Stores Need to Excite

Stores need to excite, execute, entertain

To survive in 2009, merchants have to aggressively court reluctant consumers with exciting products, prices and service.

By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: February 4, 2009: 3:22 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Merchants are desperate to lift sales. Consumers are wary to spend money. So how can struggling sellers still get shoppers in the store?

It's simple, analysts say. Focus on the basics of retailing 101: Products, price and service.

"The worst thing retailers can do in this environment is hunker down," said Jack Hendler, president and of Net Worth Solutions, a retail mergers and acquisitions firm. "It gives the impression that the company has put it's head in the sand."

Survival means different things to different people, said Joel Alden, principal with the retail practice of A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm.

"When you're marooned on an island there are two ways to go," Alden said. "You can eat berries, sleep and learn how to survive." The other, more productive option, he said, is to "fish, build fire and shelter and [become] stronger while trying to survive."

Even in a recession that has already bankrupted more than half a dozen retail chains, experts say merchants have to ensure that they keep a laser focus on evolving to the changing needs and wants of their shoppers.

Retail experts offered some of the guidelines for stores to hold their own - or even gain ground - in these hard times.

Source:  http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/04/news/economy/retail_survival/index.htm

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Retail Spotlight

United Colors of Benetton

Overview

United Colors of Benetton is a globally recognized brand in the fashion apparel business. It offers women's, men's and children's apparel, shoes and accessories through a worldwide network of over 5,800 stores, which are independently owned. Our company owns and operates several United Colors of Benetton stores mostly located in the West Coast of the United States.

We have been using Retail PRO since the mid-1990s as our POS and inventory management software.  When we purchased Retail Pro we were looking for a user-friendly yet efficient system so that all associates could learn to use it easily and Retail Pro fit the bill - it was very easy to learn.  Retail PRO has kept evolving over the years by introducing new features and enhancing old ones. Today the system is more flexible, more sophisticated, still easy to use and customize.  In addition, ARMS offers great technical support, timely response to any question or issue by phone or email.

Barcode Labels and Receipt Supplies

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Meet Our Staff

Lisa Mallory

Meet Lisa Mallory, our new Marketing Associate for Advanced Retail Management Systems.  Lisa will be calling on new businesses in select retail segments to identify customers that are looking to automate their business with a POS system.

Lisa has vast experience in customer service as she has been employed in the insurance industry for 17 years as well as co-owning her own business for several years. 

A "native" of our state, Lisa resides in Aurora, Colorado.  She is the proud parent of her son, Scott.

Lisa enjoys music, photography, sports, and "is a huge Colorado Rockies" fan.   Along with enjoying photography, Lisa's been an oil and acrylic painter most of her life.

Lisa is a member of the Colorado Artists Guild, and the Castle Rock Artists Guild.

In October 2008-- she won 2nd place for a photograph of Daises in the Artists of Colorado State Exhibition.  In addition, Lisa will be having a "One Woman Show" in the AMP Gallery July 10.

We welcome Lisa and look forward to her success with ARM.

Coupon clipping makes a comeback

By Jonathan Birchall in New York

Published: February 10 2009 21:09 | Last updated: February 10 2009 21:09

As US consumer demand falters, the humble money-off coupon - rather than the high-profile advertising campaign - is emerging as a new battleground for some of America's biggest packaged goods brands.

Procter & Gamble, the largest US advertiser, said recently that it was "shifting funds, where effective, to coupons and consumer promotions that deliver better value". The group has been battling to stop customers shifting to lower-cost private label rivals.

Bob Recchia, chief financial officer of Valassis, a third-party distributor of coupons, said last week that the company had had a "good" fourth quarter in its newspaper insert business, and expressed cautious optimism about demand in 2009. "Historically, when you get into this type of an economy, consumer packaged goods companies do put out more coupons."

Cutting out the coupons delivered as inserts in the weekend papers is something of a national sport for frugally minded Americans, but the business is sometimes seen as the ugly sister of marketing, compared with high-profile television adverts or emerging online strategies.

But coupons can provide an attractive option to chief marketing officers in difficult times. Hain Celestial, maker of Celestial Seasonings herbal tea, last week reported an 8 per cent increase in consumption of its herbal tea in the US during its most recent quarter, after it shifted advertising spending to coupons.

"The shift in market strategy, not any big increase in spending, has driven this consumption turnround," said John Carroll, head of the US operations. 

P&G has been offering a booklet of coupons worth $120, or a $10 voucher valid at Wal-Mart's Sam's Club stores to customers who mail in receipts for more than $50 of P&G's brands.

David McCracken of P&G's US business said that the offers were the first of their type by the company. "Consumers are more open to that kind of message than they would have been 18 months ago, and we're trying to resonate with them."

P&G distributes coupons through its Brand Saver newspaper insert, launched in 2002, which reaches some 57m US households. Its coupon strategy, says Mr McCracken, seeks to promote trials of new products and build brand loyalty, rather than "subsidising" consumption.

The value of coupons in each Brand Saver booklet has risen from about $60 since last summer, to a peak of $106 in December, and $83 most recently.

Source:  The Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ad0bf5c4-f7b5-11dd-a284-000077b07658.html

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