customers
The retailer's clever little helper
The battle between online and brick-and-mortar retailers used to be a lopsided fight. Internet stores enjoy the paradigm-busting advantages of the Web, and offline retailers, by contrast, may never know anything about a shopper. Now, however, smartphone-centered services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Booyah, etc. are designed to give businesses the chance to tailor deals to patrons and forge enduring relationships with the otherwise unidentified folks who may be their best customers. Full Article.
Retargeting Internet ads
Some companies are beginning to target customers who look at their website ads. If nothing is purchased, an email will follow that customer. The practice is called "retargeting" and critics say there may be concerns about privacy that may need to be addressed with regulations. Full Article.
Retailers sold on frugality
American retailers are becoming as frugal as their customers, cutting expenses to maintain stable profits through what is increasingly looking like another challenging holiday season. Full Article. (Registration Required).
Brain Fitness programs increase in popularity
There's another kind of fitness revolution going on, and this one involves your brain! Brain training market products hit $265 million in 2008, a 160 percent increase from 2005, the latest year available, and customers represent older and younger adults. Full Article.
Avoid a Self-Inflicted Second Recession
Has your company cut too many corners during the recession? How happy are your customers right now? Before you answer, ask yourself whether—and how—you would actually know. Additionally, do you know how your front-line performance compares to that of your key competitor? You may have consciously or unconsciously relaxed standards over the past year-and-a-half in an effort to reduce costs and boost your bottom line. If you have, an honest side-by-side comparison of your performance versus your key competitor's may wake you up. Full Article.
Toys ‘R’ Us Offers Holiday Savers Club
Toys “R” Us is counting on an Eisenhower-era tactic to get consumers spending again. The program is a throwback to programs banks and credit unions offered in the ‘50s and ‘60s, called holiday clubs, where prudent consumers set aside shopping money in advance. The “Christmas Savers Club” will allow shoppers to put money away for holiday gifts, and is another example of how the recession forced retailers to come up with creative ways to promote sales. Full Article.
Chamber of Commerce monthly Strategic Luncheon May 17, 2010
The Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce will hold its monthly Strategic Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, May 17, at the Pineville Convention Center. This month’s topic is 'Communicating for Results: Effective Communication with Employees and Customers'. Cost: $12.00 Full Article.
To Sell More, 'Be the Customer'
Most small business owners can't go undercover among their employees, but they can learn a lot by becoming "undercover customers," says Andrea J. Simon, a management consultant in NY. “The personal immersion approach is useful because it has to do with brain wiring. After 30, our brain sorts things based on the way we think they are, according to a story in our head. We need to experience something in person to change that story." Full Article. Similar Articles
Understanding Customer Loyalty
Customer Centric companies understand that focusing on the competition, not the customer, is the surest way to ruin a brand and consumer goodwill. Instead of using pricing gimmicks, executives should be dedicating promotional dollars to enhance loyalty. The benefits of customer loyalty include word of-mouth advertising, increased purchase volume, lower relationship costs, and decreased price sensitivity. Full Article.
Wal-Mart Thinks Smaller
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is exploring opening a number of small outposts to penetrate the nation's cities and fight the spread of no-frills grocery chains, which are luring away some of its core customers. Full Article.
