ETD: 922 POS help for hurricane-hurt retailers; Online Survey
for Manufacturers, Importers, Distributors; Suit Charges Credit-Card
Firms With Anticompetitive Practices
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Sep 29 13:16:50 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0922 September 29, 2005
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] POS help for hurricane-hurt retailers
[3] Online Survey for Manufacturers, Importers, Distributors
[4] Suit Charges Credit-Card Firms With Anticompetitive Practices
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Thanks to all who sent me the well-wishes on my
upcoming marriage renewal on Sunday. I really appreciate your thoughts.
The hurricane disasters have affected a lot of
people. Today, list member Jerry Grooms tells us
about a wonderful offer his company is offering
to retailers hurt by the hurricanes.
Gifts & Dec magazine is conducting a survey to
identify the most important trends for 2006 in
gifts and decorative accessories, candles,
collectibles, garden decor, holiday items,
stationery, and personal care products. Results
of this survey will appear in the December, 2005
issue of Gifts and Decorative Accessories in time
to guide retailers as they go to market.
There is a major suit against the credit card
companies and banks charging anticompetitive
practices. A couple of years ago, Wal-Mart was
successful with a suit claiming unfair charges
for debit card transactions. It will be interesting to see how this works out.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] POS help for hurricane-hurt retailers
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At Bar Code It Now (http://barcodeitnow.com) we
are a master distributor for the Infocorp retail
POS application. In conjunction with Infocorp,
we will provide a canned package that would
enable retailers who were hurt by the hurricanes,
to get their businesses up and running as quickly as possible.
We will have Dell equipment shipped in, preloaded
with our application (A2R), which will enable
businesses to be up and selling product that very same day.
Please contact us if you need any assistance, or if you know somebody who does.
Regards,
Jerry Grooms,
Vice President
Bar Code It Now
http://barcodeitnow.com
jgrooms at barcodeitnow.com
Tel: (770) 992-8898
Cliff McGuire
V.P. Retail Solutions
Infocorp Computer Solutions
(905) 477-2854 Ext.2238
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
What a nice gesture Jerry & Cliff. I'm sure some
retailers will need help. I hope there will be
consumers able to purchase, since the hurricanes devastated the area.
Folks, if you know of anybody who needs help, have them contact Jerry of Cliff.
George
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[3] Online Survey for Manufacturers, Importers, Distributors
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Gifts & Decorative Accessories needs your help to
identify the most important market trends for
2006 by completing our online survey. Results
will appear in the December 2005 issue of G&DA,
in time to guide retailers as they go to market.
Your answers will be combined with others from
across the industry to provide a composite view;
no individual company information will be
published. It’s simple! It’s quick! We look forward to hearing from you.
Please click here
http://www.researchtodayonline.com/data/GDATrendsSvy05.htm
to complete the survey.
Quinn Halford, Editor In Chief
Matthew Kalash, Managing Editor
Gifts & Dec Online
www.giftanddec.com
Quote of the Week
“In order to compete successfully, one must start
by understanding one’s competitors. The best
retailers pay attention, and adjust their
strategies accordingly.” — Harmony Ball Co. chief
executive Tim McCord in the October issue of Gifts & Decorative Accessories.
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[4] Suit Charges Credit-Card Firms With Anticompetitive Practices
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Four merchant associations filed an antitrust
lawsuit against major banks and credit-card
companies, claiming they are engaging in
collusive practice by setting credit-card
interchange fees at "supracompetitive" levels.
In a joint statement from the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National
Association of Convenience Stores, the groups
said they, along with the National Community
Pharmacists Association and the National
Cooperative Grocer Association were suing Visa
International Inc., MasterCard Inc., Bank of
America Corp., Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank, Bank
One, Chase Manhattan Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase &
Co., Chase Fleet Bank, Capital One Financial Corp. and other banks.
The plaintiffs represent hundreds of thousands of
drug stores, convenience stores and food stores
across the U.S. that accept Visa and MasterCard.
The plaintiffs said they would seek damages and
injunctive relief to stop the alleged
anticompetitive practices of banks and
credit-card companies. The plaintiffs also seek
long-term overhaul of the credit-card interchange-fee system.
When a consumer makes a purchase with a credit
card, the payment is processed through the
merchant's bank and the bank that issued the
credit card to the consumer. The issuing bank
charges the merchant's bank a fee to process the
transaction. The merchant's bank then adds its
own fee for processing the transaction, and
passes on both of the fees to the merchant, the
associations said. The two fees are collectively known as an interchange.
Interchange fees are meant to cover the cost of
processing a credit-card transaction and the risk
taken by the issuing bank that the credit won't
be repaid, the statement said. The plaintiffs
claim both fraud costs and the cost of processing
are steadily decreasing, while U.S. interchange rate continues to increase.
The NACS and NACDS claim interchange fees are
substantially higher in the U.S. than almost any other industrialized country.
"The credit card interchange system serves as a
hidden tax, both on merchants and consumers, and
raises the costs of all products regardless of
the form of tender," said Hank Armour, chief
executive of the National Association of
Convenience Stores. "And these credit card
interchange fees have rapidly increased over the past several years."
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of
the Eastern District of New York on Friday by
Robins, Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP. Robins Kaplan
also filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Connecticut.
Visa said it "remains confident in its ability to
defend interchange," pointing to a July ruling by
a federal judge in California, who said merchants
lacked legal standing to challenge such fees, in
part because they aren't "direct purchasers" of Visa and MasterCard's services.
MasterCard said the lawsuit is without merit.
Citigroup denied it engaged in any unlawful
conduct and said it will vigorously defend
itself. Officials from Bank of America and
Capital One were unavailable for comment, while
representatives from J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One declined to comment.
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112776160789252317,00.html
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