ETD: 830 Do By-Invitation-Only affiliate programs work?;
Technology at Albertsons builds customer loyalty; Sellmyinventory.com
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Oct 28 00:49:13 GMT 2004
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0830 October 28, 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 By-Invitation-Only affiliate programs work?
[3] Technology at Albertsons builds customer loyalty
[4] Sellmyinventory.com
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
List member Martha Retallick, "The Passionate Postcarder" is revamping her
affiliation program since the first didn't work. She now has questions on
some new concepts. What do you think?
Technology in retailing is THE best way to increase sales, in my
opinion. In Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, they had an interesting article
about how Albertsons and others are using technology to build customer
loyalty, increase sales and improve inventory turns. This is the way of
the future, not doubt.
58 days until Christmas. What are you doing this year to increase business?
Paul Santino tells us about his business SellMyInventory.com. 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] Do By-Invitation-Only affiliate programs work?
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Shortly after I started selling my first postcard marketing e-book, I set
up an affiliate program.
It was like most affiliate programs in that it had a form that people could
fill out to join, and they'd also get a discount on their e-book purchase.
What happened? Well, let's say that I gained a lot of members who signed
up, got the e-book at a discount, but did nothing further.
So, I scrapped that version of the affiliate program. Call it Version 1.0.
Then, earlier this year, a customer who bought one of my e-book packages
just went nuts over it. She wanted to start selling it in her company's
online store. This was followed by the same request by one of the
heavy-hitters in the Internet marketing world. (When this lady talks,
hundreds of thousands of people listen. And all those listening people did
very nice things for late summer sales around here.)
Hence, it was time for Version 2.0, the By-Invitation-Only affiliate
program. I'd like to grow this program even further.
Is anyone else running their affiliate program on an invitation-only basis?
If so, how do you find people to invite?
Or, here's another model I'm interested in learning about: The more openly
publicized affiliate programs (with application forms on the website).
These programs require people to go through the same sort application
process that one would go through to become an independent sales rep. In
other words, there's a higher standard than just having the ability to fog
a mirror and fill out a Web form.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
http://willmaster.com/wmaf/
Thanks in advance for your help!
Martha Retallick, "The Passionate Postcarder"
FREE 3-Part Course on Postcard Marketing:
http://www.PostcardMarketingSecrets.com
Build Your Postcard Marketing Skills:
http://www.PassionatePostcarder.com
Postcards You Can Use:
http://www.CafeShops.com/Postcarder
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[3] Technology at Albertsons builds customer loyalty
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Larry Johnston, CEO of Albertsons, the big supermarket chain based in
Boise, Idaho, wants to know the brand and container size of the detergent
his customers prefer and what time of day chunky peanut butter is likely to
sell out at particular stores.
He is getting the answers through technology like the Shop 'n' Scan devices
now being tested at more than 100 Albertsons stores in Chicago and the
Dallas-Fort Worth region. The hand-helds, which will soon be available at
stores in other cities, allow customers to tally and bag groceries as they
shop, eliminating time on checkout lines. They also remind customers about
items they may have forgotten. Shoppers who pick up a package of hot dogs,
for example, are asked whether they also need pickles or rolls.
At the same time, Mr. Johnston and his subordinates get lots of information
on customer buying habits -- everything from how often shoppers buy a
bottle of ketchup to what cookies or cosmetics they splurge on most. The
information is used to target particular customers for promotions and to
track store inventories.
Stymied by slow growth in the economy and an inability to raise prices, Mr.
Johnston and tech-savvy CEOs at other big companies are getting directly
involved in figuring out ways to use technology to extract more profits
from their businesses. These days they are using computers as much to
gather information as to improve efficiency. The data they get enable them
to cement relationships with their best customers, which translates into
higher revenue and profits.
These executives are wary of systems and devices that promise too much or
carry exorbitant price tags. Companies from Ford Motor to Merrill Lynch
have cut technology budgets in the past few years after big spending sprees
in the late 1990s on hardware and software that were never fully utilized.
But now executives at the highest levels are zeroing in on data-warehouse
systems that tell them what is selling and who is buying every second of
the day.
At Albertsons, which spent some $500 million on technology last year,
"we're now in a completely wireless environment," says Mr. Johnston. Later
this year, the company will provide all store directors and department
managers with devices "that will tell us such things as, 'in 10 minutes,
the store will run out of double-AA eggs, so it's time to restock,' " he
says. One-third of stock items are in the back room of the stores, he adds,
so "we'll be able to replace these out-of-stock items without incurring
customer dissatisfaction."
Mr. Johnston and Chief Technology Officer Bob Dunst, who reports to the CEO
directly, have also supplied all hiring managers with software to help in
employee selection. The software guides the managers to particular
questions aimed at determining candidates' ability to serve customers and
their interest in a long-term job. It is helping to reduce the 70% turnover
levels common at many retail outlets. Albertsons last year hired about
100,000 employees from a pool of more than two million applicants.
To launch Shop 'n' Scan, Albertsons worked with about 40 technology
vendors, including Cisco, NCR and Dell. "If we know what you're buying each
week, we can help you prepare menus, tell you if an item contains an
ingredient you are allergic to and offer you promotions on items you want,"
says Mr. Dunst.
All this adds up to more customer loyalty and more sales. Albertsons
customers who use the Shop 'n' Scan devices are on average buying twice as
much as they used to on each store visit. One reason: Because they can
track the amount they are spending as they shop, they know exactly when
they hit their budget limit and feel freer to buy until they do.
Details and other retailers at...
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109874197651555143,00.html
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[4] Sellmyinventory.com
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Sellmyinventory.com offers classified ads geared to the retail/wholesale
business owner. It is a way for retailers to empty your warehouse shelves
of discontinued,dead-stock inventory.
The owner of the inventory can market it directly without having to deal
with a large impersonal surplus company.
Having been in retail and wholesale i saw a need to help market dead-stock
inventory. So, in 1000 I started this business which has recently been
re-launched with a new and easier to use classified ad system.
We market these services mainly through search engines and appropriately
placed online advertisements.
The cost is from $1.99 per ad for 7 days to $24.95 for a 30 day banner ad.
Visit us at http://www.sellmyinventory.com and in the left column there is
a link to register free.
Paul Santino, Owner
Sellmyinventory.com
265 S.W.Port St Lucie Blvd #130
Port St Lucie, FL 34984
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