ETD-ETD: 670 List Server Alternatives; Software solution for
retailers; Making Lemonade; Reaching your audience; New tools to fight
rips off
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Fri, 21 Mar 2003 09:32:05 -0500
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0670 March 20, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] List Server Alternatives
[3] Software solution for retailers
----- ---- --- -- -> Important Offer <- -- --- ---- ---- --
[4] Making Lemonade
[5] Reaching your audience
[6] Web merchants use new tools to keep buyers from ripping them off
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
If you get two of these today, my apologies. We tried an alternative
distribution and it doesn't seem to have worked. So we went back to
Topica, until we can get it working. .
Today we have some advertising and marketing topics that we should
address. Let's hear your comments. And on the same note, a piece on
making lemonade - turning a bad thing into something positive.
And we have another software solution with some excellent, user-based,
first-hand comments.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
Dr. George Matyjewicz
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] List Server Alternatives
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Garland Coulson wrote...
>Here are some possible solutions for your e-mail list problem.
> 1. WorldCast at www.fairlogic.com. This is software that resides on
your computer and
> manages your e-mail lists. Very fast and we have sent out over 100,000
e-mails per month
> with it with some lists as large as 20,000 e-mail addresses. The full
version is only $49
That was one of many alternatives given to me by list members. So we tried
this one today. It seems easy enough to use - load the database, prepare
the digest and send. It rejected too many names, so we have to try
another alternative.
I did discover that our ISP has three alternatives, and we will try
MailMan, which seems easy enough to use. It's a freebie from GNU and is
provided by many ISPs.
As we al know, the Topica list server was inserting ads, which got caught
by many spam filters, and a lot of readers missed the digest as a
result. I would appreciate any input.
George
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[3] Software solution for retailers
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There are two essential questions that must be asked when searching for a
POS system;
1) Are you a hardgoods (books, gifts, hardware, drugs) retailer or
you a softgoods (clothing) retailer?
The differences are enormous in the way the businesses are run and
by the same token, how the solutions address them. The hardgoods business
is largely replenishable. That is, the products can be replenished again
and again (and frequently the same product can be purchased from multiple
vendors i.e. the manufacturer, wholesalers or jobbers). A hardgoods
retailer sells a copy of "Leadership" by Rudy Guiliani and buys another
copy to replace it. He tracks his sales by the item. He will wan to see
reporting by the item, vendor etc. This is not true in the apparel
business. When a retailer buys a fashion item it usually cannot be
replaced, he must track his sales by the category of items, that is
"outerwear," or "women's blouses" and try to match his upcoming purchases
to what he had sold in the previous year. He will want to see reports by
category and by season etc.These items are also different in that they tend
to have style/color/size fragmentations as well as the need to track
"markdowns" ( the lowering of retail price to clear out stale merchandise),
which usually don't exist in the hardgoods world.
2) Do you have a single store or multiple stores?
This question will eliminate a great deal of systems from
your consideration. Frankly, if you operate the store yourself, you usually
know everything about the items that are being sold, but inventory control
and shrink are your major considerations. When you have multiple locations
that you must bounce between, you tend to be out of touch with the flow of
items in the store, and need information to stay current, and more
importantly- to detect and manage the company.
We have a small drugstore chain in New York City and therefore
require a hardgoods system that is suited to chains. I have installed the
Tomax system for POS and backoffice management. We will be customizing
reports and forms to our needs so that our personnel will be more effective
in a shorter period of time. They can probably learn to use the existing
forms and screens, but it's prudent to customize information that is
critical to your operation in a manner that is easy for your staff to work
with.
Further considerations are; the strength of the dealer that is
servicing you. You need to know that there is sufficient resources to help
you, and that there is a "plan B" available in case the local dealer fails.
If the vendor says that they are strong and stable, ask them if they are
the 6th largest company in the world. If Enron and Worldcom could go belly
up, so can they. Make sure you are protected.
Hope this helps.
Joe Dweck
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[4] Making Lemonade
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According to Chambers Dictionary of Modern Quotations , Brendan Behan
(Irish author d. 1964) has been quoted as saying “There's no such thing as
bad publicity except your own obituary.” And it has never been truer then
now, especially with the breath, depth and speed of the Internet.
Two people can react differently to the same situation, and have dramatic
results either way. The trick is to capitalize on the publicity, and, if
it is bad (a lemon) turn it to your benefit (make lemonade).
At a previous engagement, a columnist mentioned our company in a major
magazine. While he didn't say anything bad, he didn't present us in our
most favorable light. Some members of our executive team were a bit
upset. I sent a note to the author that went something like this:
“Thank you for mentioning our company in your recent article. We really
appreciate your favorable comments. I write a monthly column for a major
magazine, and recognize that they are often one-time commentaries. If by
chance, you are going to do a follow up, please contact me, so I can give
you more information on who we are and what we do. Some areas of interest
to you may be ….”
Almost immediately, I had a response telling me that he was going to do a
follow up and would be contacting me. And, with some discourse going back
and forth, I learned that he was considering writing a book on our area of
expertise. The result: we are collaborating on a book!
In another case, somebody on a discussion list blasted us for what he
perceived as a misdeed that we did. One of my partners sent him a note off
list asking why he didn't simply contact us, rather than posting to the
list. Wrong! Instead I responded to the list, told our side of the issue,
explained nicely how there was a misconception and got him to turn around
completely. And, four hundred members of this specialized list now know
that we respond quickly, are not afraid to take a beating and are very
interested in what our customers are saying.
My favorite story was with the owner of a temporary employment agency who
got a call from an irate customer who complained about receiving an
invoice. "What the $#@^&*!^ is this bill! We haven't done business with
you in two years," said irate customer. "Oh. How come?" asked
client. "What did we do wrong?" His take on the issue was the invoice
error could be resolved, but he had a chance to get back a customer, which
he did BTW.
Today I got a note from a colleague who had a negative article about a
prospect we are meeting on Friday. "Great," said I. "Now we have a chance
to sell them our other application also."
So, whenever you have what appears to be a bad situation (lemon) turn it in
your favor (lemonade).
George Matyjewicz
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[5] Reaching your audience
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It's time to evaluate what works best to reach your audience. Over the
past 10 years, the advertising and marketing arena has changed
drastically. So, let's look at some alternatives, and get your input as to
how effective they are:
1. Trade shows. Are they as effective as they once were? Do they get the
traffic they once did? Are they effective for you?
2. Seminars. Are people all seminared out? Do they turn out for
seminars? Are executives inundated with seminar marketing?
3. Telemarketing. I was quite surprised to see a former partner of mine
still using telemarketing to get appointments. It was somewhat of a shock
to have her telemarketer call the company where my wife is CFO looking to
set up an appointment. Is anybody using telemarketing?
4. Direct mail (snail). Is the Internet replacing direct mail? What kind
of return can you expect with direct mail? Is there anything that works
with direct mail vs any other form of advertising?
5. Paid ads. I notice some magazines had far less pages. Are companies
advertising less? Do paid ads work?
6. Keyword ads (Google). Are pay per click ads effective on the
Internet? Do you click on them? Have you ever used them?
7. Banner ads. It appears as if they have lost all of their appeal,
except to serve as an awareness campaign. And pop up or pop under ads seem
to be annoying more people than producing results. Anybody have recent
experience with banner ads?
8. E-Mail marketing. More and more big companies are now using e-mail
marketing campaigns, often spamming people. I know we have discussed this
before. Has anybody been effective with e-mail marketing? I'm curious to
see to what target they may work, i.e., consumers, business, women,
teenagers, executives, professionals, etc.
9. Web sites. Is your Web site generating business and if so how? What
drives business to your site? Are you using the site to direct people to
for more information?
What are your thoughts? How is this arena changing?
George
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[6] Web merchants use new tools to keep buyers from ripping them off
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A special report in the Wall Street Journal discussed how merchants are
using new tools to keep from getting ripped off. As we all know, online
fraud is rife, enormously damaging and getting worse. Researcher Gartner
Inc., reports that transaction fraud as a percentage of sales is 15 times
higher online than the overall rate for retailers.
Now e-tailers are fighting back, using a range of behind-the-scenes
strategies to combat fraud. Some of the tactics seem basic, but they're
crucial -- like checking billing and shipping addresses against card
issuers' records whenever possible. Many merchants then add sophisticated
software to identify suspicious buying patterns and flag potentially
fraudulent orders. Often on-staff investigators check some or all suspect
orders, to salvage as many legitimate purchases as possible. Many companies
also aggressively dispute their liability for some unpaid charges. Some
also take out e-business insurance to cover remaining risk.
Under rules set by the card companies in the U.S., the onus for fraudulent
sales falls entirely on merchants when a credit card isn't physically
present for the transaction. That makes fraud more costly for e-tailers
than it is for brick-and-mortar stores, because the credit-card issuers
assume liability for purchases when a card changes hands.
And e-tailers' fraud-related losses go well beyond stolen goods. They
include the cost of shipping goods to the thieves, the administrative
expense of dealing with fraudulent sales, and the so-called chargeback fees
that banks demand to offset their own administrative costs for disputed
sales -- the equivalent of a bounced-check charge.
Then there are the orders online merchants reject in their determination to
prevent fraud. Gartner estimates about a third of these blocked orders in
the U.S. could be legitimate purchases, suggesting e-tailers turned their
backs on scores of customer relationships and some $1.82 billion in real
sales last year -- on top of the $1.64 billion Gartner figures they lost in
fraudulent sales.
Above-average fraud rates can also lead the banks that handle credit-card
transactions for merchants to label an e-tailer risky and impose higher
fees for processing sales. Indeed, companies with particularly high rates
of fraud risk losing their accounts with these merchant banks altogether,
and thus their ability to make any credit-card sales.
The article outlines tools now being used to fight back.
Details at...
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1043184582515816584,00.html?mod=sr%2De%2Dcommerce2003%2D1%5F2>
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Links to follow
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GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.gapent.com/
Global Pay Systems LLC http://globalpaysystems.net
E-Tailer's Digest http://www.etailersdigest.com
ETD Archives: http://topica.com/lists/etailer/read
Prior to 29 Dec 1999 http://etailersdigest.com/archives/index.htm
Marketing Your Web http://www.gapent.com/myweb/
Automated Press Releases http://www.automatedpr.com