On Line Retailers are Gearing Up for Holiday Sales!

Christmas in October

Faced with a shorter holiday shopping season, many retailers began prepping their November and December sales strategies this summer. 49% plan to launch holiday sales and marketing campaigns before Halloween, according to a recent survey.

Katie Evans

Senior Editor

Leaves are showing only their first hints of orange and maroon, it’s still plenty warm enough to tailgate and many of even the most diehard Halloween fans have yet to select their Oct. 31 ensembles, but retailers are already focused on tinsel and mistletoe. Or, more specifically, November and December sales.

That’s likely because retailers have a reduced window of time to capture peak holiday spending as there are only 25 days this year between the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Christmas, compared with 31 days in 2012. What’s more, weekends are busy times for customers to shop and, unlike last year, consumers have four, not five, full weekends to shop for gifts.

Nonetheless, several research firms are predicting double-digit growth in U.S. holiday online retail sales. Market research firm eMarketer projects 15.1% growth in U.S. holiday online retail sales this year and Deloitte LLP predicts a 12.5 % to 13% increase in U.S. non-store (primarily online) sales. In November and December 2012, e-retail sales grew 13.7% over the prior year to $42.3 billion, according to comScore Inc., which measures consumers’ web activity.

The shorter holiday period has many retailers looking to nab consumers’ attention early this year. 49% of retailers will launch their holiday campaigns before Halloween, according to a just-released survey of 212 marketing executives at national retailers about their cross-channel holiday marketing plans by Internet traffic measurement firm Experian Marketing Services. 70% of retailers plan to use some sort of promotional offer this holiday shopping season. 39% will offer free shipping, 28% will offer a deal of the day, 21% will offer online coupons and 3% will offer layaway.

“Retailers have been extending the shopping seasons with promotions post-recession, so it’s not surprising to see that nearly half of all marketers stated they would launch a holiday campaign before Halloween,”says Bill Tancer, general manager of global research, Experian Marketing Services. “Our consumer confidence data is the highest it’s been since the recession, so we expect the early promotion trend to carry over into the holiday season with Black Friday deals being offered even earlier than last year.”

The majority of marketers began planning their holiday campaigns in the summer months, Experian finds. June earned the title as the top holiday planning month as 18% of the marketers surveyed stated they would start then. Overall, 69% of the marketers polled stated they started planning holiday campaigns by August.
The top three marketing channels retailers will use this holiday season are online display ads (59%), e-mail (55%) and print (46%). Search (30%) and mobile (24%) round out the top five, according to the Experian poll.

While Marketers didn’t rank mobile marketing as a top priority, many said they will be using mobile tactics during the holiday season. Developing mobile-optimized sites was ranked as the top mobile activity by 43% of respondents, followed by creating mobile-optimized e-mail (37%) and using mobile advertising (31%). Geolocation promotions will be used by 15% of marketers surveyed this holiday season, Experian finds.
Retailers in the U.K. may also want to consider beefing up their mobile sales strategies over the holidays.  A survey of 2,000 U.K. online consumers conducted at the end of July finds 64% of smartphone owners plan to purchase more via their mobile devices this holiday season compared to last year. Additionally, nearly all (96%) of respondents will shop online over the holidays, with 48% purchasing at least half of their holiday items on the Internet, according to the research from eDigitalResearch and U.K. e-retail association Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG).

“We’ve seen sales through mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) grow rapidly over the past few years, accounting for 23% of online sales in Q2 of 2013 with site visits at 34%,” says Andy Mulcahy, editor at IMRG.  “To put in perspective the rate at which confidence in the channel has grown, at the start of 2010, sales through mobile devices stood at just 0.4% of online sales.”

Additionally, one quarter of U.K. consumers  in the IMRG survey say they feel their online shopping experience is ‘significantly better’ or ‘slightly better’ at Christmas time thanks to special deals and a bigger range of products on offer. Just 7% feel that it gets worse. However, many don’t feel the same about store shopping. 42% feel that their in-store experience deteriorates during the festive period with busy stores, long lines and a limited number of staff to deal with the influx of shoppers.

Another holiday shopping forecast suggests shoppers in North America feel the same way about trekking to stores in November and December. North American shoppers will visit fewer stores this holiday season, predicts ShopperTrak, which monitors traffic and sales at major malls and retail chains. Store sales will rise a slight 2.4% during the holiday season compared to a year earlier, ShopperTrak predicts. That’s less growth than the 3% year-over-year increase in store sales last year. Store traffic, meanwhile, will fall 1.4% the firm predicts, compared to a year-over-year rise of 2.5% in holiday 2012.

Retailers who dig into shopper behavior across stores and the web and use it to better serve their customers across shopping channels will be in the best position to squeeze the most sales out of the holiday shopping season, says Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and retail and distribution sector leader.
"Consumers are seeing positive signals from the economy which may buoy confidence heading into the holiday season this fall," she says. "Retailers that merge consumer data from their e-commerce and in-store businesses to gain a more holistic view of their shoppers will be strategically positioned to capitalize on the upcoming holiday season.  They will also be better prepared to more appropriately target consumers—whether in-store or online—with the right marketing promotions to drive traffic and conversion."
Toys ‘R’ Us is one retailer seeking to combine its vast network of nearly 900 U.S. stores and its $1.1 billion global e-commerce business to make shopping quick and easy this holiday season.

The retailer this month announced several updates in time for the holiday season including speedier buy online, pick up in store and ship to store services. Buy online, pick up in store orders on Toysrus.com are now ready for pick-up in less than an hour, down from three hours previously.  Ship to store orders are now available for pickup in five to 10 days, improving the fulfillment time from the typical seven to 14 days, the retailer No. 30 in the Internet Retailer Top 500, says. The retailer this fall also will equip its stores with additional in-store pickup locations by enabling consumers to check in to pick up their goods at kiosks that before were only used for accessing and creating wish lists. 

Additionally, later this fall, the e-mails Toys ‘R’ Us sends shoppers informing them that their items ordered online are ready to be picked up in stores will include a map of where the pickup location is within the store they are headed to. And, as it did last year, the retailer will also offer free layaway through Dec. 15. However, new this year, and added in time for the holidays, is a feature that lets shoppers make payments towards layaway orders at ToysRUs.com after they put items on layaway in a store.

In August, Toys ‘R’ Us announced it would match in its stores the web prices of 11 other merchants including: Walmart.com, Target.com, BestBuy.com, Sears.com, Kmart.com, BuyBuyBaby.com, Meijer.com, FredMeyer.com, Diapers.com, BabyDepot.com and Amazon.com (excluding the Amazon marketplace, through which retailers other than Amazon sell on Amazon.com). Toys ‘R’ Us stores also match prices on its e-commerce sites, ToysRUs.com and BabiesRUs.com, it says, though not for its online-only deals. Nor will it match competitors’ online prices during the Thanksgiving holiday shopping period, from Sunday, Nov. 17, to Cyber Monday on Nov. 25, when it will be running other exclusive promotions instead, it says.

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Who Remembers S&H Green Stamps?

Who Remembers S&H Green Stamps?

How many of you remember receiving S&H Green Stamps?  As a baby boomer, I clearly remember my mother collecting the stamps. In fact, we kept our stamps and books in a well used, brown lunch bag.  The one thing I clearly remember is how bad those stamps tasted when I licked them and pasted them in the books.  The funny thing is, I never remember redeeming the stamps. I only remember getting the stamps, licking the stamps, and counting the completed pages.

For those of you who don't have a clue what S&H Green Stamps were, they were a kind of bonus that a shopper would receive for shopping at certain stores.  After the purchase was made, the cashier would give the customer a number of stamps- based on the overall purchase price.  If my memory is correct, the stamps had values of 1, 10, and 50. Each page in the book needed to total 50 points.  A person could fill a page with one 50 point stamp, five 10 point stamps, or 50 singles- or any other combination that totaled 50 points. 

Once a person collected enough complete books, he/she could turn the books in for merchandise that came from a catalog called the "Ideabook". Like I said earlier, I don't remember EVER turning the books in for merchandise but common items, at the time, were toasters & other kitchen appliances.  

Anyway, the concept of Green Stamps was a good one.  A consumer had an incentive to shop at certain stores & the stores had an incentive to provide the Green Stamps.  What if on-line shoppers could obtain a bonus for shopping at the stores they love to shop at?  You know what? They can.  But...instead of getting useless stamps, shoppers can get CASH BACK.  That's right, if you shop at www.ezshop411.com, you can get cash back on your qualifying purchases.  You can use the cash to purchase Market America branded products or you can wait until you accumulate $10.00 - then you can request a check.  That's clearly better than licking stamps to get a toaster.

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Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

Don’t wait until your health fails before living the life you want to live

 by: Bronnie Ware  February 1, 2012

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to 12 weeks of their lives.

Critically ill people share several common regrets on how they lived their life.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learned never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected: denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Yet every single patient found peace before departing. Every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have not honored even half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they’d made, or not made.
It’s important to try to honor at least some of your dreams along the way. It’s too late once you lose your health. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.
We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks, and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks: love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called “comfort” of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to themselves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.
Life is a choice. It is your life. Choose consciously, choose wisely and choose honestly. Choose happiness.

 

Vitamin D and fertility in men and women

Vitamin D and fertility in men and women
January 30, 2012 -- Dr John Cannell

Every year, billions are spent in fertility clinics; the result of which is often in vitro fertilization (IVF). About 5 years ago, I began receiving emails from a nurse practitioner in Indiana who works in a fertility clinic. Her experience was dramatic; 5,000 IU/day for both the man and woman frequently resulted in a healthy baby. However, her last email to me was quite sad, she was in danger of losing her job as her boss, a gynecologist, was losing money due to vitamin D. He ordered her to stop advocating it or lose her job.

Today, the Daily Mail and several other newspapers reviewed a lengthy article in The European Journal of Endocrinology that concluded, “Given the high prevalence of infertility as well as vitamin D insufficiency in otherwise healthy young women and men and the possible role of vitamin D in human reproduction, research might lead to new therapeutic approaches such as vitamin D supplementation in the treatment of female and male reproductive disorders.”

Critical to this carefully caged advice is the fact that men need help as frequently as the women do. “Population-based studies found that in 30-40% of infertile couples the underlying cause is the male factor. In this context it should be mentioned that the overall semen quality of men is decreasing, which might partly be explained by environmental factors. Indeed, as much as 20% of young men have sperm concentration below the WHO recommendation level and 40% present with sperm concentrations below a level that is considered optimal for fertility.” Pretty amazing, especially when you realize these men have normal testosterone levels but that vitamin D levels are steadily decreasing.

Elisabeth Lerchbaum and Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch Vitamin D and fertility-a systematic review. European Journal of Endocrinology January 30, 2012

The authors go onto say, “In northern countries, where a strong seasonal contrast in luminosity (sunshine intensity) exists, the conception rate is decreased during the dark winter months, whereas a peak in conception rate during summer leading to a maximum in birth rate in spring has been observed. Moreover, ovulation rates and endometrial receptivity seem to be reduced during long dark winters in northern countries.”

While no direct studies exist of vitamin D levels and fertility per se, the authors report, “In a study among 84 infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization, women with higher levels of 25(OH)D in serum and follicular fluid were significantly more likely to achieve clinical pregnancy following in vitro fertilization . . .”

If you don’t want to work your way through the entire 42 page paper, read the excellent synopsis in the Daily Mail below.

Carey T. Sunny break may be alternative to in vitro fertilization: How the sunshine vitamin can help boost fertility. Daily Mail Online, January 30, 2012.

The takeaway message is the same as always, a message so common I should just start saying “ditto.” If you want to get pregnant, make sure you and your partner take 5,000 IU/day. If you don’t want to get pregnant, make sure you and your partner are on 5,000 IU/day plus a reliable method of birth control. I take no responsibility for surprise pregnancies.

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What does isotonic mean?

Broken down to its roots, iso means 'the same' and tonic means 'pressure or tone.' When used to describe solutions that are meant for consumption, isotonic means having the same fluid pressure as body fluids. Tears, blood plasma, lymph and other body fluids are all isotonic. When we ingest food, gastric (stomach) juice is secreted onto the food, and muscular contractions of the stomach mix the contents until a reasonably uniform solution is achieved. The solutions of food (chyme) that enter the small intestine for absorption are made isotonic by the action of the stomach in a time-consuming process. The fluid pressure of food or isotonic solutions across semipermeable membranes, such as the walls of the small intestine, is generally referred to as having a particular osmolality or tonicity. Osmolality is measured in units referred to as milliosmoles/kilogram of water (mOsm/kg). It can be said that when solutions on opposite sides of a membrane have the same osmolality, they are iso-osmotic or isotonic. Normal human blood serum (the fluid portion without cells and platelets) has an osmolality of 288 mOsm/kg, as do most other fluids in the body. Therefore, in physiological terms, when a solution's osmolality is the same, or nearly the same, as that of normal human blood serum, it is referred to as isotonic.

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Concentration and absorption are factors that go hand in hand for the proper use of nutritional supplements. Concentration - the amount of nutrient dissolved in a given amount of a solvent such as water or stomach fluid - is usually directly related to the efficiency of nutrient absorption. This is especially true in the process of passive diffusion. Passive diffusion works when the concentration of nutrients in the lumen of the small intestine is higher than the concentration inside the intestinal cells.

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