Christmas 2011 Post-Mortem, Part 1

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Christmas has come and gone for another year, and exhausted independent retailers are tallying up the results. From those that I’ve talked to, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were marked by alternating stretches where business surged ahead of last years pace and stretches where it fell behind. The only pattern to it all was that there seemed to be no pattern at all.

But I think there’s a pattern that’s emerged, that’s been in the making for the past several years. I haven’t read any analysis or seen any data compiled on this, but in talking to people, including my clients, and observing in my own travels, I think there’s a pattern emerging in the balance between business done on-line and in stores.

I’ve had a number of people suggest to me that, apart from the Black Friday mayhem, the malls and major chain retail stores just didn’t seem as busy as they once were, even in the past several years since the recession. The malls weren’t as crowded. Lines at checkout aren’t as long. Parking spaces were easier to find. I felt the same way when I was out in the stores.

There’s been a lot written about the growth of on-line shopping, especially on the year over year increases of Cyber Monday. What’s been clear for several years is that e-commerce is taking more market share with each Christmas season, and that’s impacting brick ‘n’ mortar retailers more and more every year.

What I believe, however, is that e-commerce business not only peaks during the Christmas season, but so does e-commerce market share. The Christmas selling season is when the hassle of heading out to the stores is the greatest. It’s so much easier to get what you need from your laptop or smart phone.

Call it the e-commerce convenience advantage. During the rest of the year, e-commerce doesn’t begin to have the convenience advantage that it has during the Christmas selling season. But at Christmas time, e-commerce clearly has a convenience advantage over brick ‘n’ mortar retailers.

The major national chains have attempted to offset the convenience advantage through their own e-commerce sites. The very best independent retailers have sought to do the same within their niches, but the impact on them is still pretty significant. December is still the biggest month for most independent retailers, but it’s no longer quite the behemoth month it once was. You used to be able to count on December to make up for the vagaries and mistakes of the prior 11 months. December no longer packs quite the same punch it once did.

This is further reason why retailers have to be at the top of their game from the first day of the year right through to the last. The days of getting by without getting the very most out of your business day in and day out are over. Taking your business to the next level means taking your own retail business management skill set to the next level, now more than ever.

Ted Hurlbut is a retail consultant, coach and speaker who helps independent retailers increase sales, profitability and cash flow by leveraging his deep expertise in the core retail disciplines. To learn more about how you can benefit from Ted’s proven retail know-how, visit his website at http://www.hurlbutassociates.com or download his report “The 16 Essential Elements of a WINNING Independent Retail Strategy”.

A Scarf Can Be a Nice Addition to Your Outfit

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Scarves have become a fashion statement. Many women wear scarves as a part of their outfit. Whether they are wearing jeans and a tee shirt, a dress or a business suit, many women will wind a scarf casually around their neck. Fashion websites and magazines show pictures of just how you can add a scarf to your wardrobe.

Many Hollywood stars have seen the benefits of scarves for years. Wrapped around their heads, a person can have some anonymity, and perhaps avoid the paparazzi. They also drape the larger pashmina scarf around the shoulders as a stole or shawl for award dinners and other events.

You don’t have to be a fashion model or a Hollywood star to enjoy wearing a scarf. You can use it as a belt in your favorite pair of jeans, or as an accent in the open neck of a blouse. You can also wind it around your neck and leave the ends hanging down or tie it one of many fancy knots.

There are special shawl pins available to help keep scarves and shawls in place. These pins can be as simple as a wooden circle or as complex as a shimmery geometric shape. You can pull the ends through the circle to keep your scarf from slipping off your shoulders as you go about your busy day.

Keeping you head and neck warm are important in the winter. A wool scarf can still be stylish when paired with a nice sweater. It will have the added benefit of keeping your neck and the lower half of your face warm when you are outside braving the elements.

Layers are important in cool weather. Including a scarf as an extra layer will help keep the cold air out, but it is easy to remove as the day progresses and the weather warms up. In the spring and fall, when temperatures tend to change drastically, dressing in layers that include a scarf is a great way to add and remove layers as the temperature changes.

If the day is windy but not necessarily chilly, a scarf is a nice benefit. Wrapping it around your head may do more than just keep people from recognizing you if you are famous. It will also keep your hair and face safe from the wind. After an expensive day at the salon, a scarf will keep that fantastic new look safe for a little while longer.

Whether you are looking to spruce up a dull wardrobe, create a new look, or protect yourself from the elements, a scarf is a nice accessory to have. They come in many colors, patterns, and materials depending on how you want to wear it. Considering buying a scarf, or several different ones, to create a new look for you this season. Once you have one, you will find how out just how useful they are. It may be that you will wonder how you ever lived without one.

To know more information about Scarf and Shawls visit Verypashmina.com

Top 9 Tips to Make Your Next Event Successful

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Planning a successful event is a daunting task. As an event planner, you need to take care of a lot of things, including all the back-office and administrative workload well in advance to avoid the last-minute glitches. Moreover, you need to appoint staffs accordingly, so that they can help you plan an effective program. Hence, an increasing number of event organizers are looking for a highly effective and functional way to streamline the planning process. The online event registration system offers the same, thus making it one of the most sought-after solutions among the organizers. Here are the top 9 tips for planning a successful event.

1. The event organizer should have a clear understanding of the purpose of your event. Be it a corporate one or a social gathering, such as birthdays and anniversaries, a fair knowledge about the program helps you plan it accordingly and anticipate the outcome as well.

2. Setting realistic goal for your event is extremely important for its success. For social events, there are no such specific goals; however, when it comes to corporate events or fundraisers, you need to set some specific targets to make it successful. For setting your goals, you need to consider how many people you expect to attend your events. Be realistic while calculating the expected turn out, as it allows you to plan a winning event.

3. Setting a specific event budget can help you eliminate the financial discrepancies cropping up in the final stage. Hence, you should do this on a priority basis. Create a chart calculating all the potential expenses involved. According to that, you can decide how much you are willing to spend. All the more, you also need to decide how much revenue you can feasibly earn from your registrations.

4. Selecting the date of your event plays a significant role behind its success. Check out if there is any important event scheduled on the same date. If it is so, then it is better to avoid that date.

5. You need to check out all the available options. You can choose local clubs, banquets or public places to hold your event. It is better to visit the site in person before selecting it. While considering a venue, you need to keep several things in mind:

- Capacity of the room
- Lighting and electrical supply
- Parking features
- Phone hook-ups
- Computer and internet access
- Price of renting the venue

6. Start planning from months before, so that you are perfectly ready to execute your plan on the scheduled date. It is better to set up a project timeline with specific tasks that must be accomplished within specific dates.

7. Make a list of the vendors you will need to work with. Working with local vendors can help you reduce your expenses. The vendors, who are going to support you plan your event includes caterers, florists, photographers, printers, registration assistants, audio-visual suppliers, and so on.

8. In case you need any special licenses or permits to host your event, try to get it as soon as possible.

9. Check out your public relations network carefully, as your PR skills are going to play the main role in making your event successful. You need to decide how to publicize your event. Are you going to the local card shop to get pre-printed invitations, or, do you need to develop a promotional brochure for mailing your potential attendees?

Use these tips to plan your next event successfully.

Jonathon is a professional event planner. Event professionals worldwide are increasingly relying on automated software to streamline the online event registration, payment management, and attendee relationship management. Acteva is the market leader in providing event registration solutions at competitive price.