by Veronica Stone on May 15th, 2009
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... Read more »
by Leeia Ladipoh on December 17th, 2007
Small businesses that specialize in retail items will be interested to know about one of the biggest phenomenons of the holiday season – the shopping search engine.
Online retailers are increasingly using these sites to promote and sell their products to targeted buyers, so let’s take a look at how you can make these sites work for you.
What Shopping Search Engines Are
If you have been on the planet for more than a decade, it is a sure bet that you have heard the term search engine. Google is the best example of a search engine although there are... Read more »
by Danny Brown on December 10th, 2007
Like any small business, eBay store owners can have peak times and quieter times for their sales. A fishing store may see busier times in the Fall or Spring, and an eBay golf store may have most of its business in the warmer months. However, one area where every eBay store owner can have a busy period is during the Holiday season. That’s why it’s always worthwhile to have a plan in place, to maximize your eBay holiday sales.
Start Early
If you look at the most successful magazines, they always plan their big stories 8-12 weeks ahead of publication.... Read more »
by Rebecca Button on December 7th, 2007
As the holiday season is one of the busiest for all retailers, it is also during this season (and particularly in the first few days after the holidays are over) that the risk of return fraud runs the highest. So how can your business avoid return fraud this holiday season? We’ve compiled a list that will help, whether your business is an online one or brick and mortar.
4 Easy Steps to Avoid Return Fraud This Holiday Season
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by Leeia Ladipoh on December 7th, 2007
When you run a retail business, whether online or off, your profit margins can be changed to a great degree by several factors. Having items returned to you is definitely one of them. As the holiday season is one of the busiest for all retailers, it is also during this season (and particularly in the first few days after the holidays are over) that the risk of return fraud runs the highest.
There are several types of return fraud. The most common is a customer who returns an item that they have paid for with a check, but for the... Read more »
by Larry Slusser on December 4th, 2007
The Christmas season is known for many things, especially shopping, with great bargains from the day after Thanksgiving early morning sales until the New Year’s Day discounts. Huge discounts, great deals, sales, sales, sales – bargains are there for the finding. This message is true not just for retail shoppers, but for business owners who are looking to find great bulk purchases on returned items or going out of stock merchandise.
Who benefits from the Holiday Return Rush?
If you own an eBay business or some other online auction or retail enterprise, this Christmas season offers you an opportunity to... Read more »
by Veronica Stone on September 12th, 2007
The holiday shopping season is always a busy one, but now more than ever people are carrying out their holiday shopping online. Every year the figures keep growing, which means if you own an online business and want to take advantage of the potential for big sales during the holiday season, you have to make sure your website is ready to handle a massive onslaught of customers. How should you prepare?
Test, test, test. Test your online search function to make sure it is working perfectly. Most customers, when visiting an online store, use the search engine to find what... Read more »