ETD: 846 Most Unique Online Christmas Item;A Great Spending
Season; Angela & Friends - Startup
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Dec 28 12:32:14 GMT 2004
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0846 December 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] Most Unique Online Christmas Item
[3] A Great Spending Season
[4] Angela & Friends - Startup
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
For those who celebrate, I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas, Chanukah,
Dinali, Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you celebrated. Our hearts go out to
those who were affected by the tsunami in Asia.
The results are in for the holiday shopping season. Depending on who's
stats you follow, spending was up either 4.5% (per National Retail
Federation who doesn't include gift card purchases) or 8.1% (per Visa who
does include gift cards). Online it was up 28%.
What have you found to be the most unique gift item this year? I posted a
couple that I believe win the prize, including one submitted by list member
Patty Sachs. What do you think?
List member Stan Politi has a new startup business - Angela & Friends, and
needs some help finding resources. Let's offer help which obviously
benefits us all.
362 days until Christmas - never too early to plan eh? <grin>
Tell us about your business, which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?" site. Anything to do with the retail world,
i.e., supplier, retailer, consulting,
etc. 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] Most Unique Online Christmas Item
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Offline, the hottest gift item this year seems to be the gift card - $17
billion sold this year. A great convenience for many of us with family
spread throughout the world.
List member Patty Sachs sent me what I think is the most unique online
Christmas item - a personalized greeting card. It was an animated, musical
card and had her name, location and message included in the music. It
should be at the site for a week or two...
http://www.happychristmastoyou.com/cards/swish/christmasband.php?file=Dec041103552794688&player=windows
And the company has birthday cards, under the name
http://www.happybirthdaytoyou.com
The cost is $19.95, which may be high (hey, if you can send a lobster gram,
why not a personalized card?). However, it is ideal for friends/family
living in another country.
Per their help pages... "HappyBirthdayToYou.com (or
happychristmastoyou.com) is the concept of Tom Williams and Louise Franklin
and is based in rural South Wales in the UK. It is very much a family
business with several members of the family contributing to the site
musically, artistically, technically or in an administrative role."
I saw an article in the WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110358123102005205,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
about a widowed British artist named Jacquie Lawson who taught herself to
use a computer and had concocted an intricate, animated card that featured
pets frolicking around her snow-covered cottage in the village of
Lurgashall in West Sussex, England. Exhausted, Ms. Lawson hit the send
button and left for vacation in Australia.
When she returned, there were 1,600 e-mails waiting in her inbox, nearly
all from people she didn't know. The e-card had been forwarded over and
over, and each person replying to Ms. Lawson wanted to know the same thing:
Got any more cards?
Today, 61-year-old Ms. Lawson occupies a coveted niche in the
electronic-commerce world: a profitable, subscription-based Web site where
she sells her highly-stylized e-cards without a blip of advertising.
Revenue comes solely from 300,000 members -- 81% of whom are based in the
U.S. and pay $8 a year. Her sales last year totaled about $1.7 million; by
year end, sales are expected to jump to as much as $5 million with her
typical holiday surge in new subscribers.
Which proves that simple and cheap works best online! Here's a sample of
her cards...
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?pv=XS00EN
(They don't have an affiliate program, so there are no commissions).
George
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[3] A Great Spending Season
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According to comScore Networks, online sales through the middle of last
week reached $13.5 billion, a 28 percent increase from last year's holiday
season. ComScore had expected growth of between 23 percent and 26 percent,
while other firms, like Jupiter Research, had predicted a 19 percent rise
in sales. Those forecasts were consistent with the idea that the days of
breakaway online retail sales growth in the United States were nearing an end.
Holiday spending was a healthy 8.1% ahead of last year, according to one
early projection of national retail spending. Spending by higher-income
consumers drove the gains. Sales at apparel and home-furnishings stores
were especially strong, while sales of books, music and videos inched up.
The projection, compiled by SpendingPulse, a retail sales service from
MasterCard Advisors, a consulting unit of MasterCard International, is
rosier than holiday expectations inside the retail industry. The National
Retail Federation is looking for a 4.5% gain for the season.
Several factors explain the difference: The MasterCard Advisors data
reflects both online sales and sales of gift cards; the NRF only counts
some online sales, and it doesn't count sales of gift cards until the cards
are redeemed. The MasterCard numbers are adjusted to eliminate effects of
new-card usage and the general shift in spending to credit from cash. Last
year, the MasterCard unit projected a 6.5% gain; the NRF reported a 5.1% gain.
Another factor contributing to this year's strong numbers are the two extra
shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas -- a gift to shoppers who
hold off until the last minute. Many retailers and analysts acknowledge the
significance of late-season spending on the numbers this year. "We started
out soft, but finished on strong footing," says Michael Niemira, chief
economist and director of research at the International Council of Shopping
Centers.
Many late shoppers were big spenders. According to SpendingPulse, sales
above $1,000 increased 13.5% from last year, probably driven by high-end
purchases from luxury brands. Transactions between $500 and $999 ticked up
6.6%. Luxury goods, from gourmet foods to high-end accessories, have been
standouts this year.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, was the busiest shopping day of
the season this year, followed by Thursday, Dec. 23 and then Tuesday, Dec. 21.
December 26 is likely to end up as one of the season's busiest days, as
consumers pounce on post-Christmas sales and spend gift cards, which
retailers don't tally until they are redeemed. The MasterCard numbers
register gift-card sales when they are made.
Last year 35% of gift cards were redeemed in the first two weeks after
Christmas. The gift card accounted for about $17 billion worth of holiday
sales. That's roughly 8 percent of the total gift purchases nationwide this
season, according to National Retail Federation.
Resources...
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110411106162309772,00.html
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2004/12/27/local/iq_3290978.txt
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/technology/27ecom.html?oref=login&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1104235752-03hta4nl89zTGRxEr8bD9Q
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[4] Angela & Friends - Startup
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I'm starting a line of cloth angel dolls and accessories.
My dolls are inspired by the image of a real, joyful 4-year-old girl. They
are not your everyday angel. They're friendly and warm your heart and feel
a tad imperfect. I believe they make the perfect gift for women in the
30-65 age range
Most angels are either abstractions or seem hard to relate to. These angels
are more down-to-earth, so feel more accessible. They could become your
little pal, or buddy. They're not sprites, but angels that have earned
their full wings, and come with a choice of outfits and accessories.
No one can believe that I'm starting a business making and selling angel
dolls. Fortunately I have a lot of helpful people like my wife and her
sister to help. After selling my last business I was looking for a business
that I could really enjoy, especially a business I consider recession-proof.
I've been working on it for over a year, and went through a number of doll
designers. Samples are almost done.
I'll market through SEO, PPCSE, email lists--what I'll develop and rent
opt-in, affiliate program, newsletters, RSS, collateral that's included in
each outgoing box (catalog & poster showing ways to enjoy the angel dolls),
backend sales, discount coupons, free bonus items, etc
Cost: Low end -- $19.95
Regular -- $29.95
High end -- $39.95 & up
Presently I'm searching for an agent who can handle things for me in China,
e.g., sourcing, negotiations, Inspection, shipping, etc. If anyone knows of
someone, I'd appreciate it if you would contact me. I'm headed on January
8th to a toy fair in Hong Kong, so I would be available to meet with
prospective agents then.
I hope to contribute to this forum as well as getting your feedback along
the way.
Stan Politi, President
Angela & Friends, LLC
PO Box 1568
Kamuela, HI 96743
Phone: 808-887-2887
Fax: 808-887-2887
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