Posts Tagged ‘retail business’
Cargo Traffic Still Decreasing, NRF Reports
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Even with the holiday season drawing near, store owners are continuing to brace themselves for slow sales with smaller inventories, according to National Retail Federation reports.
In addition, the trade group expects a 6 percent drop in yearly retail cargo traffic – 2 percent more than its prediction made less than two months ago.
For U.S. ports, October is traditionally the busiest time of the year, as store owners stock up for the holiday months. It is also when the National Retail Federation usually expects to see year-to-year growth. The D.C.-based trade group even predicted in August that October traffic levels would not fall below that of last year, despite month-to-month decreases reported since May.
The National Retail Federation has since released a report estimating that 1.4 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) of cargo will flow through ten U.S. ports this month – a 2.9 percent decrease from October 2007.
“Retailers are tightening up their inventories to reflect what they expect to be able to sell during the holiday season,” Jonathan Gold, the group vice president for supply chain and customs policy, said in a statement.
In January, the National Retail Federation forecasted for the year a mere 3.5 percent growth in retail sales. In September, the group also predicted that holiday season sales will rise by just 2.2 percent from last year. Both estimates are the lowest increases predicted since 2002.
Article Source: http://www.nrf.com
Tags: christina lee, holiday sales, Jonathan Gold, national retail federation, retail, retail business, retail cargo traffic
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Determining Your Customers’ Lifetime Value
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
One very important concept when it comes to determining your business model is deciding what the lifetime value of your customers is going to be. The concept of the customer lifetime value has long been a part of the business world, and it will come into play in virtually every segment of your business - from year to year budget projections to promotions and even customer support options.
Simply put, customer lifetime value is how much money a customer will contribute to your business over the lifetime of your relationship with them, and it is always calculated in present dollars.
In this article we will consider some of the categories that a customer’s lifetime value may fall under - obviously, the type of business will determine just how much a customer will contribute over the term of the relationship.
* Migrations vs. retentions. This is the big divider when it comes to customer lifetime value calculations. Retentions refer to customers who operate under contract; their value is relatively easy to calculate, as you know immediately how much they are going to spend on your business each term.
The trick is in projecting how long they will stay within a business, which is where customer relations come into play. Migrations refer to a business, such as retail, where a customer may or may not use the services of the business again.
* Dividing into segments. Of course, not all of your customers will use your products in the same way, or need them at the same time, when you are talking about migration logistics. In this case, it becomes necessary to break your customer base into segments, divided by similar spending habits over similar lengths of time.
* What to include in your calculations. Once you have those segments into place, the hard figures will start to come out. You need to decide just how much profit you will earn on the immediate purchase of a customer, and then project how much you can expect in future purchases as well.
In addition, you should also include the value of any future revenue if you were to have the cash in hand today; this last part is particularly valuable in determining your marketing approach.
Once you have determined the lifetime value of each of your customers, you know where you want to spend the most amount of time, energy, and money as far as marketing and retention.
A retail business, for example, may project strong sales based on a promotion, whereas a service counts on continued returns in order to gain the lifetime customer value. Your focus on these areas will determine the accuracy of your calculations.
Tags: calculating revenue, customer value, Generating More Sales, Leeia Ladipoh, lifetime customer value, retail business, Sales
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More Retailing Tidbits - August 2007
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
Social Retailing
Here’s a new term that retailers will soon learn! Bloomingdale’s is trying to reach out to teens and young adults, so in its flagship store in New York City, it offered an interactive sales-floor mirror that let shoppers view themselves in outfits as well as comments - and images of alternate garments - sent to the mirror by their online friends!
If the shopper liked the look of the dress suggested by a friend, she can touch the mirror to make the image of the dress appear life-size, and then stand in front of it which will allow her to "try it on" in virtual reality. This is now social retailing…web-based social networking in a traditional retail environment.
The product is called the "Magic Mirror" produced by IconNicholson and is expected to be rolled out to several retail stores later this year.
Web and Traditionals Not Connecting
A recent study of 100 of the fast-growing publicly held retailers in the United States shows that less than 25% consider seamless web-integration as a top priority. Of the retailers that were operating websites, over 40% didn’t have any integration between store and website and only two-thirds gave customers the ability to purchase a product on the site.
Many retailers have made some multi-channel progress including integrated return policies, gift card policies, pricing and promotions. It does appear that many of the retailers efforts to use internet marketing is disjointed from their brick and mortar stores.
This recent survey explains that in order to meet customer expectations, your channels and your brand must all work together seamlessly to afford the customers a rewarding shopping experience. This is something that is not being accomplished by most major retailers.
Retailing Tidbits
PERSONALLY I never liked Starbucks coffee, but I was surprised, considering their popularity, that blue ribbon for best coffee went to McDonald’s (which was also the cheapest). Perhaps this is why Starbucks has started selling CD’s and other merchandise.
…WAL-MART’s campaign to sell energy efficient light bulbs is to be applauded. However, typical of the giant, they formed a power company called Texas Retail Energy to supply electric to their stores. Perhaps they’ll start retailing it also - kilowatts in aisle seven!
…SMALL retailers take note: Skateboarding is STILL big! Kohl’s is planning a line of
clothing and JC Penney is teaming with Tony Hawk for a footwear line that they say will be the biggest brand launch ever. Follow the leaders!
…QVC officially shipped its 1 billionth package in the United States. They ship 12,000 packages an hour and 3.4 packages every second in the U.S.! Wow!!
Tags: Product Sourcing, retail, retail business, retail trends, shopping trends, source, tips, trends
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Retailing Tidbits - August 2007
Monday, August 6th, 2007
JUST back from Toy Fair in NY and it seemed like there was some business going on the first day. One vendor hawking his products to us boasts that soon it will be in Wal-Marts. As a small independent retailer do you think that is what I want to hear? So I can take my profit margin and slice it down the instant it hits the box store. What are some vendors thinking?
COLORS are important in your store. At Children’s Place stores they changed to blacks and browns. Said it was more sophisticated. Yes, of course, a sophisticated three-year-old! Rule #1: Market to your client. Maybe the little tots wear suits and ties when shopping there and I’m off on this one!
THE top items from the CES Show that wrapped up are PC’s, accessories and digital imaging devices. Steep price declines in plasma and LCD’s flattened the marketplace on that category.
Tags: Product Sourcing, retail, retail business, retailing trends, shopping trends, source, trends
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