ETD: 1000 Beyond 1,000; Dell laptop battery problem; Forget Baseball — Shopping Is America’s Favorite Past Time

[E-Tailer's Digest]

  E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the  Retailer
  Issue #1000            August 22, 2006
  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]  Beyond 1,000
  [3]  Dell laptop battery problem
  [4]  Forget Baseball — Shopping Is America’s Favorite Past Time

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  [1]  Greetings.
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Hi All:

Today is issue 1,000, and we bring it to you 
without the fanfare that we did for issues 100, 
200 and 500.  Today is just another report as it 
has been for nearly eight years.  However, look 
for 1001 next week, as that will be a new format, 
with exciting new content.  It will mean a lot 
more work on my part, but it will be fun and 
worth the effort.  Hopefully we will all learn something.

Jean Giambo reports on the Dell laptop battery 
issue, which affects replacement batteries 
also.  Check yours, as it can catch fire.

If you are a baseball fan, you will be sad to 
learn that our national past time has been 
replaced by another "sport" - shopping.  Pam 
Danziger has a new book "Shopping:  Why We Love 
It and How Retailers Can Create the Ultimate 
Customer Experience,"  which sounds 
interesting.  If you liked her posts over the 
years, you should look at her new book, available soon at Amazon.

Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.

Sincerely


George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, LLC
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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  [2]  Beyond 1,000
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This is issue 1,000, and the last in this 
format.    Hard to believe I have been writing 
1,000 (actually 994) issues of E-Tailer's 
Digest.  It has been a pleasure bring all things retail to our members.

Starting with issue 1001 (next week) we will have 
a new format, and new content.  I will be 
focusing more on tips and guidelines to  help you 
in business and highlighting certain 
products.  Over the years, we have learned that 
tips and guidelines are welcomed more than 
anything else.  Many of our members have 
contributed special reports 
http://www.etailersdigest.com/resources/Specials/index.htm 
which get a lot of traffic.  Some of those 
specials include our greetings pages, which we 
still get updates each 
week.  http://www.etailersdigest.com/resources/greetings.htm

And we welcome member posts and special reports, 
even with the new format.  If you send in a 
special of 1,500 words or so, we will make that a 
special report, with that post only.  We do 
welcome ALL member posts and will have a special section for them.

So, look for the new format next week.  It has 
taken a lot of time, effort and communications 
with list members to develop a new format.  We 
hope you like it, and find is as useful as 
E-Tailer's Digest has been over the past 8 years.

George
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  [3]  Dell laptop battery problem
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Odd to have to learn it through a skit on 
Letterman's show, but apparently Dell is 
recalling some of its laptop batteries because 
"under rare conditions, it is possible for these 
batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire."

My laptop is not a Dell, but I bought a spare 
battery from them a couple of years ago so I 
looked into it.  (Mine is not among those recalled.)

Anyway, if you own a Dell laptop or bought one of 
their batteries ("between April 1, 2004 and July 
18, 2006"), you may want to check the list of 
serial numbers:  https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

Jean Giambo

+++ Moderator's Comments] +++
Yet another issue that has plagued Dell in the 
past two years, and has sent their stock 
plummeting.  Today's WSJ has an interesting 
article on them and blames their woes on CEO 
Kevin Rollins.   Looks like he may be moving on, 
much like what happened at HP and Sun.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115620817292741754.html?mod=todays_us_money_and_investing

George
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  [4]  Forget Baseball — Shopping Is America’s Favorite Past Time
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The ‘official’ start of shopping season, which 
commences Labor Day weekend, is just around the 
corner.  From September through December, nearly 
40 percent of the nation’s $3 trillion in retail 
sales are made.  This year retailers will face an 
even more challenging shopping environment due to three key factors:

o  Rapid retail expansion means more stores and more places to shop.
o  Shoppers need less of the material things 
retailers have to offer, while shoppers’ desire 
drives  them to the store to shop.
o Driven by desire, rather than need, people go 
shopping for recreation and fun.  As a result, 
shoppers want more out of shopping than just 
buying more stuff.  They demand an entertaining shopping experience.

People’s pursuit of the ultimate shopping 
experience is transforming the business of retail in America today.

"Shopping:  Why We Love It and How Retailers Can 
Create the Ultimate Customer Experience," 
(Moderator's note: Authored by Pam Danziger) is 
written to guide retailers in the challenging new 
world of recreational shopping and how retailers 
must transform their stores into a fun experience.

For years retailers’ success has largely been a 
function of offering the right products at the 
right price in the right location.  But those 
factors are less important today as shopping 
becomes one of our favorite forms of 
recreation.  Today success in retail is less 
about what you sell, and more about how you sell it.

Shopping uncovers the shoppers’ mindset and explains what makes them buy

Called the quantum theory of shopping, the 
equation explains that the tangible factors in 
shopping, i.e. the need, features and 
affordability, play a supporting role in the 
shopping decision, but they rarely dominate.  Of 
far more importance than the tangibles in the 
quantum theory of shopping —Need, Features, and 
Affordability—is Emotion, which touches off and 
interacts with each of the tangible features.

Shoppers’ need in and of itself is only a small 
part of the reason why people buy. Rather it is 
the impact of emotion and how the shopper 
interprets their emotional desire that ultimately tips the scale.

Shopping examines each of the variables in the 
quantum theory of shopping by showing 
how  specific retailers, such as The Apple Store, 
Nordstrom, Target, Aerosoles, Godiva and Best 
Buy’s Magnolia Audio Video stores, play these 
shopping variables to their advantage.

Shopping profiles retailers, both large and 
small, that create an ultimate shopping experience

After examining the shoppers’ mind set, Shopping 
next examines the specific characteristics of 
stores that offer their shoppers truly 
extraordinary shopping experiences —  “shops that pop.”

Shops that pop play to shoppers emotions, while 
at the same time meeting consumers’ needs for 
great products that represent outstanding 
value.  Among the shops that pop that are profiled in Shopping are:

o Barnes & Noble on a national scale and 
Charlottesville, Virginia’s Feast! gourmet store 
exemplify the highest levels of customer involvement and interaction.

o  Atlanta, Georgia’s Boxwoods Gardens & Gifts 
and Atchison, Kansas’ Nell Hill’s evoke customer 
curiosity by enticing shoppers to explore and discover wonderful merchandise.

o  Award-winning Charleston, South Carolina’s 
Tiger Lily florist has a contagious quality that 
electrifies their customers with awesome flowers.

o  Cabela’s exemplifies convergence between the 
store’s atmosphere, store design and merchandise 
to live up to their tagline “World’s Foremost Outfitter.”

o  Rapid City, South Dakota’s Prairie Edge is 
more than a store that sells ‘stuff.’  Rather it 
transcends being just another store by sharing 
the Native American experience with shoppers 
through authentic arts and crafts.  Likewise 
Colonial Williamsburg Marketplace gives visitors 
a taste of authentic 18th century America through 
its reproduction merchandise.  Columbus, Ohio’s 
Easton Town Center offers a new home-town 
shopping and entertainment alternative to enclosed malls and strip centers.

o  Television retailer QVC consistently delivers 
on their quality-value-convenience promise by pricing their products right.

o  Saks Fifth Avenue extends their welcome to 
both lookers and buyers by offering an accessible 
shopping environment that is accessible and 
nonexclusive.  Washington, DC-based Bluemercury 
apothecary and spa personalizes shoppers’ skin 
care regimes.  Worthington, Ohio’s Damsels in 
This Dress helps shoppers create their own personal style.

Shopping shows retailers how to transform their store into a shop that pops

In the final part of Shopping, you will find more 
than 30 principles or action steps that retailers 
can use to transform the shopping experience in 
their store from ordinary to 
extraordinary.  Organized around the five P’s of 
marketing — Product, Pricing, Promotion, Place, 
and the most important P of all, People — 
Shopping guides retailers both large and small to 
create the ultimate shopping experience for their 
customers.   Also included are specific 
activities that will help retailers put the principles to work in their stores.

Because shoppers today demand more, retailers who 
offer them an alternative, one where shoppers can 
find great stuff at a reasonable price in a store 
where it is fun to shop, will survive—even thrive—in the future.

Shoppers today are looking for an alternative 
that can become a destination for them, a place 
where they really love to shop, not a store where 
they have to shop. They want more and the 
recommendations and principles that are laid out 
in Shopping will ensure that retailers deliver that to the shopper.

Shopping:  Why We Love It and How Retailers Can 
Create the Ultimate Shopping Experience will be 
published October 3, 2006 by Kaplan Business.  It 
can be preordered now through Amazom.com.  For a 
preview of Shopping, the introductory chapter! 
can be downloaded directly at 
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/downloadPDF3.php

Pam Danziger
President
Unity Marketing
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com

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