ETD: 750 Hot online products; Thank You; International Association of Web Masters and Designers

[E-Tailer's Digest]

  E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the  Retailer
  Issue #0750                     January 8, 2004
  George Matyjewicz, Moderator         mailto:georgem@gapent.com
  Published by:  GAP Enterprises, Ltd.  http://www.etailersdigest.com
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   CONTENTS

  [1]  Greetings
  [2]  Hot online products
  [3]  Thank You
  [4] International Association of Web Masters and Designers

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  [1]  Greetings.
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Hi All:

I hope this year is starting off nicely for you.  What are you doing to 
make 2004 the best year ever?   Do you have your planning in place?   Have 
you identify the three things that you want to accomplish this year?  How 
about sharing your thoughts with us?

So what do you think is the hot product for 2004?  What should we be 
looking for in stores, or in business?

Our greetings pages always attracts a lot of visitors.  How about 
you?  Have you had occasion to use any of the greetings we all developed? 
http://etailersdigest.com/resources/greetings.htm or 
http://www.gapent.com/greetings/

  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]  Hot online products
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Quinn Halford, Editor In Chief and Matthew Kalash, Editor of Gifts & Dec 
magazine (www.giftanddec.com) report that the top ten keyword searches on 
Whereoware for the month of December 2003 were, in descending order: 
candles, pillows, furniture, jewelry, cats, veggies, lamps, ornaments, 
scrapbooking, and chandeliers.

Which got me to thinking about what's hot and what's not.  I know Pam 
Danziger has been reporting on how scrapbooking is hot.  So what is 
scrapbooking?

 From prior experience at Silk Road Gifts, I can say that candles are 
definitely hot.  And there are so many companies offering so many unique 
selections.  I still believe Yankee has the most fragrant candles.

One of the executives at Toys"R"Us called me this week and we will be 
having lunch in February.  Somebody must have told him about my comments in 
the last issue about why they have been losing market share.  I'll keep you 
posted.

Of course, the Roomba is hot (see next post).  Wonder what other robotic 
devices we'll see?

So what's hot with you?  What do you see as the next hot selling 
item?  And, while we're at it, what are you doing this year to increase 
business?

George

+++ Next post +++
Our Moderator wrote:
 > please tell us how you like the Roomba.

I have had a Roomba since the spring and I love it.  I use it all the time 
yet never feel like I am vacuuming.  You do have to keep in mind what it 
is, a cordless vac.  It isn't very powerful, it can't do corners and it 
doesn't do edges very well despite claims.  But, it vacuums so I don't have 
to.  I hate vacuuming. I get the corners and edges with a damp paper towel. 
Sometimes I get the edges and corners with the broom when I am cleaning up 
the dog crunchies after the dog strews them across the floor.  Roomba can't 
handle the dog crunchies, they are too big.   Since I use it frequently 
(much more frequently than I ever vacuumed - I turn it on and leave the 
room) I always have clean floors and I hardly ever haul out the big vacuum.

I have a lot of hard wood floors and Roomba is great on them.  It doesn't 
do as well on very plush carpets. It can't deep vacuum, so you have to 
surface clean more frequently. I have to help it in my family room 
occasionally.  I have a thick carpet in there on top of hard wood 
floors.  Roomba sometimes has a hard time getting up onto the carpet if it 
doesn't run at it from the right angle.  It does better on less plush 
carpets.  I once used it on a carpet that was in serious need of a major 
vacuuming.  I didn't like the job it did so I ran it through a second 
cycle. The carpet looked fine after the second cycle.

It is much slower than when you vacuum yourself, but who cares if you 
aren't there doing the vacuuming.  I love how it handles the bathroom 
floors.  I pick up the rugs in there and shake them onto the floor and then 
let Roomba go at it.  It does great expect it can't get behind the toilet. 
Theoretically Roomba can handle the bathroom throw rugs, but they have a 
very thick pile and it was very painful watching Roomba chug-chugging on 
them.  I was afraid it would get stuck so I just decided to save myself the 
stress not to have Roomba do them.

You do need to Roomba-proof a room the first time.  It was fascinating to 
watch it work, even mesmerizing.  I had to tuck some cords out of the way 
and remove scatter rugs with fringe.  The instructions say to tuck the 
fringe under the rug.  Yeah, like I am going to do that more than once.  I 
bought a new rug for the front hallway without fringe.  Problem solved.  I 
also had to shift some furniture to eliminate areas that Roomba could get 
into but had trouble getting out of.   Roomba really does a great job 
eventually covering the entire room and getting itself out of trouble.  I 
love that it goes under furniture.  I hardly ever did that when I was doing 
the vacuuming.

You have to empty the dust bin after every use but it is so easy to 
do.  And I mean completely aggravation-free easy.  Every vacuum I have ever 
used was a pain to empty, but not this one.  You pick it up by the handle, 
carry it to the trash can, squeeze a button with your other hand and the 
bin is in your hand.  Dump it into the trash and slide the bin back in 
place.  You can do it in one quick motion.  Bottom line... I absolutely 
love it for what it does.


Diane Shaffer

+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Thanks for sharing Diane.  I'm sure you will convince many.

George

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  [3]  Thank You
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I have just used your site to say thank you in a letter to Kuala Lumpur and 
noticed that you didn't have Scottish Gaelic. Therefore as my way of 
showing my appreciation for you help, here goes:

Tapadh leat  - Thank you    imitated pronunciation  - Tappuh let
Tapadh leibh (polite or plural )                               - Tappuh leh-eev
Moran taing  - Many thanks                                  - Moe-ran ta-eeng

Tapadh leibh,

John MacLeod
29 Birkhall Place
Mastrick
Aberdeen
AB16 5RL

+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Moran taing John.  I'm glad you were able to use the site.  And thanks for 
the update.

I probably get 3-4 such  comments each week - folks who find these 
greetings, and use them.  And very often we get updates like these.  My 
favorite was when I was in Mexico last year and as I entered a store I saw 
the "Welcome" list hanging on the glass door.  When I went in the store, I 
saw the back of the list had the "Thank You" list for customers leaving the 
store.  I spoke to the owner and he said he found the list online, saw 
comments about printing it and hanging it and did so.  He said he gets many 
comments from customers who like the greetings.

So, in addition to giving us some updates to any of the greetings, please 
feel free to print it and hang it in your store.  Don't forget to give us 
credit.  My thanks to our list members for all your help in developing 
these greetings.

George

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  [4] International Association of Web Masters and Designers
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John J. Matyjewicz - Chief, U.S. Navy Retired wrote
 >Member International Association of Web Masters and Designers 
http://www.IAWMD.com

I was  impressed by "Member International Association of Web Masters and 
Designers http://www.IAWMD.com." But was shocked to find the web site could 
not be read with Netscape 7.1. A basic error. I was able to read it with 
I.E.. I wonder about web masters who design sites that are not viewable by 
all internet browsers.

Hence, It is obvious, I did not join.

George
george@salesmart.com

+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Good point George.  I'll pass this on to John.

It's so easy to code for one thing, and ignore everything else.  While I 
understand novices doing this, it's hard to see that with a professional 
organization like this.

What do members think?   What do you do?

George

==================================================================
  Links to follow
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