Some regional appliance and electronics retailers are flourishing despite intense competition from national chains, thanks in part to a retro retail concept: commissioned sales staff, trained to explain increasingly complex televisions and washing machines to customers.

These smaller retailers such as publicly traded hhgregg Inc. of Indianapolis and Conn’s Inc. of Beaumont, Texas, as well as closely held P.C. Richard & Son of Farmingdale, N.Y., are pursuing ambitious store expansion plans. They are aiming to capitalize on the slumping commercial real estate market and the collapse this spring of Circuit City Stores Inc., once the nation’s second-largest specialty electronics chain after Best Buy Co.

Though large retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are widely viewed as the biggest beneficiaries of Circuit City’s liquidation, analysts said that regional chains stand to make sizable gains. Deutsche Bank has estimated that Circuit City had $11.1 billion in annual revenue that is now up for grabs.

Customers such as Enora Tucker, 79 years old, said they prefer a knowledgeable staff. She visited a Houston Conn’s store Tuesday to make a monthly payment on her refrigerator. “I like the fact that I can go in there and talk to someone who knows what they’re talking about,” she said.

Hhgregg, which operates 111 stores mostly in the Midwest, opened 20 stores in its fiscal year ended March 31, up from the 15 to 18 it had originally forecast. It is accelerating previous plans to reach 400 stores in the next decade, said Chief Operating Officer Dennis May, who is set to take over as CEO in August

Mr. May said hhgregg’s commissioned sales staff is an advantage over national chains with young, lower-paid hourly workers that tend to stay for shorter periods. “We have sales people that have been with us 10 to 20 years, and customers who come in and ask for them by name,” Mr. May said.

Hhgregg reports fourth-quarter earnings June 2, but said based on preliminary results, it expects earnings between 39 cents and 42 cents a share, up from 32 cents a year ago, on a 13% sales increase. By contrast Best Buy reported a 23% earnings drop to $570 million for its quarter ended Feb. 28, on a 9.7% sales gain.

Best Buy and Wal-Mart dismissed the suggestion that the regional firms have a sales edge. “Our employees are exceptional at demystifying complex technology,” spokeswoman Kelly Groehler said.

“With electronics data so readily available online today, many customers come to us looking for a particular brand or item, knowledge in hand, and may not want or feel comfortable shopping with a salesperson,” said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien.

Hhgregg has successfully expanded outside its Midwest base into states such as Florida and Georgia by blitzing new markets with numerous stores, instead of tiptoeing in with one or two. “In a lot of these markets, there is room for a second consumer electronics retailer beyond Best Buy,” said William Blair & Co. analyst Jack Murphy.

Conn’s, which operates 75 stores in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, has opened seven since February 2008, and has hired former Circuit City managers. The retailer said it has navigated the recession better than some rivals because it owns its financing business. It has been extending credit to customers cut off elsewhere when larger chains tightened requirements.

“When credit gets a little bit tougher, like it is now, it is an advantage,” said Timothy L. Frank, who takes over as the chain’s chief executive next month, replacing his father, Thomas J. Frank.

Conn’s said earlier this month that sales for its quarter ended April 30 rose 2.6% from the year before, to $200.1 million. Mr. Frank said the gain was aided by a 35% April increase in television unit sales.

Sales clerks who earn commissions have an incentive to understand products, he said. “Is your mother going to want to buy a washing machine from a 19-year-old with a pierced eyebrow?” asked William C. Nylin Jr., the chain’s executive vice chairman.

P.C. Richard, which began in 1909 as a hardware store in Brooklyn, doesn’t release its financial results, but President Gregg Richard said it was taking advantage of commercial real estate vacancies to expand. It has acquired six former Circuit City sites in the New York City region, bringing it to a total of 56 stores.

Write to Miguel Bustillo at miguel.bustillo@wsj.com

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B1

With e-retailers expected to buy less holiday season merchandise this year because of the economic downturn, they need to sharpen their strategies in coordinating pricing promotions with available inventory, says Paula Rosenblum, managing director at research and advisory firm Retail Systems Research LLC.

“Plan a pricing strategy, plan your inventory strategy, and make sure the two are in synch,” Rosenblum says.

She adds that retailers this year, worried about overbuying merchandise in an off economic year, may experience unusually high levels of inventory out-of-stock. If that turns out to be the case, it will be even more important for retailers to take several steps to increase gross margins on merchandise sales to help compensate for the loss of revenue, Rosenblum says.

Retailers working with lean inventory levels should take a harder at free-shipping offers and how they’ll affect product sales, for instance, and work with merchandise suppliers to apply the steepest promotional price discounts to products that will be available in the highest volume.

“Work with merchandise vendors to figure out what your sacrificial lambs will be and how you can work together to maximize order fill rates,” Rosenblum advises retailers. She adds that arranging for some suppliers to ship heavily promoted products directly to customers could be a good option for maximizing both order fill rates and gross margins.

“We know there’s a lot retailers cannot plan, and we don’t know what the economy is going to really look like,” Rosenblum says. “But we can plan for all kinds of contingencies. A retailer winner will do that now to have a better holiday season.”

http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=30433

May 14 (Bloomberg) — Prices paid to U.S. producers probably rose in April as oil costs rebounded, economists said before a report today.

The projected 0.2 percent increase in wholesale prices would follow a 1.2 percent drop in March, according to the median estimate of 68 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Another report may show the number of people claiming jobless benefits climbed last week from a three-month low.

Signs that the worst of the recession is over may boost commodity costs further, alleviating concern over deflation, or an extended drop in prices that hurts the economy. Along with the trillions of dollars pumped into the banking system by the Federal Reserve, increases in raw materials may stoke inflation once an economic recovery takes hold.

“It’s impossible to see how deflation can persist given the amount of liquidity in the system,” said Maxwell Clarke, chief U.S. economist at 4Cast.com in New York. “With oil moving back up, the thought in people’s minds becomes that inflation could ultimately become a problem that outweighs deflation.”

The Labor Department’s producer-price report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Economists’ forecasts ranged from a decline of 0.6 percent to a 1 percent gain.

Labor may also report at the same time that initial jobless claims rose to 610,000 in the week ended May 9 from 601,000 a week earlier, according to economists surveyed. The increase in applications probably reflects the closing of all Chrysler LLC assembly plants starting May 4 for at least 30 days while the automaker reorganizes under bankruptcy.

Recession Easing

Smaller declines in manufacturing and an easing in the housing slump indicate the worst recession in at least 50 years may be starting to abate.

The economy will probably shrink at a 1.9 percent annual pace this quarter after contracting at an average 6.2 percent rate in the prior six months, according to economists surveyed this month.

DuPont Co., the third-biggest U.S. chemical maker, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., the beverage maker spun off by Cadbury Plc last year, are among companies able to charge more. Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont raised prices 5 percent on average in the first quarter and said demand will improve because most customers have used up inventories and are increasing purchases.

“We expect sales in the second quarter to be flat to slightly up from the first quarter,” Chief Executive Officer Ellen Kullman said on a call with investors on April 21.

Price Increases

Plano, Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple yesterday reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and raised its 2009 forecast after increasing prices and cutting expenses.

“Markets and consumer sentiment appear to be on the mend,” Chief Executive Officer Larry Young said during a conference call with analysts.

Still, a report yesterday showed consumers aren’t yet totally out of the woods. Retail sales fell 0.4 percent in April after a 1.3 percent decline in March, according to data from the Commerce Department.

Producer prices are one of three monthly inflation gauges reported by Labor. Prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose 1.6 percent in April as petroleum costs surged, the government said yesterday.

Labor figures tomorrow may show consumer prices were unchanged last month after declining 0.1 percent in March, economists forecast. Excluding energy and food, prices probably rose 0.1 percent.

For their part, Fed policy makers are still more focused on the threat that prices will fall.

“In light of increasing economic slack here and abroad, the Committee expects that inflation will remain subdued,” policy makers said after their April 29 meeting. Still, there remain “some risks that inflation could persist for a time below rates that best foster economic growth and price stability in the longer term.”

                        Bloomberg Survey

================================================================
                               PPI     Core     Core  Initial
                                        PPI      PPI   Claims
                              MOM%     MOM%     YOY%   ,000’s
================================================================

Date of Release              05/14    05/14    05/14    05/14
Observation Period           April    April    April    9-May
----------------------------------------------------------------
Median                        0.2%     0.1%     3.4%      610
Average                       0.2%     0.1%     3.4%      610
High Forecast                 1.0%     0.2%     3.6%      650
Low Forecast                 -0.6%    -0.2%     3.3%      580
Number of Participants          68       65       18       38
Previous                     -1.2%     0.0%     3.8%      601
----------------------------------------------------------------
Action Economics              0.3%     0.1%     3.4%      620
AIG Investments               0.8%    -0.1%     ---      ---
Aletti Gestielle SGR          0.1%     0.1%     ---       612
Ameriprise Financial Inc      0.3%     0.2%     3.5%      585
Argus Research Corp.          0.3%     0.2%     ---      ---
Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi     0.7%     0.1%     ---       615
Bantleon Bank AG              0.3%     ---      ---      ---
Barclays Capital              0.3%     0.2%     3.6%      627
BBVA                          0.2%     0.1%     ---       615
BMO Capital Markets           0.6%     0.2%     3.5%      610
BNP Paribas                   0.0%     0.1%     3.5%      596
Briefing.com                  0.2%     0.0%     ---       580
Calyon                        0.1%     0.1%     ---      ---
ClearView Economics           0.3%     0.1%     ---      ---
Commerzbank AG                0.2%     0.1%     ---       610
Credit Suisse                 0.4%     0.2%     ---       590
Daiwa Securities America      0.0%     0.1%     ---      ---
Danske Bank                  -0.6%     0.2%     3.5%     ---
DekaBank                     -0.1%     0.0%     ---      ---
Desjardins Group             -0.2%     0.0%     ---       610
Deutsche Postbank AG          0.2%     0.1%     ---      ---
DZ Bank                       0.1%     0.2%     ---      ---
First Trust Advisors          0.2%     0.1%     ---       609
Fortis                        0.2%     0.0%     3.3%     ---
FTN Financial                 0.2%     0.0%     3.3%     ---
Goldman, Sachs & Co.          0.0%    -0.1%     ---      ---
Helaba                        0.1%     0.1%     ---       610
Herrmann Forecasting          0.3%     0.1%     3.5%      596
High Frequency Economics      0.5%     0.2%     ---       590
HSBC Markets                  0.1%     0.1%     ---       600
IDEAglobal                    0.1%     0.1%     3.4%      610
IHS Global Insight            0.0%     0.0%     ---      ---
Informa Global Markets        0.3%     0.1%     ---       610
ING Financial Markets         0.0%     0.1%     3.4%      620
Intesa-SanPaulo               0.0%     0.1%     ---      ---
J.P. Morgan Chase             0.1%     0.1%     3.4%      650
Janney Montgomery Scott L     0.3%     0.2%     3.5%     ---
Johnson Illington Advisor    -0.1%     0.1%     ---      ---
Landesbank Berlin            -0.1%    -0.2%     ---       610
Landesbank BW                 1.0%     ---      ---      ---
Lloyds TSB                    0.2%     0.0%     ---       595
Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc     0.1%     0.0%     ---       615
Merrill Lynch                 1.0%     0.0%     ---       605
Mizuho Securities            -0.1%     0.0%     ---       589
Moody’s Economy.com           0.2%     0.1%     ---       611
Morgan Keegan & Co.           0.1%     0.2%     ---      ---
Morgan Stanley & Co.          0.1%     0.0%     ---      ---
Natixis                      -0.3%     0.1%     3.4%     ---
Newedge                       0.3%     0.1%     3.4%     ---
Nomura Securities Intl.       0.3%     0.2%     ---      ---
PNC Bank                      0.4%     0.2%     ---      ---
Raymond James                -0.1%     0.1%     ---       590
RBS Securities Inc.           0.6%     0.1%     ---       650
Ried, Thunberg & Co.          0.1%     0.0%     ---       625
Schneider Foreign Exchang     0.1%     0.2%     ---       626
Scotia Capital                0.0%     0.1%     ---       590
Societe Generale              0.0%     0.1%     ---      ---
Stone & McCarthy Research     0.1%     0.1%     ---       615
TD Securities                 0.4%     0.1%     3.5%      610
Thomson Reuters/IFR           0.1%     0.1%     ---       605
UBS Securities LLC           -0.1%     0.0%     ---      ---
Unicredit MIB                 0.0%     ---      ---      ---
University of Maryland        0.1%     0.1%     ---      ---
Wachovia Corp.               -0.3%     0.1%     3.4%     ---
Wells Fargo & Co.             0.3%     0.1%     ---       620
WestLB AG                     0.2%     0.1%     3.4%     ---
Westpac Banking Co.           0.4%     0.2%     ---       615
Wrightson Associates          0.2%     0.0%     ---       625
================================================================

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Willis in Washington at bwillis@bloomberg.net

In fact, tens of thousands of items of clothing, both new and used, are traded on eBay every week. Though there are other specialist clothing auction sites available, none of them can guarantee anything like as many potential customers. Whether you represent a clothing company or are a private individual wanting to make some money out of old garments which no longer fit, eBay will often be your best bet. Along with all those customers, however, comes all that competition. How can you make your item stand out? How can you make a potential customer feel as if he or she can reach out and touch it?

I am continually amazed to see items of clothing advertised on eBay without accompanying pictures. Such items hardly ever sell. Why would they? Unless you’re selling a designer piece which everybody in your market niche is familiar with (in which case you should be promoting it as much as possible in order to encourage high bidding), people will be buying blind. Customers need to be able to imagine how they or their loved ones will look in the clothes they buy. The clothes must be presented clearly, in a good light. If an item has unusual features at the front and back, it may be wise to include several pictures. You can compound your pictures into a single image if you want to avoid paying extra fees. Consider whether the item looks best in a static pose or when moving – for instance, a full skirt should be drawn outward so that the customer can see how much fabric it contains, and giving the impression that it’s swinging outward helps the customer to imagine how it will look when she’s walking around in it.

It’s important to portray items of clothing in the right setting. Designer wear often looks best in a plain studio photograph, because that’s how it is intended to be seen. Fashionable urban wear can look good shot against the backdrop of a busy street or a window view of a city. Practical outdoor wear might be best photographed in your garden. This helps customers to think about the image which the clothing can give them, even if they don’t intend it to be worn in those environments.

Finally, when you have described the color and style of your garment, don’t forget about the texture. Texture is an important factor in many people’s purchasing choices. Make sure you identify the fabric accurately and any special features (such as whether it is crushed or pleated). Close-up photos can be used to highlight attractive details.

Properly packaged, your eBay item can seem every bit as appealing as a beautiful piece of clothing on the catwalk or in a high street store.

Predicting the Future
How can you know when the peak sales are going to drop off? You can’t predict the future can you? Of course we can’t predict the future, but we can learn from our past.

Retailers keep track of what happened previous years to know how to effectively sell this year. Managers order enough calculators not only to get them through the back-to-school sale, but also the first few weeks of school. They know how to plan for this because of what happened last year.

The same is true with eBay. If you could see what happened last year with calculator sales, you could know when sales are going to start to drop-off.

With a market research tool like HammerTap, you can know what happened last year. With information like that, you can in a sense predict the future.

I used HammerTap to research calculator sales last year. I researched calculator sales for four weeks starting on August 23, 2006.

Below are the results by-week. Pay attention to how the Listing Success Rate (LSR) and Average Sales Price (ASP) change during the four weeks of sales.

The Dropping-Off Point
So when do sales drop off? Sales during Week 2, August 31 thru September 6 were the highest in both LSR and ASP. During this week, you can sell the most calculators for the highest price possible.

After September 6, the Average Sales Price drops rapidly. In one week you go from $66.85 to $53.95, a difference of $12.90. This is a huge drop in profit. While sales are steady at 77%, you are not making nearly as much per calculator.

Depending on your cost of the product, September 6 is your drop-off point. Even though sales are still high (that’s your Listing Success Rate) you may not be making enough money on each sale to cover your costs.

What’s your strategy then? Try to sell all of your calculators during Week 2 above to increase both your success rate and selling price. Selling during this week is going to maximize your profits for this product during the back-to-school season.

However, each product is different, and this is just one example. In order to maximize the sales of your products during seasonal and holiday trends like this one, you really have two options: 1) Try and guess when the optimal time to sell is or 2) Use a research tool like HammerTap.

I’m sure you’ve heard all the ruckus surrounding American Airline’s announcment that it will initiate a checked bag fee as well as increase fees for other services on top of jacking up actual ticket prices. All in the name of the weak economy and soaring fuel prices.

There’s the saying that you can’t please everyone. And it’s true, especially if you are in an industry that serves millions of people a year. But what happens when you don’t please the majority of your customers? Sit back and watch in the next few weeks.

The following are some of the major issues that have come to light following the announcement:

Customer Service: First and foremost, whether AA had decent customer service or not, the fact is that it doesn’t have the kind of customer service that separates them from the pack. Therefore, fliers group them in with the rest of their bad experiences thusly creating their first big problem-customer trust and loyalty is compromised. When times get tough, these customers aren’t going to be understanding.

Price Jacking: Everyone knows prices are going up across the board. And they knew airlines would be no different. The problem here is where and how AA raised their prices. Ticket prices are constantly going up and down…had they lumped all their price hiking into the cost of tickets it would not have caused as much of a stir because it is an area people expect the prices to fluctuate. Instead, they tacked on charges for things that were previously "free" (checked baggage) or low cost. This gives people the impression they are being extorted and this, is problem number two.

Timing and the Blame Game: AA hasn’t given anyone enough time to adjust to the new price changes. As of June, it’s go time. What would have happened if they had increased prices slowly over time as gas prices went up? People still wouldn’t like it but they wouldn’t feel taken by surprise. Also, AA (and I’m sure other airlines to follow) is making it out like they are the only ones being affected by the economy and price of oil…well guys, we’re all suffering aren’t we? It surely is a reason, but it’s not one that is going to give customers warm and fuzzies about the situation. Instead of laying blame, find some positives and highlight them. If nothing else it’ll take the sting out of the price hike.

Take heed of this bad example and as you wade through the economic crises, learn from others mistakes. For some guidance on a different approach to price hike strategy, I suggest you read Markup on Cost Versus Gross Profit Margin .

What type of insurance coverage is needed?

In order to make sure that you business is adequately covered, you’ll need to consider all aspects of it. Consider the following questions:

1. Will you be using a vehicle for any type of business purpose?
2. Will clients, vendors or delivery couriers come to your house for business purposes or to deliver business mail or packages?
3. Does the business store valuable products in a warehouse or inside the house?
4. Does the business manufacture or supply products?
5. What electronic equipment will be used for the business?
6. What other valuable equipment or tools will be used for the business?

The most common types of small business insurance

Property Insurance – Most home businesses should have property insurance. This protects against loss or damage to the property or equipment used in the business. For example, computers, fax machine, scanner, printer, copier, office furniture, etc. When securing property insurance, in most cases you will have the option of getting actual replacement cost coverage or cash value coverage. While replacement cost coverage will have higher premiums, it will better protect the business after a catastrophic loss.

Liability Insurance – This will protect a business when it is responsible for damages to a person or to a person’s property. This can be anything from a delivery person slipping on your driveway while making a delivery, to a tree on your property falling on a client’s car. Your homeowners’ policy won’t protect you from claims made by your business visitors, so instead of playing a game of chance with your financial future, it’s always best to have liability insurance for your business.

Product Liability Insurance – If your business manufacturers, supplies or designs a product or products, then most likely you will need product liability insurance. This type of insurance will protect the business if a claim is made due to damages that occurred as a result of your product.

Business Automobile Insurance – Since your personal automobile policy doesn’t cover the business use of your vehicle, you will need business auto insurance if you will be visiting clients or vendors, making deliveries, picking up packages, etc.

To ensure that you are getting the right coverage for your business, talk with an insurance agent that specializes in small business insurance. It’s possible that your homeowners’ or renters’ insurance company offers business insurance but, more often than not, you will end up using a separate insurance company for your business insurance needs. The most important thing to remember is to make sure that all parts of your business are covered; leaving something overlooked could end up being disastrous for both you and your business.

And if it is, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to advertise to people who have already trusted you with their purchase.

You can either design a flyer to print on the reverse, thanking them for their purchase and showing a few examples of general items you currently have for sale, or (if you don’t have too many items to send out) you could personalize the flyer to each customer, showing a number of products related broadly to the item they have just bought from you.

The most important thing is to thank them for their purchase. Quite a few sellers don’t even bother to include the packing slip with items; and fewer still write anything on it, or take advantage of this golden opportunity to promote their business.

If you have an eBay shop, take the chance to encourage your customer to visit it, and sign up for your free newsletter. Take every opportunity to use these packing slips to build up your customer base and your mailing list, because this will lead to increased profits in the future.

• Ad Groups streamline your campaigns and make it easier to manage your bids and ads.
• Daily budgeting gives you tighter control over your campaign spend.
• The new Keyword Insertion Tool helps to improve the quality of your ad copy and make it more compelling to buyers by automatically inserting your keywords into your ads.
• Ad Scheduling lets you decide the times or days you want to display your ads.

There are 3 ways for you to learn more about these upgrades:

1. Check out our Help Center for a list of FAQs to give you a better understanding of new account features and tools.
2. Take a quick Flash tour of your new account.
3. Call us! An account representative will be happy to walk you through your account and show you everything it has to offer.

This is a beta launch, and we want to know what you think – suggestions, comments, bugs – so we’ve created a special Advertiser Feedback Form specifically for your…well, feedback.

Want to talk to a live person? Just give us a call at 877-566-4849 and select option 2. You can also email us at support@gowholesale.com.

First, a business that is committed to customer satisfaction makes very certain that products or services offered to consumers are top quality. Second, a business that strives to maintain customer satisfaction understands the key role that customer service plays in that process. Therefore, a successful, capable business owner, operator or manager understands the vital role that customer service training plays in the overall scheme of business operations. Indeed, in so many ways, thorough customer service training, including in depth call center customer service training, is the keystone or the glue that actually holds all of the other elements of a thriving business enterprise together.

When it comes to developing a thriving business enterprise, quality customer service has always been the foundation upon which business success is founded. More often than not, customers have the most direct experiences with a business enterprise when seeking customer service or assistance. As a result, establishing a solid customer service training program, complete with call center customer service training, benefits a business by ensuring that a customer’s direct interaction with the business enterprise is positive and professional.

Many businesses spend little time in the development of phone customer service training. This scant attention to phone customer service training is evident in many businesses despite the ultimate reality that most men and women in today’s world access a business’s customer service operation via a telephone call center. Thus, by implementing a call center customer service training program as part of an overall scheme and regimen, a business is able to work to ensure that in every situation a customer’s interaction with customer service staffers is positive, professional, and pleasant.

A phone customer service training scheme cannot downplay the importance of making certain that customer service staffers engage with customers in a pleasant and respectful manner … no matter how upset a calling customer may be in a given situation. One of the benefits of call center customer service training is the development of a call center team that is able to diffuse even the most bombastic of situations.

Achieving long term and broad based customer satisfaction requires work and long term dedication. By embarking on a thorough course of customer service training, which includes call center training in its mix, a business enterprise will be laying a solid foundation upon which business success will be evident today — and well into the future. Satisfied customers draw even more satisfied customers to a business, ensuring future success.