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This
Christmas, Consumers Love Cash (And
Bling)
By
Sarah Mahoney
 This holiday,
consumers are turning thumbs down on credit
cards and thumbs up on jewelry: A new survey
from the National Retail Federation reports that
shoppers are planning to pay cash or using debit
cards, and that credit card use is at its lowest
level since 2002.
And
that combination of practical, careful shopper
meets the urge to splurge makes sense, Phil Rist
-- EVP for BIGresearch, which conducted the
survey for the NRF -- tells Marketing
Daily. "After years of practicality,
Americans are getting more excited about buying
special gifts for the people they love. And
because people are aware that this will be a
very promotional holiday period, they know they
can do both."
People
may be showing greater signs of practicality,
like cutting back on credit cards and giving
gift cards to those who are hard to shop for,
"but we need to remember the holidays are about
buying things for people you love," he says. "It
is emotional."
The
NRF's survey reports that 43% of holiday
shoppers will rely on debit cards -- a 20%
increase from 2005. Some 25.7% say they will pay
cash, up from 24.9% last year. And just 27.6% of
shoppers will charge their gifts, which the
Washington, D.C.-based trade association says is
the lowest since 2002's 26.8%.
Continue
Reading: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=139559
Source:
MediaPost
News
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Customer
Connect: The Only Email Marketing Tool
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Connect Is Loaded With The Features And
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SEE WHICH CAMPAIGNS
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Not only will you be
able to see who is opening and reading your
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USE INNOVATIVE
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You can easily create
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E-mail at rob.freda@armsys.com
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Early
deals draw shoppers, raise retail
spirits
NEW YORK --
Shoppers spent a bit more in early November,
raising retailers' spirits about the holiday
season right before it kicks into high
gear.Early discounting on
everything from TVs and sweaters as well as free
shipping deals helped pull in shoppers in the
first two weeks of November. Consumers coming
out of their shells could be a gift for an
economy that has suffered from depressed
spending for almost three
years.Spending on clothing,
boots and luxury goods showed strong increases
from the same time a year ago, according to
MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, which
includes transactions in all forms including
cash.Deep discounting on
flat-panel TVs because of a glut brought
shoppers into stores to buy but kept spending on
electronics about flat with a year ago. Home
furnishings sales were dragged lower by the
struggling housing market.Online, the average order
value was about $198, up more than 10 percent
from last year, but the number of items put in
electronic shopping carts - an average of six -
was the same. That means shoppers are buying
more expensive items, according to John Squire,
chief strategy officer at Coremetrics, which
tracks online shopping.Another reason for
merchants to feel better? Jewelry sales, which
typically heat up only in the last 10 days
before Christmas but have been depressed since
the Great Recession, have been
sparkling.Continue
Reading: http://www.sunherald.com/2010/11/21/2657329/early-deals-draw-shoppers-raise.html
Source:
SunHerald.com
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 CounterPoint
Technical Support recommends performing the
following tasks on the CounterPoint SQL
database.
on a weekly basis
- backup the system
databases
- rebuild indexes, update
statistics, and check
database consistency
on a daily basis
- backup the
CounterPoint SQL database
|
 Felicia
ShieldsSupport
Coordinator/Accounting Felicia, who
worked from 2007-2008, has returned to Advanced
Retail Management Systems as ARMS' Support
Coordinator and to assist with Accounts Payable
and other duties in the Accounting Department.
When you call in for Support Felicia will log
your call and escalate your support request as
needed. Felicia has worked in retail for 9 years
in many diverse settings. Felicia is a Colorado
native and loves to be active and outdoors in
all the beautiful Colorado seasons. In her spare
time Felicia loves to bake and spend time with
her family and fiancée. Felicia and her fiancée
are busy planning a summer
wedding. |
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Nine
steps toward handling customer
complaints
By
Rhonda
Abrams, USA
TODAY
Face it, if you run a
small business, sooner or later, you're going to
have an unhappy customer.
You'll ship the wrong
product, be late turning in that client report,
or the deck you just installed will inexplicably
start to warp. Then the angry phone calls or
e-mails start.
No one likes having a
customer complaint. After all, all of us who run
small businesses want to please our customers or
clients. We want them happy with our work and
products. We want them to keep coming back,
buying and sending their friends and family our
way, too.
But stuff
happens.
Sometimes it's not your
fault - the shipping company delays the rush
order. Sometimes it is your fault - you or your
staff got overworked or sloppy and made a
mistake. Sometimes it's the customer's fault -
"I know the chairs said for indoor use only, but
they shouldn't have been ruined when I used them
outside in the rain."
Sometimes no one is at
fault. Stuff just happens.
No one likes to hear
complaints, but it's far better to have
customers actually talk to you than to just
leave because they don't leave
quietly.
Dissatisfied customers
put their complaints (or rants!) on Yelp or some
other rating site. They tweet about it and tell
their friends on Facebook.
Continue
Reading: Click Here
Source:
USA
Today
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Follow
Advanced Retail Management Systems on
Facebook
 Keep up with latest
happenings in Retail and your particular
POS\Inventory Control software by becoming a fan
of Advanced Retail Management Systems (ARMS) on
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opportunities, and links to interesting
information on the web. Connect with the
ARMS staff and our customers!
|
Tell another retail store that is
looking for a Point of Sale system about
Advanced Retail Management Systems. When
you refer a retailer to us that participates in
a 1 hour web presentation for Retail Pro,
CounterPoint or Microsoft RMS, we will send you
$100 - it's that simple!
Register
your referral today. Call Susie Carmen
today at (303) 738-1800 Ext 357
or E-mail her at susie.carmen@armsys.com
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