John wrote in yesterday to tell us, “I just got back from Wal-Mart trying to buy stuff with my gift cards, but the employees told me that they gift card servers were down across the country. I waited for about 15 minutes as cashiers and managers tried to get my gift card to go through and nothing occurred.”
retail
What Are Your Buying Signals?
By 12.27.07
The USA Today quiz below, which makes a reference to a customer’s “buying signals,” got us wondering, what are our “tells” when we’re in the store? It turns out there are all sorts of places online to help us with this bit o’ self-knowledge.
How To Train A Retail Manager
By 12.26.07
USA Today has a quiz supplied by the National Retail Federation based on materials they use in their retail management and certification courses. [And if you’re one of those people obsessed with taking quizzes, stop reading here until you’ve taken it.] It’s an interesting but somewhat obvious set of questions, all centered on hammering home the concept that being a retail manager means focusing on display, loss prevention, and customer service—but not on “long-term planning” of the type of merchandise that will be sent to your store.
Shopdropping: The Anti-Shoplifting
By 12.26.07
Have you heard about shopdropping? It’s the big new fad among burgeoning anarchists who, instead of stealing, spread havoc by smuggling unwelcome items into stores. Think Che shirts in Target’s clothing department, or unwanted bunnies roaming the pet store after Easter. It’s all very badass and has several stores in a tizzy.
At Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., religious groups have been hitting the magazines in the science section with fliers featuring Christian cartoons, while their adversaries have been moving Bibles from the religion section to the fantasy/science-fiction section.
Retail: Can The Day After Christmas Save Christmas?
By 12.26.07
The International Council of Shopping Centers said same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year during the November-December period, appear to be coming in just below meager projections, though it said post-Christmas buying could help restore the shortfall.
California Supreme Court: Feel Free To Protest Inside The Mall
By 12.26.07
In a 4-to-3 decision, the court said a San Diego mall violated California law protecting free speech when its owners barred protesters from distributing leaflets in front of one of the mall’s stores, asking shoppers not to give the store their business.
Woman Asked To Leave After Shopping At Walmart For 72 Hours
By 12.24.07
Police escorted a woman home after she was shopping, eating, and sleeping in a Georgia Walmart for three days straight. She blended in with the general Christmas madness and sustained herself by eating at the on-site Blimpie. When asked by employees at the end why she stayed for so long, she said, “I’m shopping.”
How Do You Get The Most Out Of Online Reviews?
By 12.22.07
Products don’t advertise their drawbacks leaving shoppers to rely on online reviews as one of the only ways to determine a product’s true worth. Salon argues in an article heavy on fluff and light on content that reviews are just a meaningless muddle of questionable opinions. We disagree, but the article does raise one good question: how do you judge the value online reviews?
Stores Beg Shoppers To Come Visit This Weekend
By 12.22.07
Spooked by the (apparently mythological) low numbers of shoppers this season, several retail chains are pulling out the stops in an attempt to lure consumers in over the next 72 hours, reports Reuters. Seven New York-area Macy’s stores are now open non-stop until 6pm Monday. Kmart is holding a “64-hour sale” that begins tomorrow morning and lasts until 10pm Monday (we’re not sure if the stores are staying open around the clock, however). JC Penney is advertising special sales tonight and tomorrow morning.
Bloomingdales Employee Charged In Bogus Gift Card Scam
By 12.21.07
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is prosecuting a Bloomingdale’s salesperson for running a month-long bogus gift card scam that netted $34,515 from the store, says the NY Sun.
It says Bloomingdale’s sales receipts were the key element of Ms. Ng’s alleged scheme.
By 12.21.07
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Circuit City posted a rather large loss this quarter, $207.3 million, up from $20.4 million a year ago. Stocks fell nearly 21% on the news. We went into a Circuit City a few years ago and remember it as being overwhelmingly gray in color. [CNN Money]
Delete Your Porns: Court Says You Have No Right To Privacy When Your Computer Is Repaired
By 12.20.07
Evidence uncovered by retail store technicians (i.e. kiddie porn), is legally admissible as evidence in court because, “If a person is aware of, or freely grants to a third party, potential access to his computer contents, he has knowingly exposed the contents of his computer to the public and has lost any reasonable expectation of privacy in those contents…,” the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled December 5th. The case hinged on the question of whether kiddie porn a Circuit City tech found could be admitted as evidence, overturning a lower court’s decision. The Superior Court of PA also referred to codecs, computer video compression and decompression software, as “code X.”
6 Major Retailers Selling Real Fur As "Faux"
By 12.20.07
Six big retailers are selling jackets advertised as having “faux” fur, but the fur is actually from real animals. It’s not only mean, it’s a violation of the federal Fur Products Labeling Act. An investigation by the Humane Society of The United States * found jackets sold at Saks, Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, Dillards, Yoox and Bloomingdales containing the faux “faux” fur. Much of the world’s fur is processed in China, a place where they skin animals alive for their fur.
Macy's Website Asks You To "Wait Here A Few Moments While Other Shoppers Finish Up"
By 12.18.07
Mike
We like the “wait in line” style of the message. It’s a good way to remind people who shop online to avoid crowds that they’ve managed to fail in that regard.
By 12.18.07
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Maybe not you, but someone’s been doing a lot of shopping at Best Buy this year, because they just posted higher 3rd quarter earnings than they had predicted, based on “strong sales.” Sales were $238 million versus $150 million a year ago. [Reuters]
Some Gift Cards Sorta Friendlier, Thanks To FTC
By 12.17.07
Gift cards have fewer hidden fees and expiration dates this holiday season, thanks to FTC action, reports the Washington Post. A survey by the Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection found that about 80% of the 22 retail examined had no fees or expiration dates, could be replaced if lost or stolen and had scratch-off PINS for security.
Sales Of Women's Clothing Down, Bargains Are Coming
By 12.17.07
The New York Times says that sales of women’s apparel, usually a staple of the holiday season, are down 6% so far this season.
