ETD: 877 Paying foreign suppliers; Next dotcom?; Candles Are
Favorite Choice for Home Fragrancing
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Apr 12 11:29:09 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0877 April 12, 2005
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] Paying foreign suppliers
[3] Next dotcom?
[4] Candles Are Favorite Choice for Home Fragrancing
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
A colleague sent me a note asking how we paid teams in other parts of the
world. They were having a problem paying programmers in Russia in that it
took too long and cost too much. So, we offer some alternatives.
What will be the next boom on the Internet? We all had fun with dotcom -
we even made and lost a lot. So what do you think will be next?
List member Pam Danziger offers some expertise on the home fragrance market
and who to target. When I was at Silk Road Gifts, we ended up focusing
heavily on candles, which became the mainstay of the business. We used the
Unity Marketing reports as gospel.
Tell us about your business which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?" site. This is a courtesy to our members who
contribute to our forum, and not merely a way to advertise for
free. 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] Paying foreign suppliers
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Recently a colleague and I were talking about using staff in foreign
countries and how to pay them. He was using programmers in Russia, and it
took weeks to get them money, plus all the extra fees involved. He knew
that I had teams in Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and
Australia, and wondered how we paid them.
The normal way is via check or wire transfers, both of which are expensive
and can take time. While most people believe that wire transfer are
immediate, they aren't, and we have had them take over a week.
We have a couple of ways of paying outside the country. One way is to use
Cash Cards where we can send gold the same day
(http://www.cashcards.net/rep/1009) The downside is you need to open and
fund a Cash Cards account. It's easy for us, since we have had an account
for years, and we receive funds and can transfer funds easily. We also use
eGold, either through Cash Cards or through eGold direct.
Another simple alternative for everybody is to use your local bank. Open a
separate account for your supplier and get two debit cards - one for you
and one for him. Send the debit card to your supplier, along with the pin
number (I would send separately). When it comes time to paying, deposit
the payment into this separate bank account, notify your supplier, and
he/she can withdraw from their bank in local currency! Set up a separate
account for each supplier.
The downside of that alternative is your bank may object. Some banks have
issues with debit cards being used outside their banking area (which is
also a regulation in some countries). It does not work if your suppliers
are paid more than $5,000 at one time (in US, due to the PATRIOTS act).
George
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[3] Next dotcom?
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I'm wondering if gambling won't be the next big dotcom. We all know that
porn was (is) the hottest thing on the Net, and then we watched as dotcom
took over the world. Now it looks like gambling is becoming very big.
In a closely watched case with potentially far-ranging implications about
Internet governance, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the U.S.
can set certain limits on Web gambling sites located in offshore
locations. While stopping short of handing the U.S. a complete victory,
the WTO opened the door for the U.S. to impose regulations and restrictions
on Internet gaming. In fact, the 138-page ruling was broad enough that both
the U.S. and Antigua were claiming victory.
The WTO said the U.S. could restrict online gambling on sporting events,
but could not prohibit offshore companies from offering online betting on
horse racing, since some states already allow that form of gaming over the
Internet.
Some say the ruling also appears to have left open the possibility of other
challenges to other apparent inconsistencies in the nation's gambling laws,
which vary widely from state to state. For instance, a foreign nation could
argue that state-run lottery games and Indian tribe-run casinos in some
states also give an unfair advantage to U.S. entities over those attempting
to conduct trade from overseas.
Trade experts say the case has highlighted the clash between modern
technology and sometimes decades-old trade agreements. One often-repeated
criticism of the WTO is that it has the power to force a country to change
its internal regulations if they're seen impeding trade or treating
potential importers of goods or services differently than domestic ones.
Even newer treaties often fail to capture the nuances of Internet commerce,
resulting in disputes across the globe over whether a nation's citizens
should be allowed to conduct over the Internet what is otherwise illegal
activity.
Meanwhile, Trinity University professor John R. Hermann said the U.S. has
an even more tangled Web to deal with since it has inconsistencies from
state to state and a lack of cohesive federal regulations over gambling and
other issues. The Internet, he said, has highlighted those differences.
What do you think? Will gambling be the next online gold mine?
George
Details
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/42118.html
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[4] Candles Are Favorite Choice for Home Fragrancing
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While the market for home fragrances booms, candles remain consumers' top
choice for fragrancing their home. With sales totaling $3.7 billion in
2004, candles accounted for just under half of the total $8.3 billion home
fragrance market, according to a new study just released by Unity Marketing.
Some 80 percent of American households used some form of home fragrance
product in the past. Scented candles were the first choice in home
fragrance, while other types of home fragrance products are becoming more
widely available at mass retailers and in grocery stores.
In today's candle market, scent is everything. Some 70 percent of candle
consumers agreed with the statement, "I buy candles mostly for the scent,
so the fragrance, not the style or design, is the most important factor
when I buy candles."
But while fragrance is the most important reason why people buy candles,
their influence on mood is another significant motivator for candle
purchase. The majority of candle consumers agreed with the following, "I
regularly burn candles to help me relax from the stress of my life."
While consumers today have many different options for adding fragrance to
their home, including electric plug-ins, diffusers, scent disks, sprays,
potpourris, incense and bed linens sprays, candles alone are multi-sensory,
imparting both scent to the home and a beautiful, romantic glow that
hearkens back to an earlier time. Candles have a metaphysical quality that
electric diffusers or room sprays will never approach.
Unity Marketing's new Home Fragrance and Candle Report 2005 presents the
results of a survey conducted in February 2005 among 954 recent home
fragrance consumers. Among the key findings:
Women aged 25-to-34 years are the prime target market for home fragrance
While the typical consumer spends $266 per year on all home fragrance
products, women ages 25-to-34 years spend nearly 30 percent more than the
average or $340 per year. They are more active shoppers in all areas of
home fragrance products, including candles and candle accessories.
Candles and home fragrances are luxuries for the 'masses'
Spending on candles and other home fragrance products cuts almost equally
across all income segments. Even the lowest income households participate
actively in the home fragrance market. This is one reason why mass
merchants, like Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart, the dollar stores and warehouse
clubs are the nation's largest distribution channel for home fragrance with
28 percent market share.
Trends for growth in 2005-2006 are especially strong for home fragrance
products
While candles will continue to be favored as consumers' first choice for
home fragrance, the category of other home fragrance products, including
room sprays, plug-ins, diffusers, car and closet fresheners, potpourri and
essential oils are expected to post the strongest growth over the next two
years. Twenty percent of all consumers, and an even higher percentage of
the high-spending 25-to-34 year old females, expect to spend more on home
fragrance products in the coming year.
For more details visit http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/candles/
Contact:
Pam Danziger, President
Unity Marketing
Author of Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses
717-336-1600
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