ETD: 789 Do postcards work?; Toysrus.com Sues Amazon for $200
Million; The Benjamin Team
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu May 27 02:43:50 GMT 2004
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0789 May 27, 2004
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Do postcards work?
[3] Toysrus.com Sues Amazon for $200 Million
[4] The Benjamin Team
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
The Passionate Postcarder is giving us her take on whether postcards
work. What do you think?
Interesting to note how ToysRUs is suing Amazon for $200 million. They
just can't seem to get anything right. They lost market share and the lead
position in toys to WalMart - a position they should have never lost. Then
they spent $80 million on a Website only to have it crash the first
day. IMHO, they are in need of some management consulting help. I spent a
couple of days at their headquarters, and will say it is impressive. Yet
their stores need drastic improvement.
We have a profile on list member Carolin Benjamin and The Benjamin
Team. Tell us about your business which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?" site. We just updated all those postings that
we were delinquent with the
updates. 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 at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Do postcards work?
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In answer to George's questions:
1. How well do post cards work?
This begs the question, "What do you mean by 'work'?" So let me take a stab
at defining the meaning of that W-word, work.
Ideally, the best way to look at it is from the "Excess of Revenues over
Costs" approach. Meaning that your postcard mailing brings in more than it
costs you.
And I would say that postcards work IF:
A. You are making the right offer to the right audience at the right time.
B. You are prepared to handle what happens after people get your cards and
start responding to your offer. There's nothing like sending out a card
that says to call for an appointment, and then when people start calling,
your staff says, "Huh? What Special Evaluation Appointment?"
2. Who do they reach, i.e., who is the best target?
Your best target is the one that fits your Ideal Customer Profile. This
profile should include such things as income level, occupation,
decisionmaking power, location. Spend some time creating this profile
before you send a single card.
3. How often should they be sent to see results?
I send my cards 10-12 times a year. Reason: I'm trying to keep my name and
services "top of mind" with the people on my list. And this leads to my
next point:
People Have a Lot of Other Things to Think About Besides Your Business!
Or, as my father is wont to say, "You gotta let 'em know you're alive." And
one way to do that is to send them _something_ on a regular basis.
I notice that when my card frequency goes below 10 a year, my business is
one hurtin' puppy dog.
4. Also, does this add to the junk mail, i.e., the snail mail version of spam?
If can, but let me add one observation about sp at mmers: They don't like to
pay for things. That's why they get such a kick out of using other people's
resources (and this includes time) to get their message out there.
Since postcarding is what I do, you'd think that my own mailbox would be
inundated with the things. But it isn't. My friends and relatives report
the same thing.
Why is this? I think it's because it takes time and money to plan and
implement postcard marketing campaigns. And many business people don't have
the patience to do that. They want the instant results right away. Sorry to
break the news to them, but the world doesn't work that way.
Martha Retallick, "The Passionate Postcarder"
http://www.PostcardMarketingSecrets.com
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Thanks Martha. It sounds like they are more of an awareness vehicle, than
a selling tool.
Re; "Do they work." I don't agree with the "Excess of Revenues over Costs"
approach. Rather, I believe a campaign should have a profit, and my
measurement is the campaign should represent 3-5% of the sales, i.e., if
the campaign cost $300, I should generate $6,000 to $10,000 in sales. Of
course, that's a goal not always realized, but it is a way of measuring the
effectiveness of a campaign. Needless to say there are various factors in
marketing that affect the ROI.
If, in fact, postcards are used as an awareness tool, then your approach is
on target.
George
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[3] Toysrus.com Sues Amazon for $200 Million
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Toysrus.com has sued Amazon.com, the company that has run its online store
since early 2000, claiming the e-tail giant violated an exclusivity
agreement and seeking US$200 million in damages.
The online wing of Toys 'R' Us claims Amazon is in breach of the original
agreement between the two companies because it now offers products in the
games category for sale on its site through other merchants.
"We expect Amazon.com to respect its contract with us and to support our
position, especially since we pay a very high fee to maintain this
exclusivity," said Toys 'R' Us counsel David J. Schwartz.
The toy company said its own review of the Amazon site found 4,000 products
that violated the exclusivity clause of the 2000 deal. "This violates the
letter and spirit of our agreement," Schwartz said. "We would be happy to
compete with other vendors in these categories, but we are not willing to
pay for exclusivity that we are not receiving."
Board games and outdoor play equipment are among the products available
through third-parties on the Amazon site.
The $200 million damages figure is the estimated value placed on the
exclusivity arrangement, according to the company.
Toysrus.com general manager Greg Ahearn noted that the legal action will
not affect customers or shareholders. "It will be business as usual," he said.
Details at...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/33993.html
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
This coming from a company who originally spend $80 million to develop a
Website, only to have it crash the first day. Methinks they need some
management help.
George
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[4] The Benjamin Team
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The Benjamin Team sells residential real estate in the Gold Canyon and East
Phoenix Arizona valley. We also assist people with 1031 tax deferred
exchange properties
The benefits of having a business in this area is the ability to live in
350+ days of sunshine, shovel no more snow, play golf year-round, live in a
beautiful desert landscaped area with lots of songbirds, and desert
wildlife ~~~ if buying as an investment, the area has very good investment
properties
Great customer service, help make relocation more pleasant and makes us
better than the competition.
We started the business after being in the "dot-com" industry in the early
years. We then moved from Seattle to the Phoenix area and became involved
in real estate sales (since 2000).
We market The Benjamin Group via word of mouth, newsletter, local seminars,
networking, ads in community newspapers.
Send me a note to homes at benjamin.com that you are interested in moving to
the Phoenix area from where you are presently located ~~ also contact us if
you are interested in 1031 tax deferred exchange investment property
(Phoenix area has great investment properties)
Carolin Benjamin
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