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newsletternewsletter 290
Gift Cards — Cash In On the Trend Gift Cards—- Cash In On the Trend A few quick facts about gift cards for this holiday season: · According to workz.com, more than half of consumers (53.8%) want to receive a gift card as a holiday gift. · More than half of American consumers plan to purchase at least one gift card this holiday season. · 10-15% of gift cards never get redeemed. · Cash Register Express and Restaurant Pro Express lets you easily sell and redeem gift cards with no transaction fees SAVE UP TO $ 150 ON CUSTOMIZED GIFT CARDS FOR YOUR STORE -- IN TIME FOR HOLIDAY SHOPPERS
· pcAmerica offers printing of fully customized, colorful gift cards in quantities of 500 or 1000, and printing of · personalized pre-designed cards in quantity of 250. Gift cards can be printed in as little as 7-10 days from proof · approval with new rush and super-rush upgrade services. Call your account representative for details design and timeframe options. Access Your Computer from Anywhere
You can access your computer from a remote location just as if you were sitting in front of your computer. Access your Cash Register Express or Restaurant Pro Express data. Access all your word processing and spreadsheet data. How much? It’s free. It’s pretty easy to use and install. To get LogMeIn for free, go to: https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/ Need more? For $69.95 per year, you can purchase LogMeIn Pro which allows you to transfer files between computers, synch files between computers for backup purposes, as well as many other features. If file transfer is important to you, you can transfer files between computers with the free version by sending emails with file attachments back and fourth between computers. LogMeIn claims over 50 million connected computers. The company offers additional products for mobile use and technical support professionals. LogMeIn FREE is just great for retail store owners who want to log into their computers from remote locations to see how sales are going, or to check inventory status. Store Sales Hammered but Wal-Mart Escapes Gee! I am sure you didn’t need to read this newsletter to know that our economy is not great. As a store owner or manager, you have little control over the economy. However, there are things you can do to survive and thrive. We are apparently going into a recession. I say apparently, because we have not yet met the official definition of a recession (two quarters of a negative GNP or Gross National Product). It is probable that at least 10% of all retailers will need to close up. That’s a bad thing, but can also be good for the remaining 90% of retailers who acquire the business from the 10% who could not make it. Retailers had a terrible October. Sales may be the worst in eight years. Sales at The Gap were down by 16%. Even sales at Victoria’s Secret were down by 9%. Macy’s expects a double digit sales decline in November. But, let’s look at Wal-Mart. Their sales increased by 2.4% in October. They expect a 1 to 2 % increase in sales in December. Wal-Mart is going after higher income customers that don’t normally shop at Wal-Mart. The stores are broadening their offerings to attract higher income customers. McDonald’s sales are surging. Monthly sales have increased by 8%. Dunkin’ Donuts has been doing great especially after their claim that coffee drinkers actually prefer their coffee to Starbucks in a taste-test. One of my favorite local restaurants is offering some great food specials and bringing in crowds. Crossroads of Nanuet is doing far better now than a year ago (sales and profits). Why? Because the owners decided that they did not want to go out of business. They chose to put in the time and do all that is possible to increase sales. Look at the recession as the catalyst to doing the marketing that you have avoided doing in previous years. Shake things up. Offer new and different products and services. Many retail stores are now offering Layaways. Remember Layaways? In the olden days (10 years ago), people who didn’t have credit cards or couldn’t afford to make a full purchase would put 10% or more down on an item. The storekeeper would place the item on the side and allow the customer to make payments on the item. The customer would take ownership of the item after it was paid for in full. Remember. Your best source of business is your customers who have purchased something in your store. Your next best business source is those who have entered your store. I am not a big believer in advertising in newspapers or those mailers that go out to people in your neighborhood. I do not believe that they are cost effective. I would spend my money on contacting customers who have already made a purchase in your store and those who have at least walked into your store. If you do decide to spend some advertising bucks...it is probably better to spend it on a solo mailing in your neighborhood as opposed to spending money on some type of coop mailer with many other retailers. How do you spend your advertising dollars? Let me know by writing to me at hgosman2004@oponline.net. To read the article called Store Sales Hammered but Wal-Mart Escapes, go to: http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/06/news/economy/Oct_retailsales/index.htm?postversion=2008110610 Above all, if business is bad, just ask your local congressman to be bailed out (for those of you who didn’t get it, this is just a bit of sarcasm).
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