ETD: 986 1,000th Issue and beyond; Measuring Retail
Results;Total Market for Gifts Reached $282 Billion in 2005
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Jun 13 14:57:52 GMT 2006
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0986 June 13, 2006
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] 1,000th Issue and beyond
[3] Measuring Retail Results
[4] Total Market for Gifts Reached $282 Billion in 2005
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
I am still getting suggestions as to what to do
beyond issue 1,000 and I think we may have a new
format (see 2 below). What do you think?
List members 'Javilk and Alan J. Zell have some
thoughts on measuring retail results, which are
quite good, and something to consider if you want to succeed.
Pam Danziger has a new report about the gift
market that reached $285 billion in 2005. Are you in that market?
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, LLC
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] 1,000th Issue and beyond
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My thanks to those who have made some excellent
suggestions as to what to do beyond issue 1,000 coming up soon.
One suggestion that I like is to source products
for list members. We are all selling something,
and it would be nice to find unique products that
can be sold easily to consumers. Whether we have
a brick and mortar store or are pure play
etailers, we need to find good products that the
consumer needs and is willing to buy.
My company (GAP Enterprises, LLC) come across a
lot of suppliers of merchandise - both clients
and folks who we know that sells merchandise to
retailers. A lot of it is imported and a lot is
domestic from unique suppliers. Sometimes we
even find crafts goods that are very unique. The
only issue with the latter is the supply may not
be fast enough, since the goods are hand made.
In addition, I travel a lot to many different
parts of the country and the world. We have an
upcoming trip abroad, and I know I can find good merchandise there.
Also, we encounter a lot of good suppliers of
services, i.e., accountants, lawyers, software houses,which people need.
So, what do you think about that idea? Continue
providing INFORMATION, and expanding to source products?
George
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[3] Measuring Retail Results
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> the performance of retailers. Lowe's has been
> beating Home Depot in same store sales for 19 of
> the past 20 quarters (5 years). > So what does Home
> Depot do? They decided not to
> report same store sales! "We believe comp-store
> sales are increasingly less relevant," says spokesman
Translation: We believe it is less important to
please the consumer than the stockholders.
Last time I heard this chant was during the Dot-Com boom.
I remember an interview in Industry Standard
magazine pitting the dean of management, Peter
Drucker, against some high flying dot com
leaders. They reamed Drucker on his archaic
attitude that profits mattered. They laughed at
profits! Drucker stood by his guns.
Drucker was going strong long after the Dot-Com
boom turned into the Dot-Com Bomb; long after
those executives became unemployed, long after
Industry Standard magazine ceased publication. He was right.
Isn't ignoring this important measure taking and
putting investor politics ahead of measuring reality?
Don't make the same mistake! To succeed, you
need clear vision of reality. Reality bites us often enough! Don't tempt it.
I remember Wolfe Computers was booming here in
Silicon Valley over a decade ago. At least they
seemed to be; they were certainly moving a lot of
merchandise and growing. Till someone audited a
spreadsheet, and found a small mistake. In the
half year they thought they were booming, they
had over-spent enough that they could not
recover. They went under despite roaring retail
success, all because of a little spreadsheet error.
Your business life depends on accurate
measurement. Whether you like what you see or not, You need to know!
And if your customer shops different stores, find out why?
Sure, contractors are likely to go to which ever
store is closer to their clients. But
consumers? Why? Did one store run out of
something? Did an employee insult the
customer? Does another store have a better selection? Why???
If you are to do well, you need to know
REALITY! Knowledge inspires action. It drives
decision making. It helps you profit, or know to
get out of situations where profit is not to be found.
Isn't hiding vital indicators what Enron and
Worldcom did before they went under? Didn't the
small lies inspire bigger ones?
-javilk- mall-net.com
------------------- IMAGINEERING --------------------
----- Advice, Analysis, Strategies, Development -----
---- Got a problem? Give us a call! 408-705-2284 ----
Serving the World for three generations, since 1933
Another Javilk (tm) brand post. Copyright (C) 2006,
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
A slip of a decimal with spreadsheets happens
more frequently than one imagines. In October
2003, Fannie Mae had to restate their financials
because of the result of "honest mistakes made in
a spreadsheet used in the implementation of a new
accounting standard." That mistake was $1.2 billion!
Yes, keeping tabs on your finances, especially cash, is critical for success.
See next post.
George
+++ Next Post +++
George, While gross sales for all stores, average
sales per store and/or same-store sales are
formats for determining performance, they can be
very, very misleading. None of these figures
show mark-up or cost of goods or turnover, rate
of markdowns, etc, all three of which can have a
great affect on really how a business does. It
may be that Lowe's is beating Home Depot on gross
sales, average sales per store or same store
sales, Lowe's may not doing better than HD.
I have been to both stores here in our area and
it was interesting to see how many items and/or
boxes in each showed wear or floor damage. Guess
which one have the greater number? When I see a
lot of floor damaged goods or boxes, I look at
this as being indicative of just how a store
and/or employees (a result of upper management's
respect for the goods they sell other than just
generating $) respect what they sell. 'Tis not a
pretty picture . . . it is only a degree of which is less pretty.
So, people should not be blinded by figures that
hide the real picture of how a business is doing.
Alan
Alan J. Zell, Ambassador Of Selling
Winner of the Murray Award for Marketing Excellence
Member, PNW Sales & Marketing Group
Member, Institute of Management Consultants
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[4] Total Market for Gifts Reached $282 Billion in 2005
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Consumers spent $282 billion in 2005 buying gifts
and presents. Entertainment and
recreational goods were the most widely
purchased gift, with consumers spending about
$52.6 billion for books, DVDs, CDs, toys, games
and electronics for gift-giving purposes,
according to the Gifting Report 2006 released by Unity Marketing.
Gift purchases represent roughly 10 percent of
the total retail market. Buying a gift is an
important reason why people shop, not just during
the fourth quarter gift-buying season but
throughout the year. This new research study
provides retailers and product marketers vital
consumer insights about the gift buying customer,
their preferences in gifts, how much they spend
buying gifts for holidays and occasions, and where they shop.
Among the key findings in this new research
report based upon surveys with over 1,200 gift-giving consumers are:
o After entertainment and recreational gifts
(notably books, CDs, DVDs, toys, dolls and games,
etc.), gift certificates were the second most
popular gift purchase. Discount department
stores were the top source for gift certificates.
o The typical gifter spent $1,935 buying gifts
in 2005, about 60 percent of their budget was
spent buying gifts for holidays ($1,190) and
about 40 percent buying gifts for various
gift-giving occasions (e.g. birthdays, weddings,
anniversaries, etc.) that occur throughout the year ($745).
o Christmas gift purchases (average spent $870
in 2005) and birthday gifts (average spent $431)
were the two biggest gift-giving occurrences in
2005 with nearly all gifters buying Christmas
gifts and 82 percent buying one or more birthday gifts throughout the year.
o Some 60 percent of gift buyers almost always
accompany the gifts they give with a card, but
that leaves 40 percent who only occasionally or
rarely add on a card purchase when shopping for a gift.
o In ‘giftables,’ the category that includes
many popular items that are traditionally thought
of as gifts, candles and candle accessories were
the most frequently purchased gift item, bought
by 35 percent of giftables buyers, followed by
flowers, plants and garden accessories, bought by
32 percent; seasonal decorations and ornaments,
20 percent and especially strong in the fourth
quarter gifting season, and gifts for pets,
bought by 18 percent. The giftables’ buyers
spent on average $246 buying these gifts during 2005.
For more information on Gifting Report 2006,
click this link
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/gifting/gifting.html
Pam Danziger, President
Unity Marketing
Author of Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to
the Masses — as well as the Classes.
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