ETD: 729 Wireless Technology; Retail sales are moving up;
Inventory Turns or Days Based on Net Sales; PromoClock; Dumb "customer
service"
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Tue, 14 Oct 2003 06:09:06 -0400
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0729 October 14, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Wireless Technology
[3] Retail sales are moving up
[4] Inventory Turns or Days Based on Net Sales
[5] PromoClock
[6] Dumb "customer service"
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Heading to Atlanta tomorrow. We sold out house there in unbelievable
record time. I got a call last Wednesday that somebody was
interested. Contracts were drawn on Thursday and signed on Friday. We are
closing this Friday! Now, I'm not a religious person, but let me tell you
about a bit of folklore that says when selling a home, if you bury a
statue of St Joseph upside down in your yard your house will sell. Folks,
it works. I sold two homes using this method, and was shocked. If you
want to learn more about this, check out...
http://www.snopes.com/luck/stjoseph.asp
Has anybody tried wireless networking in your store? Sounds promising.
List member Derrick Robinson reports on retail sales moving
up. Interesting stuff.
And list member Diane Hazen needs some help with inventory turns.
I had to share one of the dumbest customer service experiences I ever
had. I'm not disclosing the company, but did post the dumb letter I got
from them. What a way to lose a $2,000 sale!
Check out PromoClock in today's issue, which will be at our site for
posterity at our "Members: Who Are You?"
http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm And we have a form
there for you to tell us about you. As I said when I first proposed this
idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we often don't know
anything about each other. So, tell us who you are and what you do.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Wireless Technology
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Is anybody using wireless technology in your business? With the technology
advances and the IEEE 802.1x standards, it looks like wireless is the way
to go. And, if you have a store with a couple of registers, a wireless
network seems a natural.
We're moving to a new duplex condo, and it's impossible to wire it for a
network. So, wireless is the only way to go.
It seems rather straightforward. At least from everything I've read. Set
up a wireless base station and go.
I'm told that unless you have a laptop with built-in wireless, then you'll
end up with a PC Card wireless adapter, and they
typically have a little "box" that sticks out the side of the PCMCIA slot.
That's all the antenna you'll likely need for in-house usage. You can also
use a card that has an external antenna jack. You can buy external antennae
that stick to the laptop's lid via suction cups.
Paul Mullen on the WC List says that if you're really not interested in
much of a geekly challenge, you should buy an integrated DSL
modem/router/wireless base station like the ones that NetGear and LinkSys
manufacture. They're only in the ~$100 neighborhood, and are much easier to
set up than a "host AP" (a PC dedicated to use as a wireless base station).
In fact, they're almost *too* easy. So many people plug them in and don't
bother to configure them, leaving the default admin username and password.
Don't be one of those people. :-)
What I also like is the ability to connect my laptop at the many hot spots
that are around now - like Starbucks and many airports. So, next week we
shall find out.
What about you? Have you gone wireless yet?
George
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[3] Retail sales are moving up
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Retail Sales measure the total receipts at stores that sell durable and
nondurable goods.
Why is it important?
Consumer spending accounts for approximately two-thirds of the economy, so
if you know what consumers are doing, you'll have a pretty good insight on
where the economy is heading. That's a big advantage for investors,
forecasters and store owners.
The pattern in consumer spending has a strong influence on the stock and
bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy
corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, its a different
story. The focus is whether economic growth heats up and leads to inflation.
Retail sales not only give you a sense of the big picture, but also the
trends among different types of retailers.
The cool weather early in September resulted in apparel chains saw an
increase in sale of more merchandise and probably not at low prices. Last
year the same time the weather was warmer and that depressed retail sales a
bit leaving many retailers with excessive inventories that they later
marked down causing profit erosion.
It is reported that specialty retailers from teen fashion chains to jewelry
stores showed the biggest monthly sales improvement for the month of
September. As a result several companies are thinking of raising their
earnings outlooks for the current quarter.
Does this mean that the increase in sale for September will hurt this
month's sale?
Derrick Robinson
DerrickWRobinson@compuserve.com
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[4] Inventory Turns or Days Based on Net Sales
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I am working on a project to support changing the reporting of inventory
days and turns from being based on cost of sales to net sales without
restating inventory from cost. I have been told this methodology is used
by distribution centers. The intention is to more directly link the
inventory days and turns to the margins. The new measurement would be used
in association with Turn & Analysis which is very similar to GMROI. Have
you ever encountered the use of this methodology? Do you have any
suggestions on additional sources of data for this change? I would
appreciate your thoughts.
Regards,
Diane Hazen
Americas Financial Analysis
Phone: (252)-931-5170
FAX: (252)-931-5973
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[5] PromoClock
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PromoClocks are 3D animated desktop alarm clocks that transform into an
unlimited number of useful yet promotional applications, giving you the
opportunity to bring your own functionality, content and marketing
materials to Windows desktop. PromoClock applications are custom designed
based on your business objectives, marketing needs and target audience
type. PromoClock is a useful and entertaining desktop application that provides
o Constant promotion
o Branding
o Website traffic
o Time-sensitive advertising
PromoClock Lets You Claim Windows Desktops for the Following:
o Promotion Promote, advertise and increase brand exposure directly on
Windows Desktop.
o Communication Send you up-to-the-minute news directly to consumers'
Desktops.
o Advertising Earn revenues by selling ad space on the Windows Desktop.
PromoClock offers more flexibility and customization options than other
desktop applications. Started in February, 2003, PromoClock.com fills in
gap between offline promotional product industry and online advertising by
introducing the first set of virtual interactive promotional products.
We market PromoClock via newsletter, affiliates, ads and telemarketing
Ready-made PromoClock models sell for $279.00. Custom PromoClocks start at
$1000 for basic functionality and $3000-$5000 for advanced functionality.
http://www.promoclock.com/order_now/
Michael Ginzburg, CEO
PromoClock.com
P.O.B 46024
Jerusalem, NA 91460 Israel
Tel: 972 2 679 54 35
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[6] Dumb "customer service"
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I asked for an upgrade to release 9.0 of a software product and got this
ridiculous answer from customer support Sounds like a sales deterrent.
Good Morning,
Thank you for your interest in <OUR COMPANY>. What version of <OUR PRODUCT>
do you currently have Standard or Professional.
Is there a specific reason why your looking at upgrading. There are a
number of <OUR PRODUCT> that may meet your needs, as well as various
licensing/pricing that can only be determined based on your current
business requirements and architectural environment. By answering just a
few questions, we will be able to better assist you with your enquiry.
1. What is the nature of the information pain you or your company is
currently experiencing? In other words, what critical business issue do you
believe our solutions could help you with?
2. What is your Total user base versus your Concurrent user base? (i.e.
What is the total number of users that will access this solution over a
period of one month, versus how many users will be accessing the solution
at any given time during the day?)
3. How many users will actually be creating new reports from scratch?
(i.e. As opposed to just viewing/modifying reports via the web)
4. Which Databases/CRM/ERP systems will you be reporting from, and in
which department do they reside?
5. Do you require Security to control who sees particular report content?
6. Are you looking to Schedule or automate delivery of reports? If so, how
many unique users will receive or are likely to view these reports?
7. What is the estimated time frame for your project?
8. Are you evaluating other solutions?
9. Has a budget already been allocated for this project?
10. Please provide complete address and contact details for you/your company.
Contact Name:
Title:
Company:
Department/Division:
Address:
Tel:
Email:
Thank you for taking the time to answer the above questions - With this
information I will be able to better answer your enquiry, and/or refer you
to the most appropriate business group within Crystal. Please feel free to
call or email me at anytime if you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Shawn,
<SUPPORT PERSON>
yada, yada, yada
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Links to follow
==================================================================
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