecraft its a hardwood bench with three storage compartments includes three hand-woven wicker baskets with removable cotton liners. A step always comes in handy as the little ones grow up; a step with storage is twice as good. With a choice of styles and storage under the top step you get two great solutions in one. This is a lovely padded and quilted nursery tidy or storage bag from French design range Natalys. In pale green with a cute slumbering bear applique on the front. Perfect for storing babies toys, clothes and generally keeping the nursery tidy. 100% Cotton outer. We hope you find some of these ideas useful. Originally at http://blog.kiddiebase.co.uk/ Do you have a storage dilemma?
Welcome to three new stores 16 January, 2012, 1:58 pm
KiddieBaseHello, please welcome three of our new stores, we are really pleased to have them on our website. Welcome Chic Marie, Girls Dress-up/Costume Shoes. These shoes are ideal for dressing up and accessorising with girls fancy dress costumes, wearing to parties, and for special occasions Welcome Smart Tots, the shop for baby and kids designer clothing online. We stock Baby and Children’s designer clothes from top European and International brands. Smart-Tots is known for style, quality and value for money for baby clothes and children’s clothes whether you are looking for funky kids designer wear or everyday wear for discerning boys and girls from 2-10 years or something for a new-born born baby or toddler to wear for a special occasion. We are a fun and stylish children’s quality clothing and craft retailer we sell quality every day and occasion wear for children from ages 0-8 Originally at http://blog.kiddiebase.co.uk/ Technorati Tags: New Stores Welcome to three new stores
Guest Blog Post: Healthy Lunch Box Ideas 4 January, 2012, 1:25 pm
KiddieBaseHere’s a post from our very own Guest Blogger – Nutritionist Victoria Greaves Dip ION, mBANT. This might not be for everyone but if you are looking to make your children’s lunchbox a little healthier there are some very useful tips in the below. Healthy Lunch Box Ideas Lunch should supply approximately one third of the daily energy requirements your child needs, as well as a third of protein, carbohydrate, fats, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Try to include: One protein-rich food such as fish, meat, eggs, poultry, tofu, pulses/beans or houmous. One carbohydrate food such as wholemeal or granary bread, pasta, oatcakes or rice. Try wholemeal/brown ‘complex’ carbohydrates as they release sugar much slower to help give children sustained energy. One or preferably two portions of fresh fruit or dried fruit. One dairy food or calcium rich food such as cheese, yogurt, milk. One portion of salad or vegetables such as carrot sticks, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, or a good amount of salad in a sandwich. 200-300ml of water or unsweetened fruit juice. Here are some more specific examples of what you can include. Choose one from this list: Wholemeal pittas with grated cheese and tomato or soft cheese and cucumber. Wholemeal sandwiches with tuna, mayo and cucumber. Wholemeal or white pasta twirls with tomato and vegetable sauce. Brown/white rice salad with tinned salmon, tomatoes, cucumber & spring onion. Homemadesoup in flask and wholemeal or granary roll. Small pot of houmous with wholemeal/white pitta, oatcakes or breadsticks and chopped cucumber, peppers, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes. Tinned tuna/salmon or chicken or egg salad with lots of crunchy vegetables. Tortilla wraps with avocado and chicken salad or any of the above fillings. Chicken drumstick with crunchy salad (peppers, carrots, lettuce, cherry tomatoes). Choose two from this list (preferably one or two fruit and one vegetable): Fresh fruit salad (minimum 3 different pieces) Two pieces of whole fruit – try smaller sized One portion of dried fruit and one fresh fruit Cherry tomatoes Raw carrot sticks Cucumber sticks Celery sticks Calcium rich foods: Cheese cubes Natural yoghurt with fresh fruit to add in Fruit yoghurt Small carton of milk Healthier Extras/Snacks: Flapjack with seeds and dried fruit Small pack of dried fruit Plain popcorn Rice cakes (plain or flavoured) Blueberry or fruit muffin Mini oatcakes with houmous Boiled egg (children like to shell them themselves) Seed mix – pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds with raisins Drinks: Include a bottle of still water in your child’s packed lunch or unsweetened fruit juice as a drink. Soft/fizzy drinks are not a good idea as they are packed with sugar and often colourings, additives, preservatives and aspartame (a sugar substitute), which can become addictive and affect moods. Unhealthy Lunchbox Avoid processed foods in your child’s lunch box as they are high in sugar, saturated fats, salt and often have chemical additives, preservatives, colourings and sugar substitutes that can change children’s behaviour and can prevent them from concentrating. Things to avoid are: Crisps – high in fat, salt and often contains monosodium glutamate MSG Sweets – high in sugar and colourings Soft/fizzy Drinks – high in sugar, colourings and or aspartame (a sugar substitute) Chocolate – high in fat and sugar Substitute: Oat cakes, Rice cakes – instead of – Sweets (mints, chewing gum, fruit pastels, liquorice, toffees, marsh mallows) Dried Fruits, raisins, mangos, apricots, etc – instead of Crisps or Chocolate Unsweetened fruit juice – instead of Fizzy/Soft Drinks Cereal bars without any Hydrogenated Fats. Oat bars are best. Other alternative are fruit muffins, carrot cakes, flapjacks that don’t contain Colourings, Hydrogenated Fats, Monosodium Glutamate MSG, Aspartame IMPORTANT: It is best not to send any nuts or peanut butter in to schools as some children are highly allergic to them. Victoria runs a Womens’ Health Clinic and a ‘Nutrition and Cookery School’ for 5-11 year old children in Beaconsfield, Bucks. For more information, you can contact her at victoria.greaves01@btinternet.com Guest Blog Post: Healthy Lunch Box Ideas
Baby & Children’s Gift Guide 16 December, 2011, 11:10 am
KiddieBaseKiddieBase are delighted to offer a complimentary personal shopping / gift finding service – just email us at personalshopper@kiddiebase.co.uk with the ages of the babies or children you’re buying for, their likes / dislikes and your budget and we will send you a great selection of gift ideas. If you prefer to do your own research use our handy gift links. In many cases, the items come in multiple colours, e.g. if you see pink, we probably also have blue, most things come in various patterns, sizes, types, varieties – so if you like something but it’s not exactly what you are looking for, please click the store name under the picture to see their full range! Baby & Children’s Gift Guide
Welcome to Millieviolet–personalised paintings for children 13 December, 2011, 4:06 am
KiddieBase Take a look at the unique personalised paintings from Millieviolet, created when nothing else was quite right, so Millieviolet was formed. Hand painted using high quality acrylic paint on to a chunky style canvas. Originally at http://blog.kiddiebase.co.uk/ Technorati Tags: personalised unique paintings Welcome to Millieviolet–personalised paintings for children
WIK WAK in the Spotlight 12 December, 2011, 2:39 pm
KiddieBaseWe are delighted to bring you a spotlight on WIK WAK, one of our newest stores and another totally innovative product. Read about Annie, how WIK WAK came about and have a look at her wonderful frames – a truly gorgeous present. Welcoming WIK WAK…. Tell us a bit about yourself? My name is Annie and I live in Battersea, London with my husband Richard and my 1 year old daughter Beatrice (Bea). I spend my time attempting to be a good mother, alongside working part time as a Landscape Architect. I have always enjoyed being creative and so I recently set up my small business – Wik Wak – which sells a range of personalised family tree prints, limited edition prints, and greetings cards all designed and illustrated by myself. Tell us about the products you make / sell? The main emphasis of Wik Wak are the my illustrated, framed family tree photograph frames, although I have also designed a range of limited edition art prints and greetings cards. My family trees are essentially a quirky illustrated print, designed by myself. The tree is brought to life with a range of characterful birds, insects and other fun objects. Within the trees’ branches hang 12 little frames, perfect for displaying photos of your family, friends and pets. Each is supplied at A3 size and in a lovely simple white frame. How did you get the idea for your business? I have always been creative and enjoy selling my artworks at fairs, in galleries and at markets. When my daughter was a few months old I begun missing the creative process and started to think about how I could liven up her bedroom walls. Alongside creating an artwork, I wanted her to familiarise herself with her family. So, I began illustrating a number of quirky family trees, each of which included a number of small frames to display photographs of family and pets. At the current time I am marketing just one family tree photograph frame (in 3 different colourways), but I am keen to extend my range. How long have you been running your business? Wik Wak launched in November this year. So I have only been going a couple of months! I’m just hoping to get the company name out there a bit more and our lovely family tree photograph frames a bit more in the spotlight. If you like our products please do spread the word by email or facebook. Trying to get a small voice heard in today’s high street led world is hard! How did you come up with your business name? To be honest, I don’t really know. I wanted something catchy and simple, but a name which did not restrict the products I could produce within my business. I also wanted a name which hinted at something arty, which for some reason I thing Wik Wak does! What resources have you found most useful in building your business? At the moment I am very new to all of this, but I would say encouragement from my husband and friends has to be pretty high. Also, organisations such as Craft Central and Met Works have been very helpful in helping me to get to grips with setting up a small designer-maker business and also advice on where to sell your products. What’s your best advice for someone starting up? It is harder work than you are imagine trying to not only design your product, get it manufactured, marketing it, selling it and doing all the day to day tasks that are involved with running a small business. However, if it is always something you have dreamt of doing you are never going to feel complete until you give it a go! There is no harm in trying and if it does not succeed, at least you can say you have given it your best shot! What do you like to do besides business? We have a lovely cottage in Tintagel, Cornwall that we visit as often as we can. We bought the house at auction and have spent a lot of time making design changes and almost rebuilding it! The cottage is only 200m from the south west coastpath and also has a glorious garden and large vegetable patch. I am in the process of building some large raised beds so I can take my veggie growing that bit more seriously. I also have a very large, close family, so I enjoy spending time with them and of course going for day trips with my immediate family. What is your favourite way to unwind? A warm bath at the end of a tiring day, G & T in hand! WIK WAK in the Spotlight
Welcome Ginger Ghost our latest store selling amazing soft toys 8 December, 2011, 1:56 pm
KiddieBase Perfect timing for Christmas, any special occasion or just because you have to have one of these absolutely amazing innovative products from our new store Ginger Ghost, Ginger Ghost provide an extensive range of luxury children’s soft toys, choose from a Puppy, Monkey, Duck, Bunny, Elephant, Pony, Bear, Mouse, Cat, Giraffe, Panda or a Lion. We’ve shown you just three of the twelve products Ginger Ghost are offering so please take a look at their Store page to see the full range today. All products are suitable from birth upwards, every one is hand-assembled and no two pieces are identical. This is a unique range of collectable and aspirational lifestyle soft toys bespoke designed to fit aesthetically into the palm of the hand. Originally at http://blog.kiddiebase.co.uk/ Technorati Tags: Soft toys,Ginger Ghost Welcome Ginger Ghost our latest store selling amazing soft toys
Gift ideas for Dads 7 December, 2011, 2:47 pm
KiddieBaseNow we have some ideas for the Dad’s, sometimes the hardest person to buy for at Christmas, or is that just me that thinks that? Here are just 10 ideas to get you started, Daddy and me keepsake Life size print, It features baby’s handprint inside the handprint of daddy A perfect present for Daddy, your child’s fingerprint and name engraved on these cufflinks. A perfect mug, for the Dad in your life, black china with “I’m a dishy Dad” logo. Silver double handprint key ring, perfect for any Dad, you can choose two hands, footprints or a combination then add a name. Make Daddy a true Knight in shinning armour this Christmas, this beautiful image is created from your own photo To go with the Dishy Daddy mug, you’ll also want a Dishy Daddy T-Shirt for your child to wear! Have you ever wondered what your Dad was like when he was a child? Were there questions you always wanted to know the answers to?? The original Moby Wrap is the one of the most recognised wraparound baby carriers available. Made from beautiful, soft stretch cotton and available in a variety of colours, the Moby Wrap is an ideal carrier for new-born, premature and younger babies. In man suitable black! Unique personalised silver cufflinks with miniature handprint / footprint and initials (or design of your choice). Every dad loves a gadget, these are hands free drink bottles which are great for using during sports and on many other occasions. Originally at http://blog.kiddiebase.co.uk/ Gift ideas for Dads
Quick Millionaire Shortbread Recipe 6 December, 2011, 1:58 pm
KiddieBaseSome would call this a cheat’s recipe – we just call it great for fast entertaining over the festive season So here we go, our quick millionaire shortbread recipe: Base 50g butter 200g ready bought shortbread – crushed Caramel 175g butter 175g caster sugar 5 tbsp golden syrup 1x 397g can of condensed milk Topping 1x 200g large block of chocolate – I used milk chocolate Recipe For the base, melt the butter gently and mix in the crushed shortbread – line a (approx) 330mm x 200mm tin with greaseproof paper and then add the base mixture. Press mixture down firm and then place in fridge for an hour. For the caramel place all ingredients into a pan and melt gently until all mixed nicely together. Allow mixture to heat gently for 10 minutes stirring all the time. Pour mixture over shortbread and place back into the fridge for another hour. Take chocolate and break into pieces and then melt gently in a bowl over some boiling water or in the microwave until a runny consistency. Pour chocolate over set caramel and place back into fridge. After approx 10mins scribe a knife through the chocolate layer into “big” bite size squares and then put back into the fridge. Try and wait another hour to set completely – then sit back and indulge yum yum Quick Millionaire Shortbread Recipe
Mega Sunday and Monday Promotion 3 December, 2011, 3:35 pm
KiddieBaseWe love Christmas here at KiddieBase – to spread some good cheer and help you along with your Christmas shopping we are delighted to bring you our Mega Sunday and Monday Promotion. For 2 days only – December 4th and 5th – 35 of our stores are offering discounts on over 800 products! Here is a summary of the fantastic offers: Toys, Games, Puzzles and Books Kidz Klobber – an amazing 20% off nearly 140 clothes, toys and gifts for babies and children! DiscoverMe Toys – Educational toys for babies and pre-school children. 15% off and free delivery! Party Creations – Craft Kits for Children to make, paint and decorate. Ideal for presents 25% off! inceywinceyKids – Interactive books for children 0-9 years – 15% off Kangarinos – 15% off Heimess wooden clip on toys and Lucet kits Kiddiewinkles – Creating a World of Make Believe – 10% off Wonderful Playhouses for Boys & Girls Kidz Klobber – 3 very special toys with a very special 50% discount Little Chic Boutique – 25% off their range of Lamaze baby toys Kids Learn Languages – Entertaining & engaging bilingual DVDs/Gifts for 0-6 year olds – 20% off Gifts for Babies & Children Cheekee Monkee – Organic Baby & Childrenswear, Gifts & Accessories for 0-5 – 50% off Booby and the Beads – Breastfeeding & Children’s Jewellery & accessories – 10% off Scribble Art – 10% off these 2 gorgeous handprint wall art sets – lovely gift Casting Impressions – 3D Life Casting for Babies and Toddlers – 25% off Lil-Munchkins – Unique Babywear and Gifts – 15% off JenniferClare – Gorgeous, handcrafted bunting & personalised tooth fairy cushions – 20% off Kids Learn Languages – Entertaining & engaging bilingual DVDs/Gifts for 0-6 year olds – 20% off Party Creations – Craft Kits for Children to make, paint and decorate. Ideal for presents – 25% off! Funky Keepsake – Contemporary gifts for all occasions specialising in personalised items – 15% off Bigbooklittlebook – green, affordable children’s bookcase, encourage an early love of reading – 25% off Gifts for Mums GUMIGEM – Necklace for mum to wear, baby to enjoy – teething in style loved by celebs! 10% off Poppy Sparkles – jewellery orders over £30 will receive a complimentary Poppy Sparkles Giftbox! Wik Wak – Uniqe Printed Framed Family Tree Photograph Frame – reduced from £39.99 to £29.99 Booby and the Beads – Breastfeeding & Children’s Jewellery & accessories – 10% off Baby and Children’s Clothes & Accessories Annamarie – Baby Clothes, Accessories, Kids Clothes, Fancy Dress – 20% off, free wrap, free gift Babatude – refreshing concept in children’s wear, fusion of style, vibrancy, luxury & attitude 25% off Bibisili – 100% Fun and funky silicone baby bibs. From age 6 months plus! An amazing 50% off Bump to Bundle – £5 off their absolutely gorgeous Shoo Shoo Baby Shoes – they are so cute! Cheekee Monkee – Organic Baby & Childrenswear, Gifts & Accessories from 0-5 – 50% off CCKB – Online baby shop selling designer baby and childrens clothes & gifts – 10% off Dressing Up Chest – Hand Made Fancy Dress Costumes - just £18 for handmade tutus and capes Hats my Baby – An online boutique for cute and funky baby hats – a fab 20% off Not Pink – breaking the rules for kids’ stuff! 15% off all their clothes, gifts and more Ruby Rani – Indian inspired baby/toddler clothes. Beautifully embellished, lovingly created -20% off Lil-Munchkins – Unique Babywear and Gifts – 15% off Kidz Klobber – an amazing 20% off nearly 140 clothes, toys and gifts for babies and children! Nursery Art / Children’s Art Craft on Canvas – Beautiful Handmade Pictures – discounts on 4 fab pieces of art Frame the Name – Hand embroidered, personalised name frames – 15% off Little House – an amazing 50% off these gorgeous handpulled screenprints for children Scribble Art – 10% off these 2 gorgeous handprint wall art sets – lovely gift Maternity & Nursing Bras4mums – Maternity & Nursing Bra Specialists supporting in pregnancy & beyond – 15% off BoobieMilk – Nursing bras, breastpads and nipple cream – a fab 10% off Breastvest – quite simply makes any top a breastfeeding top – 10% off Lafeenoire Maternity – Maternity Designer Clothing and Pregnancy Accessories – 10% off Booby and the Beads – Breastfeeding & Children’s Jewellery & accessories – 10% off In conjunction with MSMP we’re also running a fantastic competition to win £50 to spend on the KiddieBase website. Enter this week and find out you’ve won just in time to finish your Christmas Shopping! Details can be found here. Mega Sunday and Monday Promotion

JeffRoster

Gartner/RIS News Retail Tech survey Now in the Field 26 January, 2010, 12:29 pm
This really is a tremendous study with a 20 year history of excellence. If you’re a retailer and have seen the survey link in your email box please, please, please take the 20 minutes to complete the study. Your insights and options are valuable and help shape my thoughts for this year. If you haven’t seen the link send me a note via jeff.roster@gartner.com and I’d be happy to direct you to the link.
It’s That Time Again-Gartner/RIS News Tech Study 2010 – Any Questions We Should Be Asking? 13 December, 2009, 9:24 pm
I find this project to be the highlight of my year for a couple of reasons: 1. Working with Joe Skorupa and the RIS News team is a real pleasure. They are a terrific group of professionals and all really love this industry. 2. There’s not an event I go to where I don’t meet a respondent to this survey. I am truly honored by the level of support retailers show to this project. So as we edit the survey are there any questions or topics that you’d like to see us survey? If so either post a comment or send me an email at jeff.roster@gartner.com.
My Activity Schedule for NRF 2010 12 December, 2009, 9:25 pm
My schedule for NRF is filling up quite nicely. At this point all my day slots have been spoken for. But my long standing habit is to attend public or semipublic events in the evenings instead of attending private dinners. So if you happen to be at any of the below events come by and say hi. I will try and keep this updated as I commit to new events. By the way if you don’t know where any of the events are please don’t ask me. I’m assuming everyone that is invited has all the information. The schedule is subject to change but will try and keep to it as best as I can. Save travels and see ya in New York! Saturday 9:30am – 3:30pm Retail ROI event. I’ll be on a panel in the afternoon Sunday 4-5pm RIS News event 5-6:30PM NRF Opening Night Reception 9-11pm Retail Insiders event Monday 5-6:30pm IBM event 7-9pm Private event Tuesday 9-11pm Oracle Mixer
Black Friday/CyberMonday Reflections 30 November, 2009, 11:20 am
In all the noise surrounding these to events the one that caused me to stop in my tracks and think for a minute was the below tweet from Nicole Maestri of Reuters: With all these Thanksgiving day and pre-Thanksgiving sales, I wonder how much longer Black Friday will actually mean anything? She asks a very provocative question? Absolutely is my answer. Here’s why: Consumers embrace it- Despite all the machinations to the contrary consumers respond to Black Friday. My visits to various malls at 0 dark 30 Friday saw lines forming outside doors. News feeds from around the country illustrate that was not just a Silicon Valley phenomena Reminder- Serves as an anchor in the calendar -There is no question that retailers have made concerted efforts to draw the Black Friday frenzy into early November. Perhaps the two best examples are Sears with their “Black Friday Now” ad campaign that kicked off Halloween weekend and BestBuy posting all their circulars through Christmas on their website thereby giving people confidence in when the best deals are to be had. But the key here is the pivotpoint is still Black Friday. That serves as the launching point. It’s a dramatic reminder for consumes to get about the important business of holiday shopping. That is =not going to change for the foreseeable future. Publicity, publicity, publicity- You’d be hard pressed for find a news outlet that didn’t have a reporters covering Black Friday activities. There is clearly huge interest in the idea. I monitored various news feeds where retail shopping stories dominated the day. Local radio stations provided traffic updates and I would venture to say every single news station had a reporter doing a standup at a mall with harried shoppers in the background. Retailers will always capitalize on the free exposure. Not your fathers Black Friday -I’m comfortable that Black Friday and probably Cyber Monday are here to stay for the foreseeable future. But what is changing dramatically is how retailers utilize the day. I believe this year saw the emergence of retailers use of social media to drive marketing strategies. Many of the examples were interesting, innovative and fresh. But next year social media will not sneak up on anybody, including the consumers. Next years campaigns will try and draw the consumer into a tighter dynamic with the retailer. Black Friday will serve to focus these efforts. See ya next year at 4:30am!
Retail Story at Oracle OpenWorld 8 October, 2009, 5:49 pm
Next week I will be attending the first two days of Oracle OpenWord. Most of my two days will be spend at the Palace Hotel where the retail sessions are. So if you plan on being at OOW and at any of the sessions or events listed below please feel free to come by and say hi. Monday Oct 12 10-11 Client Meetings 11-12:30 International Expansion Strategies 1-3:30 Retail General Session 4-5:30 Crisis to Opportunity 7-10 Retail Reception Tuesday Oct 13 7-8:30 Breakfast Meeting 9-11 Client Meetings 11-12:30 Customer Centric Retail Strategies 1-2 Client Meetings 2:30-4 Client Meetings Please feel free to pass along any good retail stories I should look into. My Twitter ID is JeffPR
NRF’s View of Holiday 2009…and Mine 6 October, 2009, 9:47 pm
Today the NRF released the below forecast for Holiday 2009 2009 holiday forecast, projecting holiday retail industry sales to decline one percent this year to $437.6 billion.* While this number falls significantly below the ten-year average of 3.39 percent holiday season growth, the decline is not expected to be as dramatic as last year’s 3.4 percent drop in holiday retail sales nor as severe as the 3.0 percent decline in annual retail industry sales expected for all of 2009.** I had the chance to sit in on the NRF’s press and analyst’s briefing. To say the tone was somber would be an understatement. The positive points in the economic environment the NRF see’s include: The economy is beginning to recover but not out of the woods yet. Consumer confidence is stabilizing but we have a long way to go Stabilizing stock market- Consumer savings rates are increasing I don’t disagree with any of those points. However my major concern is unemployment. It’s hard for me to see a scenario where consumer confidence improves dramatically until the unemployment rate gets down in the 6% range. Why is this important? A worried consumer is a thrifty consumer. I would venture to say there are few if any consumers that don’t have a family member or close friend that has not lost their job in the last year. That tension, in and of itself, will hold down spending. So what does the NRF see retailers doing? 1. Inventory control- Retailers have had a full year to prepare for this holiday season. There will simply be less merchandise in the stores this year. This is much different from last years scenario where no one realized the extent of the economic crisis till early September. By that point there was no time to respond except for deep discounting. Retailers will be highly promotional this year. But those promotions were planed and not ad hoc. 2. Reduced labor in the stores -Retailers are simply not hiring the numbers of store associates that they have in years past. On the plus side this reduces costs dramatically. Obviously the negative is almost certainly a poorer customer experience. How serious this is, only time will tell. 3. Scaling Back new store openings -Capital conservation has been the key strategy this year so why open stores if there’s no customers for them. Part of this store strategy is also to reduce store hours. This is very similar to the idea of reducing labor in the stores. Only time will tell if the cost savings are worth the potential negative impact on customer experience. 4. Focus on promotions- Retailers are fully aware that they will be dealing with a very skittish consumer so look for promotions early and often. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter there were a few light moments. The best line was “Is this the year you can buy your wife a vacuum cleaner” highlighting the trend in practical gift giving. For the record I won’t get getting Mrs. R such a gift.
Mobile Commerce: Has Its Time Finally Arrived? 24 September, 2009, 9:42 am
Yes it’s been awhile since my last blog. I have spent to much of my blog time exploring Twitter and other social media, but that’s another post. In the retail world 2009 has turned out to be the year of cost containment and a borderline bunker mentality. The one glorious exception has been retailer’s embrace of social media and increasingly mobile commerce. A recent blog “Starbucks reveals iPhone apps, heralds mobile e-commerce caught my attention. I’ve been doing this job over 10 years now and have listened to m commerce pitches for most of that time. Virtually all were very interesting but with little to no adoption by retailers. But I believe that has clearly changed. On my iPhone I can access apps by Amazon, Best Buy, Sears, eBay and the above described Starbucks app. My guess is within 6 months there will be many, many more. But the key question is, “Will people use these apps to conduct real business. ” I believe that question was answered very dramatically by eBay CEO and Presedent John Donahoe at shop.org recently: eBay Mobile app for iPhone launched last year and to date, it’s been downloaded by 4 million users, regularly appearing in the top 3 free apps in the lifestyle category. All kinds of things sold through eBay mobile app … the most expensive include: o A rare Lamborghini for $750k o A $300k power boat Mobile is our fastest-growing business. Our GMV so far this year through the eBay mobile app alone is about $350 million … and growing double digits week on week. Those are simply amazing stats and illustrate the broad appeal of m commerce today. So to answer the question posed in the title, I do believe m commerce’s time has arrived. Retailers need to prepare for this onslaught. Are you ready?
Retail 2009: Do the 4R’s Replace the 4P’s? 12 March, 2009, 3:07 pm
Below are excerpts from the Executive Summary for the Gartner/RIS News Tech Study . We’ll be releasing the study and presenting the data next month at the Retail Technology Conference 2009. Follow the runup to the conference on Twitter at #RTC The year 2009 will long be remembered as a time of great challenge for retailing as a whole and the retail CIO in particular. No one wants to focus on doom and gloom on a steady basis, but as of this writing, there are few positive economic signs to point to on the horizon. The stock market continues to produce daily declines, the revaluation of housing has yet to stabilize, and the consumer continues to remain stingy on all but the most necessary of purchases and only buying items on deep discount. So what’s in store for 2009? Will retailers slash their IT budgets in a desperate bid to improve their income statements? Slash, no, but they will definitely reassess, redirect, reallocate and remove costs as much as possible. However, here’s why I don’t see overall IT budgets decreasing dramatically in 2009: Centricity is STILL the dominant strategy today in retailing. In all but the smallest retail formats this requires technology enablement to successfully carry out. Predominance of first-generation e–commerce platforms still exists across all tiers and subsectors, which requires significant upgrading or replacement. Top 10 IT initiatives started in 2009 I’ve spent the last six months worrying what answer I would give to the question: What are retailers working on in 2009? “Nothing” was the most common answer I received from my blog and twitter efforts. While I understand it’s become fashionable to deliver negative news in this environment, fortunately the real answer to the question is much more positive. The new initiatives can be summed up in two words: customers and data. A fair number of retailers are still wrestling with long-term POS and kiosk projects, which focus on improving customer service and satisfaction. And a larger block of retailers is wrestling with concerns surrounding data: How to find it, speed it up, and make it available to wider audiences within the organization. So Where Do We Go from Here? This year will be a time of phenomenal challenges to the retail community. We will see more retailers fall this year, like Circuit City and so many others. And as they pass from the scene their competitors will grow stronger. We will see many retailers close unprofitable stores. Some will claim this is another sign on the pending retail apocalypse. While others, me included, believe this is a healthy development. It’s the pruning of the orchard in preparation for the next crop. Some of these stores should have been closed years ago. Better late then never. We will most likely see housing valuations remain fluid and 401K’s still depressed. But those of us in the industry need to buckle down and persevere. And we will. Finally, we need to begin preparations for a coming upturn. Despite all the doom and gloom a rebound will happen. And smart retailers will be ready when it does.
IT Spend by Industry Worldwide 11 February, 2009, 3:30 pm
The Industry Market Strategies team has just finished the first installment of the 2009 forecasting exercise. The complete WW Industries forecast cube can be found at Forecast: Industry Market Strategies by Vertical Industry, Worldwide, 2006-2012, 1Q09 Update and is now available. You will need to be an IMS client to gain total access to the cube. But below we can give you a few glimpses into trending in the major industries. For readers of this blog that are not familiar with Gartner’s internal organization IMS is the team that I work in. Our task is to understand all the trends, drivers and barriers that impact our industry’s and translate that into our IT forecasts. Below are some insights into what we see happening: Financial Services industry spent $558.4 billion World wide in 2008 on IT (hardware, software, IT services, internal services and telecommunications) and it will be reduced by 2.1% in the US in 2009, yet positive growth remains in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia/Pacific regions. The worldwide compound annual growth rate from 2007 through 2012 will be 3.4%. Key analysts are Susan Cournoyer and Vittorio D’Orazio. Retail industry spent $ 153.3 billion worldwide in 2008 on IT(hardware, software, IT services, internal services and telecommunications). Growth in North America in 2009 will essentially be flat at 0.5%. Asia/ Pac, Japan, Latin America, Middle east and Africa will also have positive growth in 2009, while Western and Eastern Europe will be negative. The worldwide compound annual growth rate from 2007 through 2012 will be 3.6%. The key analyst is Jeff Roster. Transportation industry spent $105.9 billion worldwide in 2008 on IT (hardware, software, IT services, internal services and telecommunications). North America, Western Europe and Japan will have negative growth in 2009 while Asia?pac, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa will be positive. The worldwide compound annual growth rate from 2007 through 2012 will be 3.6%. The key analyst is Bob Goodwin. Utilities industry spent spend $128.1 billion worldwide in 2008 on IT (hardware, software, IT services, internal services and telecommunications). Despite a positive outlook for the industry, utilities apply the brakes in 2009 on their pace of annual growth to 2.8%, slowing to less than half of the 2008 AG. The worldwide compound annual growth rate WW from 2007 through 2012 will be 5.2%. The key analyst is Cynthia Moore. Communications industry spent $368.3 billion worldwide in 2008 on IT (hardware, software, IT services, internal services and telecommunications). North America, eastern Europe, Asia Pac Latin America and Middle East and Africa will have positive growth in 2009 while Western Europe and Japan will not. The worldwide compound annual growth rate WW from 2007 through 2012 will be 4.0%. The key analyst is venecia Liu. Manufacturing industries spent $482.7 billion worldwide in 2008 on IT products and services worldwide in 2008 on IT (hardware, software, IT services, internal services and telecommunications). The worldwide annual growth rate will fall to negative 0.6% in 2009, while the compound annual growth rate for 2007 through 2012 has been lowered to 2.8% as a result of the global economic slowdown. The key analyst is Ken Brant. Healthcare spent $88 billion worldwide in 2008 on IT products and services worldwide in 2008 on IT (hardware, software, IT services, internal services and telecommunications). 2009 will see growth in IT spend in all the regions. The worldwide compound annual growth rate WW from 2007 through 2012 will be 5%. The key analyst is John Lovelock. If any reporters are interested in getting in touch with any of the analysts you can reach out to Gartner analyst relations or leave a comment below and I will be happy to route to the analyst.
The Gartner/RIS News Retail Tech Study 2009 27 January, 2009, 7:44 pm
I just launched the study yesterday and the data is streaming in. Already I’m seeing some interesting and counterintuitive trends in the data. Each year this study is important. It gives us a unique view into the retailer mindset on IT spending patterns. However this year the importance is off the charts. If you haven’t gotten a survey invite and would like to particiape please drop me a note at jeff.roster@gartner.com and I’ll send you the link.

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