myRetailer.ca

My good friend John had the great fortune to win the lottery for the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic games. He’s been keeping me updated on the events going on in Vancouver – I think he’s trying to make me jealous. What makes me even more envious is the influx of consumers that has descended upon the Vancouver area. According to John, retailers are busy trying to keep up with the demands of tourists. And it’s not just those red mittens that are flying off the shelves! Here’s a first hand account of the Olympics from a consumer perspective.

Hi Andy!

Take a look at the view we had for the opening ceremonies!

My daughter was fortunate enough to buy tickets online for the entire family to attend the Opening Ceremonies – that’s all seven of us! I was thrilled. Vancouver has been in such a buzz recently and just in the few days leading up to the start of the games I saw all the retailers busy servicing the needs of customers. And people weren’t just buying those red mittens, they were buying anything Canadian. I bet it makes you wish Green Village had a location in Vancouver! (more…)

myRetailer is unveiling a brand new look

The myRetailer team is working to enhance the blog to bring you more resources to help your business succeed. New features coming soon include a new podcast channel, more videos and more blog postings.

Take a peek at the new and improved myRetailer.

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Examine your customer demographics and stock new inventory to attract and appeal

I spoke to a colleague of mine who is also in the garden centre industry. His family runs a very successful garden centre called Dutch Growers in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The amazing thing is that the fastest growing category for their business is women’s fashion, apparel, purses and jewellery. In a garden centre! And they’re not the only ones!

As you can imagine, this sparked a lot of great conversations among other garden centre owners. The topic of selling apparel and jewellery in a garden store was discussed and debated, with some believing that these product lines go too far away from a garden centre’s core business, plants and trees. (more…)

Enhance Customer Experience, Raise Prices and Increase Profitability

Take the Retailer’s Roadmap challenge and work your word of mouth advertising by enhancing your customer’s shopping experience in your store, and then increase profitability through strategically raising some of your prices.

If you provide the best shopping experience for your customers, then your customer satisfaction will go up, word of mouth will travel and you can justify higher prices.

The Retailer’s Roadmap Challenge is a 3 step challenge:

1. Decrease your overall advertising budget by 20%
   • Redirect your remaining budget mostly toward direct marketing campaigns.
2. Invest the savings into the shopping experience
   • Dollar for dollar, take the money you saved from your marketing budget and invest it into your people, your facilities and your merchandising in order to enhance your customer shopping experience. (more…)

Small Companies, Big Squeeze

For many American small businesses, the credit crunch hasn’t really ended. While big companies are raising major money through a revitalized bond market, banks are still reluctant to lend to even the healthiest of the small.

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How to Create and Distribute Effective Online Coupons

The age of the coupon is upon us. With historically high unemployment and uncertainty about the economy weighing heavily on consumer spending, the humble coupon has enjoyed a resurgence. Both the classic clip-and-save variety and new online options delivered via the web, e-mail, social networks, and mobile phones are popular among consumers.

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Do you buy or lease space?

Both have pros and cons. When Toronto entrepreneur Tristan Goguen launched an Internet service provider business in 1995, it was a gamble.

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