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February 2009 Archives

February 2, 2009

Positive Pragmatism in the Face of Media Doom and Gloom

The Canadian Gift & Tableware Association's (CGTA) Spring Gift Show was held last week here in Toronto. During my five days there, I had the opportunity to speak to a number of retailers and suppliers. As a result of these conversations, I would characterize the overall mood at the show as one of positive pragmatism. Everyone knows these are challenging times and everyone is doing their best to meet those challenges. Suppliers at the show offered lots of new products, and retailers did their part by buying. It's business as usual with a watchful eye to spending and operational efficiencies.

In fact, the only laments I heard were directed at the relentless "doom and gloom" being dished out daily by the consumer media. It's too bad that some of those consumer scribes didn't visit the show and talk to the industry's retailers and suppliers. They might have learned that a lot of entrepreneurs might be feeling squeezed, even a bit down, but are light years from being out and are positive they'll survive 2009.

Posted by Lori Smith on February 2, 2009 4:29 PM | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

February 9, 2009

Six Tips for Boosting Valentine's Day Sales

Today's edition of Shop.org's email SmartBrief contained a link to an article called E-Mail Marketing: V-Day Tips, New Tracking Tools. In it, writer Michelle Megna reports six tips for leveraging Valentine's Day from email marketing company Campaigner. With less than 100 hours until V-Day, I don't know if you have time to launch an email campaign but the tips themselves are worth keeping in mind as customers come through your doors on Thursday, Friday and Saturday looking for gifts to give their loved ones. The tips are:

1. Promote your special holiday offers up front.
2. Offer gift ideas… You can even offer a Top 10 Popular Gift section to help aid [customers] search for that special someone, says Campaigner.
3. Welcome those last minute shoppers.
4. Offer additional incentives--coupons, discounts, etc.
5. Think outside of the candy box: Flowers, candy and jewelry aren't the only things that make good Valentine's Day gifts, says the company.
6. Gather additional information. "If you don't already have customer 'friends and family' profile data, Valentine's Day can be a good opportunity to gather additional information from your customers such as important dates for them, friends, family and significant others, including birthdays and anniversaries."

Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to help your customers--and their spouses/boyfriends. And there's still time to build a "Top 10 Popular Gift" section.

Posted by Lori Smith on February 9, 2009 1:00 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

February 13, 2009

Fighting the Recession with New Products

A particularly interesting article appeared on CNNMoney.com today, titled "Boring stuff coming to stores near you." In it senior writer Parija B. Kavilanz reports that analysts including Marshal Cohen, the chief retail analyst with market research firm NPD Group, are saying that retailers, who are afraid to be stuck with unsold merchandise, are forgoing innovative products in favor of basic and boring items. Andrew Bartolini, vice-president of global supply management research with Aberdeen Group, explains it this way in the article: "Besides ordering fewer products in a soft sales environment, merchants also don't want to sell products that they are unsure about… Retailers aren't going to order products based on speculation that someone will buy them. In their mind, this isn't the time to say 'If we build it, they will come.'"

However, the article points out that while managing inventory is essential, retailers must give their customers reasons to shop by having new products. The NPD Group's Cohen concluded that retailers "can't keep boring the consumer. Any retailer that says it is cutting back on inventory to become leaner and meaner is just lazy. Down times aren't about getting rid of risk but managing risk. New and exciting product is what's going to sell, even in a recession."

As I write this, the Canadian show season is well underway. The CGTA Spring Gift Show, By Hand Toronto and Mode Accessories took place a couple of weeks ago. The Alberta Gift Show starts this weekend and the Montreal and Vancouver shows are being held, as usual, in March. I know from walking the Toronto shows that there are a lot of new products available. Are you going to be using them to get customers into your store?

Posted by Lori Smith on February 13, 2009 3:53 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

February 23, 2009

Understanding How Consumers Are Changing

There's no doubt that the economic downturn has changed how people are shopping. Yesterday, canada.com featured an article on how consumers were going on "credit card diets" to "trim personal budgets." And Time.com presented an interview with Paco Underhill, the CEO of Envirosell and author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, outlining how he sees the consumer landscape changing.

In How Consumers Shop Differently Today by Sean Gregory, Underhill describes how American consumers now fall into one of three groups: Those who have lost their jobs or are about to lose their jobs. Those who are not in danger of losing their jobs but know someone who is, and as a result, have curtailed their own spending. And, those who have a lot of money but have learned that "conspicuous consumption is bad" and now see spending--or not spending--in moral terms. "The era of bling is over," he says.

Throughout the interview, Underhill shares his thoughts on where retail is and where it's headed. He talks about how the quantum growth of access to information (Internet, phone, etc.) has changed shopping. He believes that "we have reached the apogee of the big box. Growing the store any bigger does not translate into the customer spending any more time or money." He also thinks that "as a culture, we are over-stored. All store chains would be healthier if they were smaller."

While Underhill is speaking specifically about the American consumer and retail landscape, a lot of what he says is pertinent to Canadian retailing. It's definitely worth checking out.

Posted by Lori Smith on February 23, 2009 12:19 PM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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Lori Smith, , Editor-in-Chief
Lori Smith is the editor of Gifts and Tablewares, Canada's premiere gifts and tablewares magazine. Written for retailers of gifts, tablewares, housewares, stationery and home furnishing accessories, its objective is to help readers increase their sales and run their businesses more profitably by providing information on new products, merchandising, small business management, customer service, consumer behavior and industry news. The magazine is published six times a year by BIG Magazines, LP, a leading Canadian information company.

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About February 2009

This page contains all entries posted to Editorial Blog in February 2009. They are listed from oldest to newest.

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