ETD: 800 Where is retailing heading?; Thank you update; Risk
Management for Electronic Data Loss
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Jul 13 00:04:10 GMT 2004
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0800 July 13 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] Where is retailing heading?
[3] Thank you update
[4] Risk Management for Electronic Data Loss
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Issue 800! Wow! We have been together since January 1998 - six and 1/2
years of retail reporting, now twice a week, but originally three times a
week for a couple of years. Thank you for your support. I wonder if there
is any other list in continuous production for 6 1/2 years? Or for 800
issues? I know many of my old list owner buddies have given up. If
anybody has any stats on this, let me know.
Where is retail heading? Big box discounters like WalMart and
Target? Speciality, service-oriented retailers like
Chico's? Downtowns? Is there any hope for the little guy?
We have a thank you update. The greetings has always been fun - "Thank
You", "Welcome", "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" in your
language. It's amazing how many hits those pages
get. http://etailersdigest.com/resources/greetings.htm
For those of us in e-tailing, you better look at your insurance. The risk
could be pretty intense, depending on the business. Check it out.
Tell us 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 at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Where is retailing heading?
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I was talking to some folks last week about the state of retailing. Where
is it going? What's going to happen in the coming years? This was in
response to the "Retail Top 10" list recently published by Stores Magazine.
The makeup of retailing is changing. The top 10 are:
1. Walmart $268.7 billion
2. Home Depot - $64.8 billion
3. Kroger - $53.8 billion
4. Target - $48.1 billion
5. Costco - $42.5 billion
6. Sears - $41.1 billion
7. Safeway - $36.6 billion
8. Albertsons - $35.4 billion
9. Walgreen - $32.5 billion
10. Lowe's - $30.8 billion
Interesting to note how the middle market chain stores don't fare too well
- stores like Macy's, K-Mart, JC Penney. IMHO, those chains are in
trouble. They don't distinguish themselves enough to make a
difference. They are not cheap like WalMart of Target. And they don't
offer service like Nordstrom's and Nieman Marcus. So what's their value
proposition?
Sears is hanging in there, with a lot of it being the appliance
department. They carry and service most major brands. They and other
appliance-speciality retailers will do well, at least until WalMart enters
the market. They dominate every segment they enter!
How about e-tailing? Will it grow independently ("pure players") or will
e-tailing be part of brick and mortar stores.
What do you think? Will we see some major retail failures in the coming
years? Will there be a new market for retailing? Will downtown retailing
become popular again?
What are you doing to make your business unique and profitable?
George
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[3] Thank you update
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Just accessed your site wherein you list all the different ways of saying
thank you.
Fascinating, although I must confess I don't know anyone here in England
who says "Thanks awfully, old boy" (except in the novels of P.G.Wodehouse
perhaps).
Incidentally, I've noticed that here in the UK, and in particular in
England, the tendency during the last few years amongst everyday people has
been to say "Cheers" where previously "Thanks" would have been normal.
Examples:
(1) Here's your change, mate.
Oh, cheers.
(2) I've left those papers on your desk.
Oh, cheers.
Fascinating thing, language, eh?
Keep up the good work.
Alan Purslow
Newsweek
+++ <Moderator's Comments> +++
Thanks for the update Alan.
I visit London 2-3 times a year. I noticed cheers (and mate), and just
assumed it was guilt of the past, as the English are now embracing
Australia. ;-) Next thing you know they will be using "z" in the written
word, i.e., authorization rather than authorisation. <grin>
Yes, language is fascinating. I had fun developing these lists and
maintaining them.
Thanks again.
Regards (cheers),
George
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[4] Risk Management for Electronic Data Loss
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If your business has a presence on the Internet, you had better have
insurance. Traditional liability insurance will not be adequate, however.
Loss of income and data plus lawsuits filed against your business are the
expected consequences of hacker and virus attacks. These are potentially
more threatening to businesses today than negative cash flow and the threat
of buyouts.
Doing business on the Internet -- even maintaining a safe presence online
-- can be very costly. But insurance experts say the cost of not being
covered for cyber disaster could be even more expensive.
Take, for instance, the worry that visited the business world in August
2003. Three new high-level worms hit the Internet in only 12 days. These
digital infections sickened millions of computers worldwide and caused some
US$2 billion in damages, according to a recent Symantec Internet Security
Threat Report.
Don't forget the mayhem that SQL Slammer attacks brought to financial
giants this past January. The virus caused bank ATM machines to freeze. It
disrupted the Web sites of credit card companies and financial
institutions, and caused problems with some airline ticketing systems.
Given these ever-increasing threats and the liability of human errors, many
businesses are starting to reassess their chances for financial survival.
To increase their survivability, companies big and small are taking on the
cost of premiums for Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance and "cyber
protection" coverage.
As Jon Pendleton, partner at San Francisco-based law firm of Pillsbury &
Levinson sees it, litigation to recoup losses for such damages is on the
rise. Increased cyber threats can shut down businesses. E&O and cyber
specialty insurance protect companies from claims brought against them for
product failures or malfunctions that result from hacker and virus activity.
In much the same way that no one type of automobile insurance will fit
every individual, no one type of Internet insurance can safely cover every
business. An E&O policy might suit the needs of one business perfectly. But
another business adventure might be better served with a cyber policy.
Depending on the business experiences and the extent of vulnerability for
loss, said Pendleton, a business might actually need both types of
insurance protection.
Details of this special report at...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/35045.html
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Links to follow
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