The Retail Buzz

The concept is simple, recognizing a customer when they walk through the door or sign-on to a Web site allows the retailer to tailor the shopping experience for each customer. By recognizing each shopper as an unique individual with their own tastes, needs and desires, retailers can establish friendships and create customer loyalty.

Where does the information come from to personalize the shopping experience? Are retailers using it wisely? Is there any need for consumers to be concerned about being known as a unique individual instead of one of countless, and nameless, purchasers?

The information to personalize can come from different sources. When customers become members or order from Web sites, or when they sign-up for frequent shopper cards, information is collected.

Personalized service best comes from retailers listening to their customers, learning their needs, finding out what they like and how they like it. Every retailer can personalize some portion of their customer interaction. The best part of it for retailers is that it doesn't have to take buckets of money to get started. Just remember your best customers' names. And by the way, if you own a donut shop, I like mine with hot chocolate, not coffee.

Full about.com Article
From Melody Vargas,

Contact one of our Sales Reps on how your company can use Retail Pro to gain better Personalization.

Call 866-617-8181 or send email. http://www.onestepretail.com

Getting online shoppers to convert to buyers, whether online or offline, requires trust-building tactics such as easy site navigation, good search tools and complete product information.

Shoppers today are also often looking for consumer-generated product reviews.

According to Avenue A Razorfish's "Digital Consumer Behavior Study," 55% of the 475 US Internet users surveyed in July 2007 reported checking other people’s opinions online. Fewer than one-quarter looked at comparison charts (22%) or expert reviews (21%). Under 1% cared about shared shopping lists.

A recent Internet Retailer report, “Web Site Design, Content and Rich Media,” showed that consumers who read online product reviews were also likely to buy more while on an online retail site.

Some 27% of the respondents who read customer reviews reported average spending between 5% and 10% higher than those who did not read them. Another 21% of review readers reported average spending between 1% and 5% higher than that of non-readers. Nearly 7% of respondents who said they read customer reviews reported average spending 20% higher than other online shoppers.

Full Article here

Written by Emarketer.com



Contact One Step Retail Solutions for any of your Retail POS questions.
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http://www.onestepretail.com

NEW YORK - Malls and stores were jammed for pre-dawn discounts on everything from TVs to toys on the official start of Christmas shopping as consumers shrugged off worries about rising gas prices and falling home values.

Electronic gadgets, particularly the hard-to-find Nintendo Wii, topped shoppers' wish lists, though frustrations were high among consumers who couldn't get their hands on the limited bargains.

With the economy relying heavily on the consumer, however, it's crucial that the Black Friday euphoria lasts throughout the season, expected to be the weakest in five years.

"I'm really looking for the bargains this year because I'm losing my job; they're moving our plant to Mexico after the first of the year, so I have to be careful," said Tina Dillow of New Richmond, Ohio, who camped out at a Best Buy store near Cincinnati at 3 a.m. because of a great deal on a laptop.

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By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
Phillyburbs.com

"NSF," "Account Closed," "Counterfeit" -- each time retailers see these words on a returned check, they know they have lost money. According to the National Check Fraud Center, check fraud and counterfeiting are among the fastest growing problems affecting the U.S. financial system.

• When accepting a check, make sure a name, address and phone number are printed on the check and the written and numeral amounts correspond.


• Pay attention to the "feel" of the check; most check paper has the same weight and texture.


• Watch the check-writer sign the check and have the customer print the name below, if the signature is illegible.


• Compare the signatures, photo and physical description of the ID with that of the check writer.


• Check the driver's license, which should be smooth all over with no ridges that indicate an alteration or modification. Verify that the ID is still valid.


• Ninety percent of returned checks have low check numbers (100 to 500). While low check numbers indicate a recently opened account and a potentially more risky check, particularly for business or dba ("doing business as") checks, that is not always the case.
  More useful information on the check is the account's opening date (month and year), usually indicated by four numbers to the side of the account holder's name and address.


• Don't accept second-party or third-party checks.


• The four-digits following the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) number at the bottom of the check should match the four-digit number at the top right hand of the check.


• All checks, except government checks, should have a perforation along one side of the check.


• You can try calling the financial institution to confirm if funds are available, but there is no guarantee that the check will clear.


• Use a check guarantee or verification service.

Can you imagine going into a store and carefully selecting your purchases, then walking up to the checkout counter only to have the sales clerk tell you to start over again? You wouldn’t stand for it.

Credit card receipts that include full account numbers and expiration dates are a gold mine for identity thieves. In some states, printing of the full account number is already prohibited. For the future, FACTA sets a national standard requiring truncation of credit card information.

Consumers will spend an average of $203 on gift cards during the 2007 holiday season, up from $186 in 2006, according to Comdata Stored Value Solutions.

Card recipients will most likely redeem their cards over two visits, so there will probably be more store traffic and sales potential.

“Consumers are finding more things to like about gift cards, including the increasing availability of gift card malls, special packaging and expanded uses, such as budgeting tools and discount opportunities," said Bob Skiba, executive vice president of Comdata, in a statement.

Most gift cards are still purchased in specific retailer locations. The Comdata study, like others, confirms that the second most popular purchase location for gift cards is online.
More than one-fifth of gift card buyers in 2006 made their purchase at gift card malls. More than one-quarter are expected to do so this year

Full Story

Free business analysis for retailers. Call 866-617-8183 or send email. http://www.onestepdata.com/

Consumers are expected to spend $5.07 billion on Halloween this year, up from $4.96 billion last year and only $3.29 billion two years ago, with spending expected to rise slightly in all
categories.

Learn how Halloween shoppers plan to spend their money in 2007 and what types of costumes are the most popular for children, adults, and their pets.

From Melody Vargas,
About.com: Retail Industry
Full Story...

Remember when the holiday shopping season ended when the holiday was over? No more.

• This year, most malls will begin decorating for the holidays on November 1
  

• The percentage of malls that are decorating for holidays other than Christmas: 9 percent


• The holiday song played most frequently last year was "Jingle Bells"


• The second-most frequently played song was "White Christmas"


• The average number, per mall, of full-time seasonal employees hired by management in 1999: 1


• The average number, per mall, of part-time seasonal employees hired by management in 1999: 4


• The percentage of malls that will advertise for the 2000 holiday season on the Internet: 47 percent


• The percentage of malls that will advertise for the 2000 holiday season in print ads: 84 percent

Inventory loss...

Statistics provided by The Retailers' Association indicate an annual inventory loss of over $37 billion nationwide for theft from employees, shoplifting, vendor fraud and administrative errors.

The National Retail Security Survey discovered that nearly half of all losses can be attributed to employee theft, adding up to billions of dollars annually.

According to the Vice President of Loss Prevention for the National Retail Federation based in Washington, DC, Joseph LaRocca, it's estimated that only about one out of every eight or nine cases of scams and fraud are reported to the state's consumer protection office

Free business analysis for retailers to learn how to improve security. Call 866-617-8183 or send email.

www.onestepdata.com