Home > Tag Archive: Business

You are viewing the Business tag archive.

Subcategories:

Interesting iPhone App for Retailer Managers

Found in: Retail, Tech Advice
Tuesday
January 13, 2009
No Comments

Just came across this new application in iTunes called iRetailer (caution: link takes you to the Apple iTunes store). It is a task organizer and note-taking application that is geared towards retail managers allowing them to divide tasks into categories such as people, operations, and merchandising.

From their description:

I was tired of using note applications that were either too complex or just didn’t do a good job. I built my own app to take care of simple task throughout the day. You have enough to do throughout your day without having to ‘chase notes.’ Have your list with you at all times. I have saved so much time just through the development phase, by using iRetailer.

I don’t know how well the application works, but I can totally support the idea. When I was involved at the store level of retail, I always had a notepad on me that had to-do lists and goals. Sales targets, merchandising objectives, and daily operations coverage were always in my pocket. The concept of an iPhone app is intriguing to me because it centralizes the information a bit more.

Good idea for an app. If anyone tries it out and has feedback on it, I’d love to know.

Social Media Business Plan & ROI

Found in: Strategy
Monday
December 1, 2008
2 Comments

Missed this last week due to the holiday, but I wanted to share a link to Beth Harte’s excellent post called Want to Figure Out Your Social Media Plan? Consider a Plan. It’s an excellent primer on developing a business plan for social media and setting clear goals in order to measure ROI. Not only is the post informative, but it has spurred a great conversation in the comments on different ways to define and measure ROI with a social media plan. I’ve just skimmed through the comments, but I know I have a lot to read and digest tonight.

Express Lane for 8/6/2008

Found in: Express Lane, Social Media
Wednesday
August 6, 2008
No Comments

A few of the stories I’m reading and wanted to share today:

John Zogby’s got a very insightful look into the political trends of retail consumers and dives behind the numbers to make sense of it all. He looks at presidential election polling numbers, the retailers the customers shop at, and how this relates to the retailers’ branding.

J.Crew’s website has had their share of mistakes and downtime lately. Church of the Customer is talking about the apology e-mail that the retailer sent out to their customers and what this means for the company.

Matt at A New Marketing presents a clean, easily digestable definition of what social media is.

.. and finally – Starbucks is offering a $2 discount on iced beverages in the afternoon when you buy a drink in the morning. I think this is a smart move that should drive repeat business throughout the day. Besides that, I’m selfish and now look forward to saving a little bit of money on my second trip to Starbucks every day.

NYC Chain Stores, By the Numbers

Found in: Retail
Friday
August 1, 2008
No Comments

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/400312331_8347c9bd0b_m.jpg'

Let’s play a game. I’ll name two retailers and you guess which one has more locations in the five boroughs of New York City. Ready?

Starbucks vs. Dunkin’ Donuts

McDonald’s vs. Burger King

Rite Aid vs. CVS

Coach vs. H&M vs. Pinkberry

Best Buy vs. American Apparel

According to a new study from the NYC-based think tank, Center for an Urban Future, the numbers are suprising.

Dunkin Donuts has more locations (341) in the five boroughs than Starbucks (235). Though Starbucks’ has more than double the amount of Manhattan locations (186 vs 78). McDonald’s has 248 locations compared to Burger King’s paltry 92. Rite Aid has 209 locations to CVS’s 108, but not as much as NYC-favorite Duane Reade (with 216 locations). Coach and H&M have as many NYC locations as California upstart Pinkberry (all with 12 locations in the city) and would you believe that American Apparel has more locations than Best Buy (16 vs 9).

The details revealed by the study are interesting, with a thorough breakdown of how many locations each retailer has in each borough. It is worth downloading the PDF and taking a look at their results.

Couple of interesting commentaries on the report from the New York Daily News, the New York Observer, and the New York Post.


Photo above from Flickr user lab2112, used under Creative Commons.

Retailers See Mixed Results in June

Found in: Monthly Retail Sales
Thursday
July 10, 2008
No Comments

Le Chateau Yonge & Bloor Toronto

Another mixed month for retail sales.  While some retailers rebounded and look to go into Back to School on a positive note, it was another dark month for some mall and teen retailers.

Wal-Mart beat expectations with a 5.8% increase in June (showing 6.1% increase at their US name-brand stores and a 4.6% increase at their Sam’s Club locations). Target ended up in positive territory with a 0.4% uptick in same store sales. Costco showed a 9% increase, Kohl’s beat estimates with a 2.3% increase, and even mall retailer Aeropostale showed gains with a 12% increase in June.

The month was not as kind to mall and teel retailers such as Gap (company down 7%), Abercrombie (down 3%), and American Eagle (down 11%).

June’s numbers have been posted to Retail Numbers, which allows you to chart and track the retail industry monthly same-store sales.

More coverage from Fox Business and the Associated Press.


Photo above from Flickr user James@mannequindisplay. com, used under Creative Commons.