ETD: 738 Wireless Networking; S.C.O.R.E.; Holiday Season; New
Taxes On Your Internet Usage?; Wal-Mart clarifies RFID plans
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Thu, 13 Nov 2003 08:03:22 -0500
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0738 November 13, 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 Networking
[3] S.C.O.R.E.
[4] Holiday Season
[5] New Taxes On Your Internet Usage?
[6] Wal-Mart clarifies RFID plans
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
16 days to Black Friday - are you ready?
We have some interesting member posts today. I've mentioned S.C.O.R.E.
before, and one of our members is a member. I hope to get more information
from him, as it is an excellent organization.
The Holiday season seems to be heading up. Most major retailers have been
reporting excellent sales thus far. How are you doing?
I had some great experiences with wireless networking, and found some
interesting material as wireless relates to retailing. Have you tried it
yet? Along the same line, Wal-Mart has clarified it's RFID plans. Looks
like that will be coming to a store near you soon.
Let's hear about your business, which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?" site.
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 Networking
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I recently installed a wireless network on our office. I must say, it is
quite good. And, as an added benefit, I can now connect at many airports
and other hot spots (Starbucks, McDonald's, etc). Tuesday morning, at
LaGuardia Airport in NYC, while waiting for the plane, I was able to
connect online and take care of business. The fee isn't too bad - $6.95
for 24 hours.
It works quite easy. You set up the base station, attach the broadband
connection and the server, attach a wireless card to laptop and
viola! There are three standards, usually referenced as 802.1x. 802.1A is
higher speed; 802.1B is the most common; 802.1G is the newest and combines
both of the others. So, if you use 802.1G you can link to A or B.
I see wireless in use at retail stores with a couple of lanes. In the old
days, you had to have cabling specialists come in to the store and wire for
a network. It was expensive and very limited. For example, we had a large
retail client who had 12 lanes in each store. And three times a year that
had gigantic off-premises sales at Giant Stadium, Yonkers Racetrack and
other such places. This meant they had to have a separate network setup to
connect the POS units at the sales. With wireless, all that's needed is a
card in each PC, with a small base station (about the size of an eight port
router).
RIS News reports that wireless security software developer Columbitech
announced the availability of Columbitech Embedded Client API, which
enables device manufacturers and retailers to create secure VPN clients for
wireless devices in the retail industry that have a non-standard operating
system. The API is designed for all wireless devices that previously had no
security solution such as wireless cash registers, wireless printers and
wireless anti-theft devices. By using Columbitech Embedded Client API,
retailers save costs by extending the lifecycle of their wireless devices
by eliminating the need to buy new wireless equipment.
On the down side, a research paper posted online warns of holes in the
latest WiFi (or 802.11) wireless cryptography protocol and outlines how
WiFi Protected Access (WPA) can be compromised using a traditional cyber
assault known as a dictionary attack. The paper, written by Bob Moskowitz
of TruSecure's ICSA Labs, cautions against use of weak passwords that could
allow attackers to gain unauthorized
access. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/32070.html
So, when you setup a passphrase (note I did not say password), use
something meaningful. My old security officer used to use something like
G#1SOSSB!$%# which translated to Greatest #1 Security Officer Since Sliced
Bread (expletives!). So, give your passphrase some logic - both for
wireless and in general. Forget about your birthday, or spouse's
name. Give it some logic.
George
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[3] S.C.O.R.E.
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George, Thanks for the latest e-mail newsletter . . . specially the link to
the article on how small business can afford e-commerce. I will make this
into a handout for my volunteer work with SCORE -- Service Corp of Retired
Execs (although one does not, as I am not, have to be retired) which is a
free consulting program under the auspices of the US Small Bus Adm.
I would also like to take this opportunity to advise you, if I have not
already, of the articles on business and, in particular, business topics
that affect sales on my web site -- www.sellingselling.com. We have just
updated and added many articles. Please fee free to use them if you find
some the theme or your newsletter.
Alan J. Zell, Ambassador Of Selling
Member of SCORE CyberChapter and SCORE Chapter 11, Portland, OR
azell@aol.com
Winner of the Murray Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sales & Marketing
Chairman, PNW Sales & Marketing Group
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Thanks Alan. I shall consider some if them in upcoming issues.
Tell us more about SCORE. I've used them in the past. Wonderful
opportunity. Our list members would love to know.
George
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[4] Holiday Season
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JC Penney and May Department Stores (Lord & Taylor, Famous Barr, etc)
reported better-than-expected profits for the third quarter and analysts
predicted strong holiday sales.
Wal-Mart Stores' October same-store sales climb 4.5 percent, surpassing
Wall Street's estimate of 4.2 percent. U.S. same-store sales rose 4 percent
at its namesake division and 7 percent at its Sam's Club warehouse chain.
Overall sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 31 rose 12 percent to $19.07
billion up from $17.05 billion a year earlier. October sales at the
Wal-Mart division increased 11 percent to $12.72 billion compared with
$11.49 billion a year earlier. Sam's Club experiences October sales of
$2.64 billion, an improvement of 9.7 percent over sales of $2.4 billion in
the period last year.
Target Corp. reports that net retail sales for the four weeks ended
November 1, 2003, rose 7.9 percent to $3.37 billion from $3.13 billion for
the similar period 2002. Comparable-store sales increased 1.6 percent from
fiscal October 2002. Sales at Target Corp. were below plan in October,
reflecting exceptionally weak sales at both Mervyn's and Marshall Field's,
chain's that operate under Target's control.
Pier 1 Imports reports that sales for the four-week period ended November
1, 2003, rose to $1.43 million an increase of 9.3 percent from $1.31
million last year. Comparable store sales increased 1.6 percent.
Year-to-date sales for the eight-month period amounted to $1.14 billion up
5.9 percent from $1,08 billion last year.
The trend seems to be carrying over to other retailers and analysts
also. Maybe we'll all have a good season.
On a somewhat sour note, according to Quinn Halford in Gifts & Dec Online
(www.giftanddec.com), FAO Inc. announced that anticipated sales
improvement from initial holiday marketing efforts have not materialized.
The company will not have adequate liquidity to operate normally in
November, and liquidity in December will depend on sales trends through the
holidays. FAO is asking vendors to reduce shipments and to extend payment
dates to the first of the year. FAO has also requested an "overadvance"
from its lenders, a move that could lead to lenders issuing a notice of
default. The company directed its investment banker to "review strategic
alternatives, including a sale of the company." FAO, which operates
retailers FAO Schwarz, Zany Brainy, and The Right Start, emerged from three
months of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April of this year.
I do hope that FAO can hang in there. They are my favorite toy store. And
at Christmas, I'm a little kid.
George
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[5] New Taxes On Your Internet Usage?
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A previous E-Tailer's post ended this way:
What do you think about the new spam laws and the prospect of paying new
taxes on Internet usage? Let us know at feedback@winxpnews.com - and if
you're a U.S. citizen, let your representatives know, too. For information
on how to write to your elected officials, see:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=031104ED-Congress
To which I say:
If this info came out of WinXP News, I give it zero credibility. Reason:
I've had the misfortune of finding myself on this particular outfit's list
since I dunno when, and I sure didn't opt in to receive anything from them.
Which, in my book, means that they're sending me spam.
Furthermore, I don't even use XP, so why would they even bother putting me
on their list?
Martha Retallick, "The Passionate Postcarder"
http://www.PostcardMarketingSecrets.com/
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
I take it you don't like them <grin>
In a related article, the Senate is expected to renew a ban on Internet
access taxes despite an outcry from cash-strapped state and local
governments that fear the loss of up to billions of dollars in potential
revenue. The controversy is not related to taxing online sales, which is
banned.
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/32078.html
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[6] Wal-Mart clarifies RFID plans
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will take a phased approach to rolling out radio
frequency identification (RFID) technology in its supply chain. At meetings
with suppliers and technology vendors in Bentonville, Ark., last week, the
retailer said it planned to start using RFID in its Texas facilities first.
In June, Wal-Mart CIO Linda Dillman announced the company wanted its top
100 suppliers to start using RFID on pallets and cases by 2005, and all
suppliers to use the technology by 2006. Wal-Mart will use RFID tags based
on the Electronic Product Code (EPC) protocol developed by the Auto-ID
Center at MIT and now managed by EPCglobal, a joint venture of EAN
International and the Uniform Code Council.
The first implementations will be at three Wal-Mart distribution centers
and 150 stores in Texas. The company plans to add another 100 distribution
centers and 3,000 stores by the end of 2005.
Initially, Wal-Mart will accept any RFID tags based on the EPC using the
UHF frequency, but wants to standardize on the EPC Class 1, Version 2
standard. Companies that currently communicate with Wal-Mart using
electronic data interchange (EDI) will be expected to add the EPC code to
their advance ship notices.
One part of the EPC network that apparently will not be part of the initial
Wal-Mart project is the Object Naming Service (ONS), which would provide
EPC look-ups via the Internet. Analysts think other early adopters will
follow suit, and install EPC systems using point-to-point EDI connections.
"EPCglobal must reassess the validity of the highly academic EPC Network
and offer a viable road map from current industry requirements to the
vision," said Noha Tohamy, analyst at Forrester Research Inc.
The Department of Defense, which issued its own RFID mandate last month,
will also likely standardize on Class 1, Version 2 EPC tags. The DoD held
its own meetings recently to further refine its plans for RFID in the
supply chain. Wal-Mart is actively involved in developing the DoD's
implementation strategy.
Wal-Mart's top 100 suppliers must present implementation plans by February
2004.
Details at...
http://www.frontlinetoday.com/frontline/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=75604
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Links to follow
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