Retailers lose a significant amount of income online due to fraudulent credit card orders and other deceptive activities resulting in merchant loss. As consumers increasingly spend more online from ecommerce merchants, fraudulent activity will likely continue to increase. The 2010 LexisNexis Risks Solutions Study found retail merchants and consumers experienced $139 billion in annual fraud losses in 2010. This article tells retailers how to check their online orders for fraudulent activity.

Online fraud is a challenge for online retailers because they can lose twice, first when the merchandise shipped is not recoverable, and secondly when the real cardholder makes a chargeback. That means they lose the merchandise and the money they would have collected for the sale. While there are many fraud screening applications that can help ecommerce merchants prevent fraudulent orders, orders can also be checked manually for discrepancies. 

Below are ten order conditions that should be checked on every online order before shipping. If you find any of these conditions to be true, it would be prudent to further review the order and/or contact the person placing the order before shipping.

1. Billing and shipping name/address do not match
This might be a sign of potential trouble. Usually, fraudulent orders are not shipped and billed to the same name/address. A person making a fraudulent purchase will often ship the item to a forwarding address or some location they aren’t associated with. While it’s common for shoppers to ship to a home or business address different from their billing address, it’s a good idea to question orders that do not have matching shipping and billing addresses. In other words, if the order is billed to John Jones in Los Angeles and is being shipped to Joe Smith in New York, you may want to question why.

2. Request for overnight shipping
While it’s reasonable for shoppers to want their orders ASAP, expedited shipping is often used on fraudulent orders because the thief needs to get the merchandise before a chargeback is made. With a slower shipping method, the merchant has time to halt the shipment if they receive a chargeback or identify the order as fraudulent, quashing the thief’s efforts.

3. Order is for multiple quantities of the same item
Many times, fraudulent orders are made for the purpose of reselling the merchandise on eBay, Craigslist or local flea markets. Multiple items are easier to sell, especially if the items are in high demand. Depending on your industry, you may often get orders for multiple items, so this rule applies less in certain industries. Merchants should monitor common ordering trends in their industry over time to identify what’s out of the ordinary.

4. Items ordered are all high value
Since many fraudulent orders are placed for the purpose of reselling the merchandise, the most expensive merchandise will yield the greatest rewards. The merchandise can be quickly sold at discounts of 50 percent or more with the thief making a decent profit. If your average order is $250, you should take pause when someone places an order for $5,000. The larger the order, the more loss to your business if a fraudulent order is successful.

5. Order is for uncommonly purchased items
It’s not uncommon for fraudulent orders to be for items that are rarely purchased. If you sell thousands of orders per year and have never sold some particular item, be suspicious when someone suddenly wants it. It’s unusual that only one customer would ever order a particular item that you offer. While new ecommerce sites may have trouble with this, once they establish some sales history and get to know their products, it’s easy to spot and flag orders for uncommon items.

6. Different but related products are ordered
If you sell electronics online, you get a lot of orders for a single TV or computer. Sometimes a shopper will buy several TVs or computers on sale, which is still fairly common. However, if someone orders 5 TVs and 5 computers in different brands and sizes, this is not common and should raise a red flag. It might be a bona fide order, but purchasing products like this is not common shopping behavior and warrants further investigation.

7. AVS and/or CVV verification failed
AVS verifies the address of the cardholder, and CVV verifies the person placing the order has received the physical credit card. It is wise for online retailers to require both. If the card number was stolen, odds are the thief doesn’t have the CVV number unless the entire card was stolen. If the entire card was stolen, there’s a good chance the owner would have canceled it. CVV costs nothing, and all merchants should require it to be submitted.

8. Customer makes many unsuccessful attempts before transaction is approved
This works in conjunction with AVS and CVV verification. If someone is attempting to place orders online using a stolen card, it’s common for several declines due to an incorrect address, expiration date, or CVV. Watch closely for multiple declines or AVS/CVV mismatch transactions. One or two errors can be common, but if you see a number of attempts, it could be a sure sign of fraud.

Warning: If you see hundreds or even thousands of attempts, it’s an entirely different type of fraud called card testing or carding. This is the systematic testing of credit card numbers in the pursuit of finding valid credit card number/expiration date combination. Card testing can be spotted by observing a large number of declined transactions through a payment gateway, usually in a sequential and consistent pattern. This type of fraud can be very costly to your business even if you never lose any merchandise, so it’s important that you promptly address the cause and correct this situation.

9. Customer’s phone number, email address and/or shipping information look unconventional
More often than not, fraudulent orders use incorrect, fake, or very unconventional email addresses, phone numbers, and ship-to information. If you get bounced receipt emails, see an email like fbi.gov, see phone numbers like 555-555-5555, or are shipping to Donald Duck, you can be sure the order is fraudulent. Additionally, if the phone number contains a country code, or incorrect area code, it’s probably because someone typed the first digits that came to mind into the phone number box. Most business and personal land-line phone numbers can be verified by entering them into a Google query. At the very least, you can determine if the area code matches the billing or shipping address, and if the number is actually valid.

10. Order is for shipping to Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe or Russia
We don’t want to discriminate against any particular country, but factually, a lot of fraud comes from a few select regions and countries of the world. Unless you have experience in international ecommerce, it’s best to accept orders only from your own country, or the countries you know and trust. There’s a lot to know about international orders. Even if an order isn’t fraudulent, international orders require special customs processing, credit card processing, and legal requirements that can make processing returns difficult. Even shipping from the U.S. to Canada can present unanticipated problems and costs.

Conclusion. With the ever increasing problem of online fraud, retailers should be aware of the ways they can screen online orders to protect themselves against fraud. The fraud screening methods above can help retailers avoid the cost online fraud.

As you know, ASD is celebrating its 50th year in Las Vegas July 31st – August 3rd. And boy, have they grown since then! All those who haven’t checked out the show in a while will be in for a treat and a big surprise, and there’s no time like the present to come see what’s going on in the wholesale and retail trade. It’s like six shows in one, as shown in the map of exhibit pavilions shown below.

ASD is expecting over 2,800 vendors from the following categories: Gift & Home, Fashion Accessories, Cash & Carry Jewelry, Health & Beauty, Toys, Souvenirs and Novelties, Closeouts and Liquidation. ASD is the show where you can find anything and everything under the sun.

Why go to a number of smaller niche shows when you can get so much done all in one place that has so much to offer? Retailers come to re-stock their shelves, adding to and changing their merchandise mix with the latest offerings. Suppliers come to display new and existing product lines, explaining how they can be marketed. This is where retailers can find that unique product that drives sales – and learn how to display and market these products as well. If you haven’t registered yet, you can register for ASD today.

ASD is the show that has more stores and more buyers. That means more business for exhibitors. With over 45,000 buyers and sellers coming together in Las Vegas to kick off the first ASD show of the year, everyone is guaranteed to have a successful trip and a rollicking good time.

Last year, ASD welcomed buyers from all 50 states and 88 countries, with international attendance increasing by 13 percent and rising. ASD is the show that can make a difference for your business in more ways than one.

Buyers know they can get the best values on apparel, convenience items, household and outdoor goods, electronics, military and personal security merchandise and a lot more at the Value & Variety pavilion. That’s where they can find hot items like the iSolar cellphone charger that lets users charge or power their cellphone and other devices like ebook readers and digital cameras anywhere on the go. This rechargeable battery fits in a purse or bag easily and charges from sunlight or indoor light. Sure to be a hot selling item, it can be found in Value & Variety booth 4332.

Don’t forget the Opening Night Party July 31st from 8 to 11 with 2-hour hosted bar and live band for only $15. Meet your TopTenWholesale and Manufacture.com staff at ASD Las Vegas!

As wholesalers and general merchandise suppliers know, word of mouth is a powerful thing. When buyers have a choice to make, they like to turn to their friends and colleagues because they trust the people they know. On the web, word of mouth has become “word of click.” Similar to the Facebook “like” button, Google +1 provides suggestions from friends and colleagues by showing recommendations online in the form of +1s in the SERPs. It’s faster and simpler than getting the good word in conversations around the water cooler. Soon, Google +1 will also be seen on Google AdWords ads.

With the +1 button, Google made it easier for people to get recommendations in the SERPs from the people they know while they’re actually searching. We first wrote about that in “Wholesalers Benefit with Google +1 on Product Pages.” With a single click, the +1 button lets Google users recommend the content they like on the web to their friends when it’s most useful − on the SERPs (if they’re signed in).

In the coming weeks, Google will provide +1 buttons users can click to recommend Google AdWords ads. Just think how much more powerful your ads can become in search results. You don’t need to make any changes to your account to take advantage of Google +1 on ads. The final landing page URL of your ads can also appear on the Google profile of any user who +1’s your ad.

Here’s How the +1 Button Works on Ads
Inside Google AdWords shows the following example for a hypothetical hotel in Madrid. The example says Brian had a lovely stay at this hotel and then started researching accommodations for his next trip to Spain. If Brian searched on Google while signed into his Google account, he would see the Grand Hotel’s ad and presumably click the +1 button on the ad to recommend it to his contacts.

Subsequently when Brian’s friend Kate plans her trip to Spain and signs in to her Google account, she inputs a query and also sees the Grand Hotel ad – plus the personalized annotation that Brian +1’d it. Presumably, Brian’s recommendation of this hotel helps Kate decide where to stay in Spain.

So that’s how the +1 button works. Think of it as a way for fans of your business to recommend the products you offer for all their friends and contacts to see. Google believes +1 can help you get more qualified traffic from your ads because searchers will be exposed to more personal, relevant ads. You can also add the +1 button to your website to give your customers the opportunity to +1 your site after having visited.

Wholesalers can get more information about how +1 for ads works at the AdWords Help Center. Wholesalers can get complete information and watch a video about adding the +1 button to their website at Google Webmaster Central.

Email is a great way for wholesalers and general merchandise vendors to reach out to loyal customers with opt-in communications. However, you need a strategy to avoid inbox fatigue because readers are inundated with messages and can easily delete unless they see “something in it for me.” Below are some tips that can help you create valuable messaging for your customers that result in more email opens.

Create Engaging Content. A successful email campaign begins with content that offers value. One way to do that is to create fresh, original content that gives your audience relevant information leading to a relationship. Knowing your customers and offering them meaningful insights over time will nurture that relationship.
By delivering useful information to your subscribers, you are creating trust. Weekly deals and special offers will not engage your customers when you pitch a special of the week for no good reason, especially in today’s economy. Content must provide added value relevant to your subscribers’ needs and should not be solely focused on selling product.

For instance, a wholesaler of sunglasses could engage customers with an email providing information about the recent RDA rules governing sunscreen labels. If you have a product that ties in with your message, you can let your customers know; but, be subtle and use pull rather than push marketing techniques.

Time Your Email Messages to Avoid Overload and Hit the Sweet Spot. The frequency of your email messages is important because you don’t want to overwhelm their inboxes. Email is a very personal channel, and you want to be judicious in both the timing and the content of your messages. The right number of emails per month depends on your business, but usually one or two per month is a good rule of thumb. Monitor open and clickthrough rates to verify that your frequency and timing is right.

The day of the week and time of day your messages are delivered are also important factors. One of the cardinal rules of email marketing is to test. You’ll want to test and check your campaign stats for patterns on what days/times get the best results. Studies show that Monday is the worst day to send out an email campaign. Weekends aren’t too good, either. Most studies show that sending email campaigns on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday will get the best results. When it comes to timing, early morning delivery gets the lowest open rates. If your list is segmented by geographic location, you can focus on time zones. The best open rates are for messages sent around 12 noon or 1:00 p.m. EST. So the sweet spot is midweek in the afternoon.

Social Media Sharing Buttons. Connecting your email messages with your social media platforms (Facebook/Twitter) is a must. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. If just one subscriber clicks on a “Share” button from your email newsletter, 130 of their friends will now see your content. That’s why you must create thought-provoking, original content. Social media sharing can result in far reaching exposure for wholesalers and their products due to its viral nature. You can track results with a number of reporting tools that provide information on which subscribers shared your content and which social media sites were used.

Call to Action. When you provide a call to action in your email message, it encourages your customers to visit your website or make a purchase. Make your call to action specific. Instead of saying, “Click Here,” you might say, “Review Size and Color,” to indicate an action you want them to take. You can use several calls to action in your message, like beginning, middle and end. Use good anchor text on your links to encourage the click. Offer an incentive that might lead to the sale. Be sure to give your customers a clear path to take action, whether it is for more information or to transact online.

Conclusion. While email is a very powerful tool, its effectiveness is directly related to the quality of your content. Wholesalers and general merchandise vendors need to know how to engage users, how to offer incentives and how to ask for the click. Monitor the results of your campaigns with an analytics program to determine open rates, customer interest in various types of content, the optimum frequency of communications, the effectiveness of social media sharing and the success of your call to actions. By continually testing and measuring these elements, you can tailor your email messaging to your customers’ needs and interests.

A business blog is an important part a wholesaler’s online marketing strategy that can help general merchandise suppliers get found and generate more business. Granted, it takes effort and resources to build a corporate blog, but despite the investment, there are ten good reasons to consider a business blog.

1. Blogs can improve your search rankings
A well-written blog that provides valuable information and is well optimized can attract a lot of search traffic. If you and your employees can come up with one post each day, your business can quickly build up an enormous blog archive that contains many keyword-rich articles. This content will be picked up by the search crawlers, and once they find you, they will return for more and keep sending site traffic.

2. Blogs build a dialogue and help with problem solving
People get many ideas on a daily basis, but few bother to write them down. By recording your business thoughts and questions on a corporate blog, this can lead to problem solving and help generate solutions. You’d be surprised how many others have faced the same problems and can contribute to the dialogue.

3. Blogs are great for crisis management
The web has the power to distribute information far and wide quickly. When you write a blog post, the information goes around the world instantly, making your blog a powerful tool for crisis management. Say you have an urgent product update you need to communicate to consumers immediately. Post on your blog, propagate on Twitter and Facebook, and most people will see it in 24 hours. You also notify through normal channels, but you have tipped people off and they will admire you for it.

4. Blogs can be used for relationship marketing
Relationship marketing builds trust between you and the consumer, increasing the probability of future transactions. You can engage customers in a conversation through your blog to build relationships that lead to trust and customer loyalty. In fact, blogs can do the same job as emails, but with pull rather than push marketing, which people like better.

5. Blogs can humanize your company by giving it a human voice
Because of the easy-going, conversational nature of blogs vs. other content writing, they can give a human voice to your company. This creates good will, and can also provide valuable feedback you can use for updating and improving your products and services.

6. Blogs can be used to build trust and confidence in your company
An informative business blog that is open and honest about its products and services can help your customers, employees and stakeholders see that you have nothing to hide and are not holding back information they might need about your products and services. This builds trust and confidence in your company.

7. Customer service and feedback
You can use your blog as a direct communication channel for soliciting feedback from your customers. It can also be used to let them know you understand and want to satisfy their needs. It puts you in touch with global customers, allowing you to provide the services they need while letting them know you are responsive. When they are pleased, they can spread the word.

8. Blogs can differentiate you from your competitors
A blog that offers valuable content and is optimized with keywords in the title, links key terms to previous posts, and is properly promoted, can position you over your competitors, differentiating you from the crowd.

9. Blogging can help with reputation management by monitoring the blogosphere
In order to maintain a good company blog, you must monitor the blogosphere. The way news travels around the blogosphere, it’s advantageous to be in the right place at the right time to address any issues that arise about your company or products. You can monitor the blogosphere with Google Alerts for your company and products. In fact, we recently wrote about how you can Manage Your Reputation with Google’s Me on the Web, which allows you to get instant alerts as soon as the information is published online.

10. Bloggers help generate more online leads
A 2010 HubSpot study revealed that businesses that blog gathered 68 percent more online leads than businesses without blogs. The archive of growing articles starts to impact lead growth once 20+ articles become available.

As you can see, there are many good reasons why wholesalers and suppliers of general merchandise should maintain a company blog. Yes, it requires an investment, but the rewards far outweigh the cost.

Now that summer is here, it’s time to stock up on wholesale sports-related merchandise because people will be buying sports clothing and hats while watching the various sports activities. Smart parents know that participating in sports builds a child’s self esteem as well as good sportsmanship. As summer sports activities keep kids active and entertained, they like to emulate their favorite sports personality by donning clothing and other sports gear. That’s why we want to tell you about St. Louis Wholesale, because we know this is where you can get the best deals on this hot-selling, high-margin merchandise.

This wholesale distributor offers hot-selling sports merchandise and is also a direct importer and wholesaler of sunglasses, caps and licensed goods associated with sports and outdoor activities. St. Louis Wholesale is a great place to source sports-related general merchandise because they have a large inventory and introduce new merchandise daily. Their line includes the following brand merchandise:

• Elite Image Sunglasses
• NFL
• MLB
• NCAA
• Harley Davidson
• NBA
• NHL
• Disney
• Corona
• Budweiser
• NASCAR

Disclaimer: St. Louis Wholesale’s Elite Image wholesale sunglasses are inspired by and comparable to designer brand sunglasses. However, Elite Image Wholesale Sunglasses and St. Louis Wholesale are not affiliated to, represent, or associated with major sunglasses brands.

Company History. St. Louis Wholesale was started in 1998 for specializing in high-fashion, cutting-edge, fast moving merchandise. In 2001, they introduced Elite Image wholesale sunglasses because they saw a need for high quality, trendsetting eyewear. Their 25,000 sq. ft. showroom is located in St. Louis, Missouri.

We spoke to Craig at St. Louis Wholesale, asking him what differentiates his company from so many other wholesalers offering branded sports merchandise. “We pride ourselves in offering the best customer service,” said Craig. “We are also known for reliability and experience in the industry” he added.

Craig went on to say, “We take pride in developing the latest and most current Elite Image sunglasses styles in the marketplace today, and our customers rely on our proven sales techniques to compete successfully in the market.”

You can contact St. Louis Wholesale by Email or call 1-800-340-7642 with any questions about their merchandise or your order. Here’s a tip: you can join the St. Louis Wholesale Mailing List for monthly offers and specials. However, if you use Yahoo or AOL, you need to put their email address (info@stlouiswholesale.com) in your address book or these email services will consider it spam and won’t deliver these messages to your inbox.

St. Louis Wholesale ships all orders UPS ground and usually processes orders within 24 hours. You don’t need a retail tax ID number to order from St. Louis Wholesale; however, they require a $50 minimum order. Below is a list of product categories that might be useful for finding the merchandise you need.

• Eyewear
• Gifts
• Novelties
• Caps
• Lighters
• Sunglasses
• Apparel
• Toys
• Shirts
• Goggles
• Jewelry

If you need more information, you can use the following numbers to reach St. Louis Wholesale:

Main: 1-800-340-7642
Main2: 1-636-922-4467
Fax: 1-636-922-4964
Sales: 1-800-340-7642

New products are the life blood of retailing. They are seen as a means of enhancing our lives, and for this reason, are of considerable interest to shoppers. New lines used to be easier to sell. In the present economy, they are more important to the retailer as they create a point of difference, but the consumer is more resistant to purchase. It is therefore important that every supplier work closely with retailers to develop new product launches.

Let’s look at the key issues suppliers need to consider when introducing a new product into the marketplace.

1. Train the sales team in product benefits
The introduction of a new product into a store demands that the sales team be provided with
information about the item. Suppliers should consider providing a fact sheet for the sales team. This fact sheet may need to be a written on paper as well as available online. You do not know how the information culture works on a shop floor.

The fact sheet should include the date of the launch, the origin of the product, the product benefits and retail price if applicable. Ideally, you can do a Webinar with the sales team, which will encourage a question and answer session where you can engage the sales team, leading to more sales of your new product.

2. Help the retailer position the product strategically in the store
The aim is for the customer to see the new product. This may seem obvious, but there are a lot of products in the store, and you need the new product to stand out from the crowd. It has to make an impact. Ideally, you need to negotiate a standalone position in the store near the customer racetrack where you can guarantee full visual exposure.

3. Do not forget the sign
In previous articles, I have discussed the importance of signage, and this is especially important with new products. A new product must be promoted as new, so you need to tell the consumer the benefits of your new product. The word “NEW” is still a major motivator and should be used whenever possible.

4. Engage the consumer
Customers love information and especially information they can share with their friends. If you can source interesting data about the product and its origins you should pass this on. People buy stories, and it is your job to put the story together.

5. Demonstrate
Make sure that the sales staff demonstrates the new product and gets the customer involved as well. The sales person’s job is to bring the product to life; the customer needs to feel like part of the process.

6. Link
The key is to promote the product and the way it fits into the consumer’s experience. You may want to create a competition where you give away the first new product. Make sure when the product launches that you send press releases out to the relevant media and especially local newspapers. Provide talks and demonstrations to customers, and if you can cross network the product with other products in the store, that will help sales.

Why Bother?
Every year thousands of new products enter the retail world; most of them fail. They are placed on the shop floor, gather dust and are then sold off at a reduced price.

New products are the life blood of retailing, but the supplier needs to give them life. To leave it to the retailer would be a disaster.

John Stanley (CSP) is one of the top 10 percent of speakers in the world today, an acclaimed retail consultant and WA Entrepreneur of the Year 2009. The author of several marketing, customer service and retail books, including the best seller, “Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know,” Stanley’s company is a WA Small Business Champion 2009 – Educational Services. http://www.johnstanley.com.au

Getting the best in fashion goods – and keeping things below wholesale prices – has always been of utmost importance to those who deal directly in wholesale and retail businesses alike. The potential to score big in terms of netting substantial profits is an attractive idea, but the truth is that many companies tell you they are going to lead the way to great prices, only to fall short on their promises when you’re at the checkout page of their site.

Tasha Apparel is doing their part to make this a thing of the past for dealers who need high quality goods at prices that aren’t going to erode away at their profit margins.

Some examples of the great categories you’ll find on their site are as follows:

• Tops
• Pants
• Jeans
• Skirts
• Dresses
• Red Carpet
• Plus Sizes
• Jackets
• Sweaters
• Accessories
• Handbags/Purses
• Shoes
• Exotic Wear
• Lingerie
• 60% Off Goods
• Swimwear
• Sale
• $4 & Under Goods
• Look Book

As a dealer in wholesale apparel and related accessories and goods, Tasha Apparel has been in business since 2001. The company specializes in wholesale apparel to accommodate all of their customers’ needs, as they strive to supply the best in everyday fashion, and also as they put the value statement back into everyday style. Tasha Apparel’s diverse and impressive array of styles take on many forms, from from Cute and Sexy, all the way to Trendy and Funky… and all in place, to satisfy your never ending needs for hot and attractive style. You will also find an extended variety of fine jewelry, handbags and footwear in the coffers of their catalog, and perhaps even a few surprises that are sure to put smiles on your face… as well as your customers!

The company mainly deals with many trusted and verified manufactures to provide you with the latest styles and attractions. Their mission is to provide the latest fashions directly to you at an affordable price, with the added appeal of finding items that offer a discount of up to 70-80% on some of their regular items. With this kind of a discount, you are nearly guaranteed total satisfaction, and this all spells not only savings but fun, as the rewards can be passed down to your customers as well.

As the company states: that’s the way Tasha Apparel sees “The Way of Style,” and pretty soon you will also be seeing the way of your own style, as you take in the savings!

The FDA recently announced a change in labeling requirements for sunscreen products. The reason for the new rules is to help consumers understand the confusing claims on sunscreen products by specifying what sunscreen manufacturers can and can’t say on product labels in protecting consumers against the sun. Some products on the market already have UVA and UVB protection. For instance, you can get sunscreen closeouts with UVA/UVB protection at Dollar Days, which offers many kinds of UVA/UVB-protected skin creams as well.

The new FDA rules are meant to end false claims about sunscreens being waterproof and sweat proof, as well as claims that sun blocks offer protection against skin cancer and aging. The new requirements will affect the way makers of sunscreen can label and market their products.

The FDA will require sunscreens to protect equally against two kinds of radiation from the sun: UVB and UVA, in order for the label to say the lotion offers “broad spectrum” protection. UVB rays cause sunburn, and UVA rays cause wrinkles (premature aging) and contribute to skin cancer.

The rules will go into effect in 2012 and will also prohibit sunscreen manufacturers from claiming their products are waterproof or sweat proof because these claims have been proven false. However, manufacturers will be allowed to claim the amount of time in minutes that the product is water resistant, depending on product tests.

The FDA has been considering these rules since the late ‘1970s, when sunscreens and lotions were used for tanning rather than to protect skin against sun damage. Only sunscreens with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher will be allowed to say they help prevent sunburn and reduce the risks of skin cancer and skin aging. Furthermore, sunscreens that are not broad spectrum (SPF between 2 and 14), must carry a warning that the product does not protect against skin cancer or premature skin aging.

Some manufacturers may plan to introduce sunscreen products with SPF numbers as high as 70, 80 or 100. However, the FDA wants a maximum SPF value of 50+ because it says anything higher will not offer significant additional protection.

The American market for sunscreen lotion runs $680 million per year. These new rules will significantly change a market that has been growing rapidly due to our aging population and increasing knowledge and concern over skin cancer. The final regulations are quite different from the 2007 FAA proposal that would have created a star-based system for UVA protection. In that proposal, sunscreens would have provided an SPF number for UVB protection and one to four stars for UVA protection. However, the proposed labeling was considered too confusing, and the Agency went with the current rules governing “broad spectrum” sunscreen lotions.

By keeping the company’s focus on events that need quality merchandise at great prices for tailgating and leisure outdoor activities, Outdoor Active Gear has been effectively and consistently servicing their customers with the goods they need, to keep the good times rolling. This is especially true as we near the major sports season in North America, and sales for outdoor leisure goods becomes a serious driving force at retailers of all levels, both physical and online.

This is a company that has put a great deal of emphasis on differentiating itself from the competition, and they do it by making sure that their dropshippers and wholesalers always feel that the business is important to the company, no matter what the size of the order may be. One of the most effective ways the company has been able top keep this up is by offering unique products at good prices and also by exceeding every dropshipper’s and distributor’s expectations on customer service.

Here is an example of what can be found on the company’s site:

• Golf
• Specials/Surplus
• Chairs
• Camo
• Backpacks
• Coolers
• BBQ
• Blankets
• Duffles
• Seats
• Tables/Picnic
• Travel

Although the list is long and filled with variety, the bottom line is that their selection of chairs, coolers, and camo products are killer products that they’ve put a lot of time in developing. Time after time, the proof is in the sales: people not only love these products… but they also buy them again and again!

Another point to consider is the company’s philosophy of being careful to never let their customers down, because it only serves to let the customer’s customers down, as well. Although the company is careful to not be taken advantage of with their extremely user-friendly return policies, they found their principles on the notion that they win when their customers win.

OutdoorActiveGear.com began with the idea that high quality tailgating and outdoor gear didn’t have to be expensive. They offer products and services that meet the needs of people who enjoy an outdoor lifestyle; but don’t enjoy the huge expense. From camping in the woods to camping in the parking lot before the big game, they want to get you the gear you need!

Outdoor Active Gear understands that their dropship and distributor customers come back every time, simply because their customers see their own loyal followers coming back every time as well.

The people at Outdoor Active Gear love to hear from their fans, and they are always willing to provide feedback to queries sent to them through their website, or through their Facebook page at from customers and others who want to drop them a line, and ask for more information.

According to the latest IRCE 2011 report, the IRCE sets attendance records at a time when the economy’s sluggish performance has been less than inspiring. This is especially true for an industry that has seen retailing take a hard ride through the first two quarters of the year, and it comes as real relief to those who were worried about the year ending on a happier note.

As for stats on the show, there were more than 7,300 who participated in IRCE 2011 last week in San Diego, which is up 14% from last year, making it quite easily the largest e-commerce event of its kind, in the history of the industry. With the number of exhibitors increasing 20% to 502 companies, it was a show that left a lot of people feeling there’s probably a lot more to come, as long as everyone pulls together to keep the momentum going.

In spite of an economy that has been fairly lackluster in overall performance, the largest online retailing trade show recently broke its own industry attendance record this year, as the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2011, which was held last week in San Diego, attracted 7,318 participants. This figure came as a surprise to some, since it was 14% more than the 6,432 who attended last year’s IRCE in Chicago 2010 show, which had been the largest event in e-commerce… until now.

“To achieve conference attendance growth of 14% is excellent even in a strong economy, but to experience that type of growth in an economy as weak as ours is truly remarkable,” says Jack Love, CEO of Vertical Web Media, which organizes IRCE, publishes Internet Retailer magazine and operates InternetRetailer.com. “It underscores the fact that IRCE, the largest of all e-commerce events by far, has unmatched conference content and that online retailing is the one bright spot in the overall retail market.”

All of this comes at at time when retailers in particular are looking for some good news, amidst the bleak forecasts that many industry experts have been touting over the last six months. On the other hand, it simply vindicates those who knew all along that the worst has already passed; and now the time is ripe for preparations to be made, as the year reaches the halfway mark, and retailers around the globe get ready for the next phase of business, as we approach the holiday season in 2011.

While Fathers Day has come and gone, its custom belts and buckles, as well as jewelry and fashion accessories are always in style. HotBuckles.com offers big discounts on wholesale belts year round. The custom belt buckles are beautifully hand crafted and unique. You won’t find merchandise like this anywhere else.

Many web merchants offer discounts, but you get both the discount and unique, quality merchandise at Hot Buckles. When buying custom belt buckles, it’s smart to think about the usefulness, quality and everlastingness. That’s just what you’ll find in Hot Buckle’s inventory. One feature Hot Buckle offers is something you won’t find often at other wholesalers, and that’s their store credit program.

Unique Store Credit Program
Hot Buckles has a unique Store Credit program that offers an incentive with every purchase. To show its customers how much they are appreciated, Hot Buckles gives a percentage of sale store credit on every order, allowing buyers to accumulate store credits toward future purchases. The percentage rates for U.S. dollars spent are:

$100-$999.99 ─ 5% store credit
$1,000 ─ $2,499.99 ─ 7% store credit
$2,500 or more ─ 10%

Every time you place an order online, your total credit amount will generate automatically. You may accrue your store credit or use it on your very next purchase.

Note that a Store Credit that not used within a 6 month period from the date of initial order will expire. Store credit will be available after your order has shipped and for online orders only. Additionally, store credit does Not Apply to catalog discounted items.

We asked Hot Buckle president Nir Appelton what differentiates his company from competitors. “We offer nothing but high quality products at discounted prices,” said Appleton. “We also pride ourselves in providing superior customer service.” We asked what makes customers come back for repeat business, to which Appleton replied, “a continuously growing inventory. We stock most our merchandise and have our websites updated daily with new items,” he added.

Another thing Appleton pointed out is that now you can order Hot Buckles products through a Drop Ship Program located at http//:www.WiseDropShip.com. You can become a member and try the service free for 14 days. It gives you access to inventory from thousands of quality fashion products, including Hot Buckles. Once your online store is live, you can order products as you get sales. Your customers purchase and pay for the products, then you submit your order through the Drop Ship service with the customer’s shipping address. Products are shipped directly to your customers with your name as sender. Online retailers can do a lot of business with practically zero inventory and little investment in stock and production. Below is a partial list of products you’ll find at Hot Buckles:

• Buckles

• Belts    

• Custom Buckle    

You’ll also find products in the following categories:
• Jewelry
• Bracelets/Wristband
• Caps
• Sunglasses
• Wallets
• Handbags

Order from Hot Buckles Online, by Phone, FAX or Email
The easiest way to place an order is online because you can quickly see if an item is in stock and view the shipping charges based order weight and destination. Alternatively, you can also call the toll free number (877-6-BUCKLE) to place your order, or you can fax your order (813-881-1206) or email your order (info@hotBuckles.com).

Return Policy
Hot Buckles offers a 60 day return policy. However, unauthorized returns will be refused. “We have an extremely low return rate, which speaks for the quality and service of our products and store,” said Nir Appleton. “However, in the event you do need to return an item, we try to make it hassle free,” he added.

Google just introduced a new tool that can help wholesalers and general merchandise suppliers with reputation management, adding another social layer to its search services. The tool is called Me on the Web and allows anyone with a Google account to monitor their personal information on the web by creating email alerts that are delivered as soon as the information is found by the Google search bot.

Me on the Web is now a part of the Google dashboard, appearing under account information. Here, you can set up search alerts for your data very quickly without having to go to the alerts setup section. Alerts can be set up for your name, email address and other information, like a web address. From the dashboard, you can also click links for information on How to manage your online identity, How to remove unwanted content and About Me on the Web.

The post on Google’s Public Policy blog says Me on the Web is supposed to help users manage what others say about them online. It also indicated this new service supports three types of data use: unidentified, pseudonymous and identified, with each mode having its own particular user benefits (quotes below from Google’s Public Policy Blog).

“Unidentified. Sometimes you want to use the web without having your online activity tied to your identity, or even a pseudonym—for example, when you’re researching a medical condition or searching for that perfect gift for a special someone. When you’re not logged into your Google Account (or if you never signed up for one), that’s how you’ll be using our services. While we need to keep information like IP addresses and cookies to provide the service, we don’t link that information to an individual account when you are logged out.

“Pseudonymous. Using a pseudonym has been one of the great benefits of the Internet, because it has enabled people to express themselves freely—they may be in physical danger, looking for help, or have a condition they don’t want people to know about. People in these circumstances may need a consistent identity, but one that is not linked to their offline self. You can use pseudonyms to upload videos in YouTube or post to Blogger.

“Identified. There are many times you want to share information with people and have them know who you really are. Some products such as Google Checkout rely on this type of identity assurance and require that you identify yourself to use the service. There may be other times when it’s more desirable to be identified than not, for example if you want to be part of a community action project you may ask, “How do I know these other people I see online really are community members?”

Me on the Web uses the existing Google Alerts service that sends emails to users whenever their requested search query is found by the Google bot. However, you can request Me on the Web alerts directly from the Google Dashboard, which is much easier than requesting an alert.

Google cautions that users should know what mode they’re in when using Me on the Web and other Google services. They recently updated the top navigation bar (upper right hand corner) in many Google services, indicating to users whether they are signed in or signed out.

While Google doesn’t specifically mention it, Me on the Web can also be used to fight against online vigilantism, where a person or a community attempts to expose individuals or malign their reputation. We’ve seen some recent examples of this in politics and in other personal attacks – some genuine and some non-genuine with devastating effects.

Even though Me on the Web concerns privacy, Google says it is not another privacy setting, it simply is a way of providing “the freedom to be who you want to be.” The tool is particularly timely, since privacy issues are a political hot potato. Currently, legislators are considering new laws to protect users in view of the many Internet privacy invasions that have spread online, like the recent furor over implementation of Facebook’s photo recognition technology.

With a variety of Crazy Animal Woolen Hats, Cotton Bags, Headwears, Summer Wears, Hoodies, and Handicrafts to choose from, there is something for anyone and everyone in their catalog of goods. Summer is here, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking of stylish solutions to keeping your head cool, as well as being ever mindful of the fact that orders for fall and winter merchandise will begin making the rounds soon as well, as retailers around the country focus on getting their inventories filled for the shift in demand for hats and headgear that keeps everyone snug and warm too.

An unexpected low price and cheap deals might come as a surprise to some customers of Mount Everest Collections, but the really amazing thing is what customers will find in their collection, as well as the 100% guarantee that keeps this company from being just another supplier who promises, but doesn’t deliver.

The biggest difference between this company and its competitors is the fact that their 100% guarantee of materials and price match will leave every customer dizzy with relief, as they learn that this company is there to support them through every part of the process, and doing everything they can do to ensure their success as they sell to their own loyal customers! Along with this, is a price match program that has to be experienced, to be fully appreciated. Combine these benefits with fast delivery, and unique designs that can be customized to fit wholesale orders, and you’ve got a friend in the business!

Here’s a small example of the product categories that are available from this company:

• Animal Hats
• Hoodies, Mittens
• Gloves
• Summer Hats
• Felts
• Cotton Bags
• Unique Gifts
• Handicrafts
• …and so much more!

ALong with their famous price match guarantee, the company also assures their customers of Fedex/DHL/UPS/USPS guaranteed delivery in time, along with stellar service that can’t be beat.

To recap, the best and most exciting designs for animal hats and other crazy styles can be found by visiting the company’s site, to see what happens when dealing with a supplier who understands your needs, delivers the best price, produces goods from the best materials, and promotes handmade, environmentally friendly goods. The year may have been off to a slow start with a lagging economy, but this is a company that will lead the way to success in 2012, as the holiday season comes at us faster than ever.

Now is the time for retailers and online merchants to start planning website improvements for year-end holiday ecommerce sales. There is so much to do if your ecommerce site is going to achieve record holiday sales, and much of the planning associated with holiday marketing should start soon. Below are 9 tips on how to prepare for your 2011 holiday traffic.

1. Start Early

It may sound strange to start thinking about Christmas in July, but there is so much work to be done behind the scenes in planning for a successful online holiday season that it’s smart thinking to start now. This article covers tips for preparing your website. Your preparations should also include plans search marketing campaigns, banner ads, social media initiatives and email campaigns, which is beyond the scope of this article. You really need about six months to get all this planning and implementation done.

2. Support Heavy Traffic

You can expect more traffic during the holiday season. So before launching your holiday marketing campaigns, you need to know your website can withstand the increased traffic loads that will likely occur. To find out what your options are when you get traffic spikes, you can ask your hosting provider about cloud-hosting, which can be scaled to meet your changing traffic needs.

3.  Easy Navigation

Shoppers will bail if they can’t find what they want quickly, and especially during the holiday season when they are in a hurry and need to decide between many attractive offers. Make it easy for your customers to buy on your website by doing the following:

• Use mega-menus that reveal web page content with a mouse-over, and go sparingly on your headers and footers.
• Offer good site search to help consumers find products faster. You can also monitor site search queries to learn what keywords your customers use to find your products and services.

4. Wish List and Gift Registry Options

These options for subsequent purchases can help increase sales and word-of-mouth advertising. Product Wish Lists of items consumers aren’t ready to buy now can be shared with third parties, which gets the word out. The same goes for Gift Registries, which are commonly used for weddings and other significant life events.

5. Smart Coupons

Smart coupons can help you make money now. They’re also good for cross-selling and up-selling. Smart coupons differ from one-dimensional offers like “15% off your next purchase.” They are based on complex rules allowing you to make offers that are increasingly compelling depending on desired behavior ─ “Buy One, Get 15% off,” “Buy 2 Get 20% off,” and “Buy 3 Get 30% off PLUS free shipping.” Some platforms allow setting rules based on SKUs, brands, price range, geographic location, etc. Tested and monitored, smart coupons can help you sell more without extra effort.

6. Reward Programs

Your traditional reward programs give points based on purchases. However, rules-based rewards can encourage certain actions (points for product reviews/blog entries/tweets) in addition to purchases. Your loyalty rewards program must offer meaningful rewards to individual customers.

7. Global Payments

Ensure your site is capable of accepting multiple forms of payment beyond PayPal and credit cards if you sell internationally. By accepting multiple forms of payment, you can lower shopping cart abandonment.

8. Live Chat and Help Desk Software

You must integrate the customer support systems in your platform to ensure timely response and gain access to relevant customer information. Your help desk software should be integrated within the platform, establishing security settings so sensitive information from back office applications is only available to authorized parties. Integrate Live Chat with your Help Desk software so you can work from one interface to get central access to customer information, notes about conversations and order changes.

9. Thank You and Follow-up Emails

Customer follow-up and thank you emails can be handled automatically by your platform. You can establish smart triggers to send a specific gift, based on the type of order. For example, if a customer buys an expensive item, you can send a gift certificate toward future orders. If it’s a low-value item, you can offer a percentage discount on future orders.

In closing, it’s never too early for retailers and online merchants to start planning website improvements for year-end holiday ecommerce sales. There are many things to do to get your website ready for holiday sales. The 9 tips above should help you prepare for your 2011 holiday traffic.