While wholesalers, manufacturers and other general merchandise suppliers rely more on search marketing to generate traffic and new business, many times they overlook another great tool – blogging. There are many benefits of having a company blog: it makes you a subject-matter expert, gives you more exposure to search bots, helps you connect with customers, helps brand your company and products, provides your customers with product information and creates new ways for users to find your business. So what’s the downside?

Blogging takes time and money, besides requiring expertise. It can be both difficult and rewarding at the same time. So you might want to do a cost-benefit analysis to weigh the pros and cons of blogging for your company. While the returns can be fantastic, it does require investment and commitment. Below are a few things you need to do.

Blogging takes time because it requires valuable content that will be of interest to others in your industry. So you need good writers and communicators. It takes time to write the posts, gather the data and schedule posts at regular intervals. To be effective, you need to post frequently and know how to promote your content.

While blogs are everywhere, and many people blog, only a certain number are widely read in their niche. You can build a good following for your blog if you follow the basic rules. In fact, there’s no reason why you can’t become a top blogger. Below are a few rules that can help you build an audience for your company or brand.

Cite Your Sources. If you’re going to write something that you read before online, it’s important to say where you got it and provide a link. You use the information and put your own spin on it, but it’s important to say where you saw it first. Do this by citing the original author’s name and the website or blog name where the material came from, providing a link back to the source. Sometimes, a less formal way of acknowledging brief information from a colleague is to say something like, “Hat tip to John Smith,” and provide a link. This will gain respect for you and your blog. Everyone likes a person who gives credit when credit is due. On the other hand, if you take someone’s work from Internet without attribution, even if paraphrased, that won’t win any points.

Be Sanguine. It always pays to be kind and polite, even when you might be displeased over something that isn’t right. For one thing, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. And besides, if you vent your anger and later find out you didn’t have all the facts, there might be repercussions for your company or brand. Your blog content is available to everyone in cyberspace, so be careful what you write.

Ask Permission for Fair Use. Whether you’re citing someone else’s work or using their photos or images on your blog, it’s a good idea to ask the original author or artist for permission to republish their work with attribution. You can get free images from places like Stock Xchange, Flickr and FreeFoto.

Do a Fact Check. While there is a lot of information online, especially on all the social networks, you can’t take all you read as gospel. Be sure to check your facts before publishing information online lest you misinform and/or harm other people or companies.

Be Aware of Copyright Law. Information on the web is not in the public domain. Any original content that is published is copyrighted, even without a copyright symbol. Read “10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained” for some examples.

Disclosure. If you work for a company or organization, you should disclose professional relationships and the fact that your views are your own and not attributable to your employer. You should also disclose sponsored posts such as reviews or advertorials. Another necessary disclosure is any affiliate links. Make sure readers know it’s an affiliate link without hiding the fact. If you create value for your readers, they won’t mind your recommendations.

In closing, you can get a lot of value from a company blog, including traffic, links and customers, but it takes an investment of time and money, as well as due diligence in following the rules.

For years, people enjoyed looking for great products in glossy print catalogs from Sears, JC Penney, Lands End and more. Now, mobile technology makes catalog shopping engaging, social and creative. That’s why Google created Google Catalogs − a free app for tablet devices that enables shoppers to browse their favorite catalogs while interacting with rich-media content.

The Google Catalogs app allows users to view digital versions of catalogs in many different categories such as beauty, fashion and apparel, gifts, home, jewelry, kids, etc. Google has partnered with a number of top brands such as Anthropologie, Bare Escentuals, Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s, Crate and Barrel, L.L. Bean, Lands’ End, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Sundance Catalog, Tea Collection, Urban Outfitters and Williams-Sonoma, to name a few. These brands now have catalogs online that can be viewed with the Google Catalogs free app.

If you’re a merchant and would like to participate in Google Catalogs, you can tell Google about your catalog by filling out this form.

According to the Google Official Blog, users can do the following with Google Catalogs:

• “Interact: Zoom in to see products up close, tap on tags to learn more about an item or, in some catalogs, view inspiring photo albums and videos.
• “Find products in nearby stores: When an item catches your eye, instantly find it in a store near you or tap “Buy on Website” to visit the merchant online.
• “Express your creativity: Create a collage of your favorite catalog pages and products. If you need inspiration, you can check out collages created by others.
• “Share with friends: Email a product or collage to all your shopping buddies.
• “Get instant access to new catalogs: Add catalogs to your Favorites and get notified each time a new issue arrives.
• “Discover new products and brands: Search for products within or across multiple catalogs to find exactly what you’re looking for.”

This is not the first time Google launched a Catalog Search. An earlier version was launched in 2001 and shut down in 2009. It’s also not the first catalog app this year as TheFind launched one for the iPad and Android earlier this year.

This new app allows shoppers to search within and across catalogs, retrieve more information about specific products, mark products as favorites, and put together a collection to share or make public. People can also subscribe to specific catalog channels and get updates when a new catalog is released by making those channels favorites. They can also buy products directly from the app. Purchases take place on the merchant’s website in a mini-browser pop-up window.

Participating merchants can upload a PDF of their catalog and tag it to integrate data from their Google Product Search feeds. Additionally, they can add images and videos from a YouTube account.

Catalog merchants receive aggregated data about how users are browsing their catalogs, including information on what products are visited the most and the least.

Currently, Google Catalogs is free for merchants that are currently Google Product Search customers. At present, Google is focused on building an audience for the catalogs, but in the future, they could be used for revenue-generation. Google plans a public relations program for media exposure and will also integrate Google Catalogs with Google+ at some future date.

Users can download the app for an iPad, by visiting the App Store. Google Catalogs for Android tablets is coming soon. Visit www.google.com/catalogs/about/ to learn more. The value of the Google Catalog Search app for marketers remains to be seen and will depend largely on consumer adoption.

Dollar stores are flush with shoppers these days, and they have a new clientele, people who never shopped there before. For years, most dollar store shoppers were poor people and seniors, but now the affluent have taken to shopping their neighborhood dollar store as well. As reported by the New York Times, affluent households are driving the current growth. In fact, 22 percent of the dollar store market consists of customers making over $70,000 per year, which is the fastest growing segment.

These new dollar store customers are employed and have money, but are afraid something might happen and so they’re trying to save. These are uncertain economic times; the stock market losses alone are cause for concern. Consumer research firms report shoppers are holding back on spending because of the uncertain future. Such conditions bode well for the dollar stores where people fill their cart and spend little money.

The three national dollar store chains are Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree; however, there are also the independents and smaller chains like “99 cents only” stores. TopTenWholesale client Wally Lee of JC Sales, is director of marketing and technology for one of the large warehouse suppliers to independent dollar stores located south of Los Angeles. In fact, Mr. Lee was recently quoted in a feature article on dollar stores in the New York Times, wherein he gave some sage advice for entrepreneurs wanting to open a dollar store. Not surprisingly, Lee said a good store manager who loves to talk to people is a must, and he suggested having a Spanish speaking manager in some stores.

Evidently, the independents can flourish because they don’t have layers of corporate hierarchy to go through and can make changes quickly as required by the market. So the managers can tweak the inventory, change displays and try a number of different tactics on the fly to see what works without having to get corporate approval.

The independents get a supply of cheap goods from various sources, including leftovers from the corporate dollar stores such as distressed goods, closeouts, overstock, salvage merchandize, department-store returns, liquidated goods, discontinued lines, clearance items, ex-catalog stock, freight-damaged goods, irregulars, salvage cosmetics, test-market merchandise and bankruptcy inventories.

They also get goods from the secondary market coming from retail chains below the dollar-store channel, including unsold merchandise from Big Lots, which sends it down the chain to the liquidation level. To ensure a good supply of quality goods, JC Sales plans to start a pilot program with Via Trading, a wholesale supplier of overstock and clearance merchandise specializing in the sale of wholesale liquidations, wholesale overstocks and customer returns.

The new economy has been a boon for dollar stores and their suppliers, including the wholesale distributors and liquidators. Sales have been increasing with the three publicly traded chains up 5 percent in the first quarter. On the other hand, stores like Wal-Mart have been in decline for the last two years. Because of that, dollar stores are sprouting up all over, despite the fact few businesses are investing in building, equipment or jobs.

Dollar stores thrive because they have low store rents, buy cheap products, employ small staffs and pay low wages. Their profit margins have always been low, and now they must compete for a lower disposable income for most shoppers. As a result, they must innovate to survive and thrive.

That’s where good management can help, which the corporate chains can provide. There’s also an art to displaying merchandise to give the illusion that even a small display of goods looks plentiful. It’s an art to make the store look like it’s packed with merchandise, with high shelves along the walls. All empty space is filled with products or signage and yet it can’t be too cluttered. Last, but not least, the store needs to make it easy for shoppers to stroll up and down the aisles to see everything on display so they can buy on impulse.

Last month, I visited a shopping center in Chicago that once had 100 thriving shops. On my visit, however, only 25 retail stores were open, and the security guard said more were shutting down. He also said the owner had a solution; he was going to build a skating rink in the center as this would solve all his problems! At the same time in the UK, reports state 11.5 percent of the shops are empty as a result of the recession. In Australia, we are told we have too many shops per head of population and must be prepared for a reduction in retail outlets. No matter what country, retailing seems to be getting a bad rap these days. Be prepared for more retailers closing their doors; but remember, this is also an opportunity.

The first thing we need to examine is: why are these retailers closing? I know it is a lack of customers and the drying up of cash flow. Many businesses may still be profitable, but it is the cash flow that is hitting them and causing banks to foreclose on them. Take a hard look, and I think you’ll find the majority fall into the same pattern.

Today’s female consumer is multitasking one minute and going on to a new experience the next. This means she does not have as much time as she had in the past to go shopping. This does not mean she has stopped shopping, but she has changed her shopping habits.

The majority of customers would like to support their local retailer as long as they feel that retailer is doing the right thing and understands them. If you consider the retailers who have failed, you will see the majority of them have not lived up to the new consumer expectations.

70 Percent of Consumers Want More Time
In my conference presentations, I often talk about the fact that many women will pay more for a product if they can save time. Time has become one of the most important variables in their lives. They do not have the patience or the time to go window shopping like women did in the past.

Research conducted this year in the UK by HTA Garden Retail Market Analysis reveals that 53 percent of consumers now do their research via social media. This does vary by age group: 69 percent of Gen X women shop this way, and 21 percent of Greying Tigers also shop this way. This means retailers that want to stay in business must have an online presence on the Internet. I recently worked with a client who wanted to create a new brand for his online retailing. The consumer is confused enough. It is critically important that you have a consistent “bricks and clicks” brand message. Many retailers that are closing down have ignored the “clicks” side of their business, which is something you do at your peril. There are times when your customers will want to deal with you online while they are time poor and multitasking, while other times they may want to come to your store and enjoy the shopping experience.

One important message for successful businesses is that promotion is critical, but the way we promote has changed. We must have an online marketing presence if we are to be successful in the next ten years.

What is the Customer Service Like?
The era of the salesperson is dying rapidly. The new age consumer is bored with salespeople trying to sell them things. The online shopping experience means that consumers can do their own research and often purchase the product online without needing to have a conversation with a salesperson. Many of the retail businesses that are going out of business rely on salespeople, an outdated model for the coming decade.

When today’s consumers come into the store for an experience, this means they want the sales person to engage with them. The conversation that is now held between the person representing the company and the consumer is a critical one. Consumers are not looking for a salesperson; they are looking for a friend. This means the selling models of the past will not work today. You need to be recruiting people for their personality skills rather than their selling skills.

Discounting is Not the Solution
I recently heard about a survey carried out by one of the Universities in the USA among small retailers. Seventy percent of the retailers surveyed believed discounting did not affect the bottom line of the business. I am not against discounting as it has its place in the retail cycle, but we have seen it become a normal practice in many retail operations and the result has been the drying up of cash flow. A continuous discount cycle has resulted in the consumer becoming more price conscious at the expense of the other attributes of the retailer.

The Opportunities
Many financial experts are telling us that the downturn in retailing could continue for a few months yet; this will result in more retailers disappearing for the scene. This also means those that are left can gain an increase in market share. There will be more of the cake for fewer retailers. The lessons to be learned are that those retailers will have an online presence and will provide an experience for the consumer when they walk into their stores.

It does mean we need to rethink the retail model, but now is the time to reinvent yourself and look forward to the rewards the future will bring.

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.  www.johnstanley.com.au

 Forum Publishing has been connecting wholesalers and retailers with their trade magazines and directories since 1981. As a result, the organizers of the New York Value Merchandise Expo will be honoring their dedication and service to the industry during their September trade show at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Martin Stevens, CEO of Forum Publishing, shared with us the significance of this award. “Our company started in 1981, long before the computer and even the fax machine, to help flea market vendors and independent store owners source merchandise to grow their businesses. We have come a long way since our humble beginnings, and it is humbling to be recognized for our efforts over the last three decades,” said Stevens.

The ceremony will be taking place at 5pm September 11th, and there is an open invitation to all in the industry to join in. The event will take place at the Registration Area at the end of the show.

References:
Retailers Forum Magazine – www.RetailersForum.com
Value Merchandise Expo – www.vpexpo.com
Javits Convention Center – www.JavitsCenter.com

Collective buying site Groupon hit the wall in China as it closed offices in various cities and let hundreds of employees go just before its planned IPO. So, what gives? Like so many other successful companies that want to expand business in China, Groupon fell into the China trap. It’s not the only company to do so – Google, eBay and Yahoo! have all run into business problems in China for one reason or another. If there’s a lesson to be learned by U.S. and foreign firms, it is buyer beware when selling to Chinese consumers or doing business in China.

According to the Wall Street Journal, current and former employees of the Chinese joint venture between Groupon and GaoPeng said that more than ten offices in China have been closed. An employee in the northern city of Tangshan said he and his co-workers were locked out last Friday, being notified of the closure right after their lunch break.

These office closings and personnel cuts reveal a sharp reversal of Groupon’s aggressive expansion into China which started in January. Since then, Groupon invested $8.6 million to gain a 40 percent interest in a joint venture with GaoPeng, which was also partly funded by Chinese Internet service portal Tencent.com and private-equity firm Yunfeng Capital.

Groupon and GaoPeng said the layoffs and office closures are necessary due to a change in strategy, but this does not change their commitment in China. The Wall Street Journal reported the current strategy is “to focus more on the middle to large-sized cities” in China where the market is “more developed,” adding that the company “is fully committed to the Chinese market for the long term.”

Evidently, Groupon’s international strategy is now focused on creating a presence in selected large cities and then refining plans as it gains momentum in local markets. Such adjustments to business plans are typical in today’s environment when companies need to move fast to change strategic direction according to market conditions. Even big companies like Google, eBay and Yahoo! have dropped product plans on a dime after seeing initial poor results. It’s become necessary to cut your losses and move on in today’s volatile market conditions.

It’s a well-known fact that U.S. and foreign companies should be wary when trying to sell Chinese consumers. Anyone following world news knows it’s hard to deal with the bureaucracy in China, which is less than transparent and can give conflicting messages out of Beijing.

A good rule of thumb in today’s environment is: if your business model is too easy to imitate, don’t flirt with death in a land where a Wild West business climate exists and thrives. Foreign business personnel who have lived and worked in China like to say that the Chinese use foreign companies that are flush with cash or are VC-backed in the following ways:

• To get training from
• To network with other peers
• To get complete knowledge transfer – from competitors with state and local backing!

“What happened to Groupon will, unfortunately, continue to happen, and many headlines like this will likely soon to appear,” opined Jason Prescott, Manufacturer.com and TopTenWholesale CEO. “It is impossible to change a culture so entrenched in imitation, where copycatting is ok and bending ethics is a way of life,” he remarked.

China can be a safe investment for companies offering services that help Chinese businesses grow outside of China, or those that sell a high-end luxury brand appealing to the nouveau rich who want the real deal. “Anything else – be afraid, be very afraid,” warns Prescott.

Prescott continued, “The Groupon mishap is very unfortunate for businesses considering an investment in China. We learned the Groupon lesson years ago and have since seen hundreds of companies large and small fall victim to the same promises of striking gold in China.”

Prescott has traveled to China since 2007and lived in Hangzhou many months while establishing Manufacturer.com. “The gold does not exist,” he declared. “Our business has thrived since changing direction and utilizing USA talent to advocate our services to Chinese businesses from our domestic branches,” he concluded.

The Manufacturer.com and TopTenWholesale booth got a ton of visitors during the Show. In the photo back row, left to right: Account Exec. Joe Saldana, VP-Operations Justin Prescott, Lisa Zhu (PMF Bancorp), Sales Manager Jonathan Prescott and CEO Jason Prescott of TopTenWholesale. Front row: a show hostess on the left and Marketing Manager Dominique Castro of TopTenWholesale on the right.

One of the highlights of the August Las Vegas show was the Off Price Apparel Association’s retirement party for Carol Fitzmaurice at Treasure Island on Sunday night. Carol will retire at the end of the year and has been instrumental since 1997 in ensuring the Show’s success by handling booth assignments and exhibitor relations.

Attending the OffPrice Show can save buyers 20 to 70 percent below rock bottom wholesale. In fact, buyers say when they go to this show, it makes their whole season. The Show is held semiannually in Las Vegas (February and August) and also in New York (May) and Los Angeles (October).

The Show unites the top offprice specialists in the above major U.S. cities with industry professionals from around the world in a dynamic setting where they can keep abreast of industry news and trends, in addition to seeing new products and the latest styles. Everyone goes home equipped with the tools and information needed to achieve a profitable and successful year.

There is actually an entire industry revolving around the OffPrice Show, including a quarterly magazine and monthly newsletters. This is a great way to feel the pulse of the industry, and it gives subscribers the latest trends, stories and insights along with news about the offprice market.

Since 1995, the OffPrice Show has been serving the retail industry by offering dynamic opportunities in an order-writing environment where tradeshow buyers can connect with the leading offprice specialists and other jobbers. Exhibitors offer below-wholesale clothing values in women’s apparel, men’s apparel, sports apparel, designer apparel, kids apparel, jeans, sweatshirts, t-shirts, plus sizes and numerous other wholesale apparel and fashion categories. Some of the best sellers worth noting are listed below:

• Wholesale accessories, including handbags and purses
• Wholesale jewelry
• Wholesale footwear
• Wholesale home products
• Wholesale gifts, including holiday gifts

Returning to Los Angeles for its second consecutive year, A Taste of OFFPRICE Show will be held during Los Angeles’s Majors Market, where major stores meet major labels, at the California Market Center. Show Dates are October 3-5, 2011.
Show Hours:
Monday, October 3rd, 9:00am – 6:00pm
Tuesday, October 4th, 9:00am – 6:00pm
Wednesday, October 5th, 9:00am – 3:00pm

For information or to Register for the OffPrice Los Angeles Show, call (262) 782-1600. The show will be held at the Exhibit Hall in the California Market Center at 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles, CA, October 3-5, 2011.

China has become the world’s factory as global buyers continue to order products from China at cost-effective prices. Chinese wholesalers provide healthy profit margins on a wide spectrum of products, while Chinese manufacturers produce goods you won’t find anywhere else at such prices. That means retailers can quickly dominate their niche when they buy from China.

Contrary to what you might expect, the quality of goods produced in Chinese factories is not inferior to products made in American, European or other developed countries. Because Chinese goods are affordable, many U.S. resellers have found the best way to grow profits is to buy goods from overseas factories where the cost of labor and materials is cheaper than in America.

While China is a volume producer, its factories also maintain quality. China can manufacture quality goods at prices to fit every budget. That’s the main reason companies around the world outsource their production work to factories in Chinese cities.

Millions of workers are employed in factories located in Chinese cities to meet the growing demand of the world market. These factories also serve their home markets while exporting to markets worldwide. Tons of Made in China products are sold every day, and companies make billions of dollars selling reasonably priced Made in China goods.

The demand for Chinese-made products is strong and continues to rise because these quality products can be bought at fairly low prices. The products are proven sellers as consumers have been using Chinese products for well over a decade. Customers have learned to ask for the Chinese version of everything, be it a fashion accessory or a food item, because they know prices will be affordable.

Retailers wanting to purchase Chinese goods should know about companies that offer trading services at reasonable rates. If you’re a buyer looking for Chinese goods, it can save time and effort to find a reliable agent that can handle all the logistics and negotiating necessary to deliver your Chinese shipments to your warehouse. This is the most convenient way to import goods produced in Chinese factories. You can find reputable trading companies on the Internet by researching the services these companies offer and prices charged for this service.

Chinese Ecommerce to Quadruple by 2015

Ecommerce in China will continue to accelerate, with transactions expected to quadruple by 2015. Because ecommerce is growing so rapidly, China plans to create a more trustworthy ecommerce system and expand the scope of ecommerce sales to traditional industries such as heavy industry, logistics and tourism. In addition, China hopes to improve its online sourcing and retailing capabilities, while boosting foreign sales and mobile ecommerce.

Due to China’s developing ecommerce industry, it is not without illegal activities such as fraud, intellectual property rights infringement and counterfeit goods trafficking. However, Chinese officials are trying to solve these problems.

In conclusion, Chinese factories can deliver finished goods on time, shipped locally and abroad. When dealing with Chinese manufacturers, retailers can rest assured that products will be delivered as scheduled because the Chinese know time is money. And you know the quality of Chinese goods is excellent, which is evident from the growing popularity of Chinese products in every corner of the globe.

B2B merchants often find it challenging to select the best online marketing tactics, especially when working with a limited marketing budget. There are many to choose from: website design, email campaigns, search marketing, display, social media, etc. The 2011 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Advanced Practices Handbook indicates search engine optimization and email marketing are among the top tactics for B2B merchants.

B2B marketers face tremendous challenges in today’s economy. Between improving the quality and quantity of leads, managing complex sales and meeting the sales team’s needs, it can be hard to allocate resources and develop a marketing strategy that gets the best results for your organization.

Today, marketers must deliver excellent results using limited resources. The economic situation has also created uncertainty for consumers, which makes the B2B buying cycle more complex.

Social media has empowered consumers by making information about products and services just one click away. This allows consumers to get information from their peers before they get it from advertisers. As a result, social media sites are influencing consumer purchasing decisions. A company’s brand is no longer defined only by its positioning statements and value propositions. Rather, brands are now being defined by the conversations consumers have about them on social media sites.

These profound changes increase the challenges for B2B marketers. As demonstrated in the chart below, MarketingSherpa found 11 percent of B2B marketing budgets are devoted to email, while 12 percent go to SEO. That places these two tactics ahead of others such as telemarketing, direct mail and public relations.

While email marketing is cost-effective, that doesn’t mean it comes cheap. Successful email marketing campaigns require expenses such as mailing list development, analytics know-how and content creation. Content creation is always a good investment as it can be repurposed on company blogs or social media sites, which gives merchants more mileage out of their email marketing dollars while boosting SEO and social media efforts.

The Marketing Sherpa study shows B2B firms are still indecisive when it comes to social media marketing as only 7 percent of budgets were allocated to social media in the study. However, as reported by BtoB Online, this finding does not coincide with results  presented at the Business Development Institute’s B2B Social Communications Leadership Forum held in New York in June. That information indicated that social media usage increased significantly over the past two years, whereas only 52 percent of B2B firms used the platform in 2009, but nearly 90 percent do today.

B2B Marketing Budget Allocations
When examining the allocation of B2B marketing budgets, one question asked in the B2B Marketing Sherpa study was:

Approximately what percentage of your marketing budget is allocated to each of the following tactics – not including personnel?

As noted in the study, website design requires highly specialized skills, and these services can be costly. This is exemplified in the above chart, as website design, management and optimization represent a larger percentage of marketing budgets than any other tactic. Since this was also rated as the most effective tactic overall, B2B organizations all devote resources to it.

Trade show participation also requires a good number of significant expenses, including travel, booth rental, promoting booth traffic, etc. That means this tactic requires a good portion of the marketing budget for those B2B organizations that must participate in trade shows.

Email marketing is commonly thought to be cost effective; however, significant investments are required. Such expenses include list rental, email distribution programs, email deliverability services and list-building initiatives, not to mention content creation and testing.

We hope this gives B2B marketers an understanding of industry averages for the most effective B2B marketing tactics, including the average allocation of B2B marketing budgets. This information might be able to help you when evaluating your own needs and making important marketing decisions.

Bing has been nibbling away at Google’s search dominance since last year, and it now owns 30 percent of the U.S. search market (14 percent Bing and 15 percent Yahoo!). As reported on Bing’s search blog, Bing Shopping now gives users more selection features, and helps them find products with fewer steps.

Because of its partnership with Yahoo!, and by improving its search algorithm with a thousand tweaks, Bing search has improved considerably and can’t be ignored by searchers or businesses any more. Bing Shopping has expanded the number of products available in its index over the past year by a factor of five, with listings from Nordstrom, ESPN, Tom’s Shoes, Sony Store, Babies R Us, Dick’s Sporting Goods and more. In addition, Bing Shopping now includes the following user-friendly features.

You Can Refine Your Searches Faster. To make searching faster and easier, Bing Shopping now includes filters on the left side of the page that can help narrow your search results by category, brand and price. While previously, you had to click to the results page before using filters, now, you can select as many or as few as you need from the get go. Let’s say you’re shopping for shoes. You’d start by entering “shoes” in the search box and would immediately get a list of the most common filters directly in the search box as shown below. At this point, you could click search and get results for “shoes,” or you could select one of the filter options.

Another new enhancement is a Facebook share feature that helps you share multiple shopping lists with friends on the social networking site.

Sharing Your Shopping Lists on Facebook. Bing made some improvements to its shopping list feature by removing the limitation to only one list. Now, you can create a list for your vacation, for instance, and another list for Christmas, birthdays and other occasions. Shoppers can also share any of their lists with Facebook friends. When they share a list on Facebook and their friends comment, they can see the comments directly on Bing. Pretty cool.

Other improvements include the addition of a Find Sale Prices feature, a Sort by Store feature and Related Items feature.

Find Sale Prices. Bing added product-level deals to the shopping site. When you search for products, you will see the discounted price ( if available) next to the listing. Bing also has a “price reduced” filter under the price.

Sort by Store. Bing Shopping added a filter on the product page that sorts products by popular stores.

Related Items. When shoppers view a product, Bing displays a “related items” feature showing accessories and similar products.

Improved Browsing. Bing Shopping revamped many of its browse pages, making it easier for shoppers to browse products.

You can find more information, including a video by the Bing team, on the Bing blog.

Before long, the number of people accessing the Internet by mobile web will outnumber those connecting on laptops and computers. Google CEO Larry Page said in a recent interview, “Computing is moving onto mobile.” So naturally, when it comes to back-to-school shopping, mobile will play a big role, as shown in a new study from Deloitte. In fact, this could be predictive of things to come in the coming holiday shopping season.

The study found that while consumers plan to maintain or increase spending, they plan to tackle rising prices by comparison shopping with smartphones and looking for bargains via social networks. Two-thirds of consumers with smartphones will use them for back-to-school shopping.

The survey, commissioned by Deloitte and conducted by an independent research company between July 5 and July 11, queried 1,000 parents of school-aged children in grades K-12.

Although 3 out of 5 of these shoppers will use mobile devices to get price information, more than 2 out of 5 said they plan to download discounts, coupons or sale information via their smartphones.

While retailers are in better shape to meet customer demand via web-enabled smartphones this year, they should be prepared to do a lot of discounting because everyone wants a bargain. Shoppers plan to outsmart inflation by conducting comparison shopping on their smartphones. While the survey queried parents with smartphones, I would venture to say those without mobile devices will comparison shop ahead of time by laptop or computer.

The Deloitte survey revealed that while consumers plan to maintain or increase back-to-school spending, it’s not because they feel comfortable going on a spending spree. Rather, consumers anticipate the cost of school clothing and supplies will rise, so they will be cost conscious as they shop. They expect to spend more on school supplies including pens, paper, tissues and cleaning wipes as school districts are no longer supplying such basics.

The study also found that social networks will play a bigger role in parental back-to-school shopping. Over one-third of parents plan to use social networking sites for shopping news and tips, which is up from 29 percent last year. Among these respondents, nearly 7 out of 10 plan to use social networks to find out about promotions, 44 percent will browse products and 28 percent will read reviews and recommendations.

The study also shows that using smartphones and social networking sites are not the only changes that consumers will make compared to last year. Because of a poor economy, 55 percent of parents are taking inventory and buying only what the family needs, while 26 percent said they will reuse last year’s clothing and supplies due to concerns about the economy or their finances.

However, consumers who earn over $100,000 a year said their financial situation is the same or better than last year, compared with 66 percent of respondents who earned less than $100,000.
So we have two different consumer groups, divided by household income. The higher price of gas and food, which are expenses that can’t be avoided, are consuming a larger chunk of the paycheck for lower-income consumers, causing them to cut back on expenses.

Since mobile offers many ways to facilitate online and in-store sales such as QR codes, coupons, mobile checkout, discount offers, mobile payment, etc., retail businesses should plan now to put all these tools in place to facilitate conversions.

As a recognized leader in the liquidation industry, Via Trading has always been focused on the notion of continuous improvement. It strives to serve its retail customers and lead the industry by example. For that reason, we were not surprised to learn Via is offering its retail customers a standing floor display solution that can be used for influencing customers in the aisles.

We asked Via’s Marketing Manager Nathania Stambouli what brought this about. “We don’t see our role as merely being one whereby we provide merchandise to our customers but also one that provides solutions to enable our customers to grow their sales and profits,” said Nathania. “In an effort to provide such solutions, we researched across other industries, learning what they did to grow their customer sales/profit. We also conducted a number of visits to customer stores to understand their particular needs and what we could do to help,” she added.

During that research, Nathania found a number of common issues. The retailers all had a variety of merchandise without any significant stand-out in store, cluttered shelves, poor merchandising and out of stock situations. As a result, consumers were not being engaged in store.

“We also thought about the end consumer and how they interact with merchandise in a store,” continued Nathania. It’s a well-known fact that today’s consumers have more opportunities by which to acquire and interact with information. In fact, they often have too many messages thrown at them through various media on a daily basis. Organizations typically use a variety of means to influence consumer purchase decisions, such as advertising, but as a result of the constant influx of advertising messages in their daily lives, today’s consumers have developed short attention spans and are now able to switch ads off. This makes it increasingly difficult for retailers to influence their customers.

However, a key area through which retailers are still able to stimulate consumer purchase decisions is at the point of sale (POS) where up to 70 percent of purchase decisions are made. “We determined that our customers’ current ability to influence consumer decisions at the POS level is limited given the lack of resources we saw during our store visits and conversations with retailers,” said Nathania.

For these reasons, Via Trading introduced its new FSD Solutions (Floor Standing Display Solutions). These displays offer retailers an effective solution to create greater visibility in store and attract customers through the use of color and chosen key phrases such as ‘Look’ and ‘Wow.’ By engaging the consumer, the display solutions can motivate disinterested consumers into becoming engaged with the product(s), which will lead them to purchase, increasing sales and profits.

The displays offer additional benefits including:

• Ability to tailor messages to consumers (making the message more pertinent to a particular group of consumers or to a particular product)
• Facility to cross and up sell (by displaying similar or complementary products next to each other)
• Capacity to easily merchandise the display (with flexible hooks and display trays) and to quickly note when stocks are low
• Displays take up a minimum amount of space whilst providing maximum visual impact

The FSD Solution is appropriate for an array of different sales channels at a Point of Sale level. Its applications include but are not limited to flea markets, yard sales, discount stores, thrift store, wholesalers (to show an assortment or variety of product) and more. It can even be useful for online sellers who do not have a physical store front. They can merchandise their wholesale lots on the display, photograph and show their products attractively to their online consumers.

“We launched the displays at the ASD Trade Show this August and rolled out the launch to our regular warehouse and website sales the following week,” said Nathania. “Customers are just beginning to use the displays and have thus far shown great interest and satisfaction with the preliminary results,” she added. Via is looking forward to hearing how the displays do as time progresses.

Miguel Susano, a Via Trading customer since December 2010, purchased a display last week. He states that “It’s very nice, easy and quick to set up and [he is] using it as we speak!”

Ty and Melissa, Via Trading new customers, purchased theirs at the ASD Trade Show this August and have just begun merchandising their displays. “Our customers are immediately drawn to the displays and spend more time looking at our cosmetic items than they did before. We’re looking forward to seeing how that translates to sales numbers – stay tuned!”

Other Via Trading customers like the new displays as well. Claudia Hernandez opined, “They’re great – the products have a presentation!” And Abram Perez said, “They’re working well – they’re bringing more customers in already.”

To find out more about these new Floor Standing Display Solutions, contact Nathania Stambouli at Via Trading.

Social media is becoming a great asset that B2B merchants can use to engage potential buyers on the web, as well as for getting found. As you know, Facebook has over 750 million active users. Media services provider Compete puts Facebook in second place behind Google in terms of unique visitors. ComScore deems it the most popular social networking site. There is no doubt most B2B companies can benefit from creating a Facebook fan page.

With a Facebook fan page, B2B merchants can get found by people searching for their products and services. They can also connect and engage with their customers and prospects. There are many things a B2B merchant can do with a Facebook page, including creating a business community, promoting content like webinars or events. You can even generate leads for your business on your Facebook page. It’s all free, but it takes time to develop and maintain.

On Facebook, there is a difference between Profiles, which are personal, and Pages, which are for business. You get a lot more functionality on Pages.

• You can designate multiple administrators on Pages to help manage your account.
• By default, Pages are public, with the ability to rank in search results.
• Pages are divided into various categories: local businesses, brands, musicians, etc., which can help your company get listed in more relevant search results.

In contrast, personal Profiles have friends, which require mutual acceptance. On Pages, anyone can become a fan without requiring administrator approval.

Creating Your Business Page. Log into Facebook and go to Create a Page, where you can select from six categories: local business, company, brand, artist/public figure, entertainment and cause/community. Facebook has a wizard to help you create your Page.

You become the administrator by default, although your name and profile will not show on your Fan Page. You manage the page behind the scenes. If you post information or respond to comments, your input is posted by your company rather than you by name. As mentioned, you can have multiple administrators to help with Page maintenance. You can also become a fan. Click the Like button on your Page, and you’ll be listed among all other fans on your Page. As a result, all the Pages of which you are a fan will show up on your profile, giving your business more visibility.

Promoting Your Facebook Fan Page. You can attract fans by creating an engaging Page. Use applications like the Discussion Board and the YouTube Video Box to add engaging content. You can leverage the viral nature of Facebook with a News Feed. Every time a fan engages with your Page − from becoming a fan to posting a comment or attending an event – that activity is published to their News Feed, which is seen by their friends on Facebook. As a result, your Page gets shared with a greater network, giving your business more visibility.

You probably already have email subscribers and blog readers – let them know they can now become a fan of your business on Facebook. Consider a mailing to your opt-in mailing list that contains a link to your page in your email signature. You can also blog about your Facebook page and post a link or badge to your Page on your website or blog.

Your Page is public and will be indexed by search engines, giving you the opportunity to drive organic search traffic. If you don’t see your Page showing up in searches, check to see if you have it set to be publicly indexed and searchable. Go to Edit Page, click Manage Permissions and make sure the Page Visibility box is un-checked. That makes it publicly visible.

You can advertise a website or other properties on Facebook, including Pages, Groups, and Events. The system for building and running ads on Facebook is similar to Google AdWords. You can click here to get started with Facebook Ads for more visibility.

Measuring Results of Your Facebook Page. While you can use Google Analytics to measure the traffic, leads, and visitors, Facebook also provides analytics data. Facebook Insights gives Facebook Page administrators analytics data about Page visits and engagement. On the Page Overview section, you can take a quick look at how many new Likes your page received, as well as the number of fans who are actively engaging with your content. A key metric to note here is the percent change of active users. Increasing the number of active users can help you drive traffic and leads to your business. The Page Overview gives you engagement data so you can determine how many Likes and comments were received on your Page within a given time period. The Interactions tab shows you the number of unsubscribes. It is useful to look at spikes in these data to examine possible causes of positive and negative data and take action accordingly.

Hope this gives B2B merchants a foundation for using Facebook for business. Keep in mind that Facebook is changing constantly. As an administrator, you will have the information to keep up with the latest changes and to monitor your business Page’s development.

Our article about Mobile Marketing got a lot of interest from wholesalers and general merchandise vendors last month. While integrating social, mobile and email campaigns can yield great results, we know many merchants are not yet using integrated online marketing campaigns. Therefore, we’d like to provide information about social, mobile email integrated campaigns for your online marketing strategy as these media are used daily by consumers and marketers alike.

Facebook has over 750 million members, and 50 percent of them log in every day. Twitter has 200 million account holders delivering 350 billion tweets every day. Chatting, tweeting, texting and conducting business on mobile devices is rapidly becoming the norm. Email is also very popular and still considered the lifeblood of successful Internet marketing. Integrating mobile, email and social media is the best way for wholesalers and retailers to get the best results for their online marketing campaigns.

However, a lot of marketers don’t know how to integrate mobile into their overall marketing efforts despite the fact that integrating traditional web and mobile tools provide maximum impact. There are many mobile services providers that can help. Some providers commented about their services on the article page.

We would also like to call your attention to a selective list of mobile services providers compiled by Website Magazine, which published a list of “Top 50 Movers and Shakers in Mobile Services.” This list shows some popular mobile advertising networks such as AdMob and GreyStripe, as well as mobile analytics solutions such as Bango and AppFigures. Solutions for retailers included Digby and DIY mobile website designers such as mobiSiteGalore and site.mobi.

High-impact, mobile text marketing tools such as SMS, combined with social media and email in a well-integrated, multi-channel campaign, can yield stellar results. The technology is available that allows B2B and B2C marketers to create very effective campaigns that can drive them to the head of the pack.

Marketers are become increasingly channel-selective, using SMS for some campaigns and email or social media for others. Therefore, offering consumers multiple media options can make the difference between keeping your customers engaged and losing them to competitors.

For instance, Trumpia emailed me about a clothing retailer client that sold $60,000 worth of merchandise in three hours with a multi- channel campaign designed to spread the word about a Special 4th of July Offer to 1200 VIP customers. The campaign resulted in a 20 percent redemption rate with 232 customers taking advantage of the promotion. The retailer sent its special VIP sales alert via SMS Mobile Text, Instant Messages and Email less than 24 hours before the big sale.

Giving your customers and prospects options for communicating with you is one of the best ways to capture key data, increase message relevancy and boost revenue. Yet many marketers, including wholesalers and retailers, offer limited options to their customers beyond email.

According to recent research (Silverpop), only one out of four companies surveyed offered Twitter and Facebook options, and only one out of ten provided the opportunity to sign up for an SMS messaging program or download a mobile app. When you offer your customers different channel options such as SMS, this empowers them and gives you another touch point for connecting.

Keep in mind that your customers are always on the go. While the dominant social media channels are Twitter and Facebook, YouTube is a close third, due to widespread interest in video. LinkedIn is also an excellent choice for certain types of campaigns. Lastly, as Google Plus develops and gains more users and momentum, it will join the list of social networks you can consider for your integrated social, mobile, email campaigns.

A new report by Borrell Associates states that “Main Street is embracing mobile marketing at a stunning rate.” Adoption of mobile advertising by small businesses was faster than any media adoption rates of the past, including cable in the ‘80s and the Internet in the ‘90s. There is no doubt that wholesalers, general merchandise vendors and retailers can also benefit from mobile advertising, but B2B marketers have been slow to adopt mobile.

The Borrell report estimates local advertisers will spend $800 million this year on mobile and over $400 million on mobile promotions like contests, coupons and deals. Not only that, it’s predicted those numbers will double every year for he next five years. If that happens, local mobile ad spending would surpass $18 billion for advertising and $4 billion for promotions. That’s more than SMBs spend on traditional online advertising today.

Mobile devices are on track to surpass PCs in a few years. Mobile devices include smartphones, tablets, PDAs and e-readers. In 2011, 500 million smartphones and tablets will be sold, versus only 380 million PCs. When it comes to apps, there are 1.3 million mobile apps today, versus 50,000 to 75,000 PC apps. Nationwide, the transition from PC to mobile devices is happening rather rapidly. And it is preempting yellow pages look-up behavior as well as TV viewing, radio listening, magazine and newspaper reading and traditional PC-based web surfing and email monitoring. Some websites report that over one-third of their traffic is viewed on mobile devices.

B2B differs from B2C mobile engagement. Unlike B2C marketers who must use innovative ways to engage consumers, business audiences are driven by efficiency rather than entertainment. Also, consumers have time to spare, but professionals can’t find enough of it. And while consumers set their own priorities, professionals are accountable to their superiors, with priorities determined by the company’s bottom line.

Whether the goal is to generate leads or to retain customers, mobile gives B2B companies an amazing new way to reach their business audiences. But in order to get the attention of busy professionals, B2Bs must develop mobile programs that can make their target audience’s work activities better, faster and easier − the mantra of all B2Bs. So, it’s essential to send the right messaging for any mobile initiative to be successful and deliver ROI.

However, according to The Mobile Revolution and B2B, B2B companies have been slow to adopt mobile. This is ironical because mobile is the one media that is most used by their target audience. With 72 percent of the U.S. workforce on mobile, 64 percent of B2B decision makers reading their email via mobile devices, and over 70 percent of executives under 40 considering mobile their primary communications tool, it’s clear that B2B professionals view their mobile devices essential to their livelihood.

Here’s why B2B companies need to consider mobile:

• B2B mobile marketing will grow from $26 million in 2009 to $106 million in 2014.
• $2.2 billion of physical goods were purchased via mobile device in 2010.
• There are 285.6 million mobile subscribers in the United States, 91% of the population.
• Mobile devices will pass PCs as the access device of choice by 2013.
• Mobile search will represent 40 percent of all search traffic by 2012.
• $2.2 billion of physical goods were purchased via mobile device in 2010.

If you are a B2B marketer, you can move ahead of your competitors by aligning your marketing efforts with the changing landscape that mobile is creating within your core audience. Those who hesitate risk their company’s relevance in a business world that has been changed forever by anytime, anywhere, always-on media.