Saturday January 5, 2013
From merchandising and advertising to real estate and technology, business reporters offer insight into the latest trends and people that define today’s top retailers.
Posts about Technology
Charity rating services can provide widely divergent ratings
Posted by: John Ewoldt Updated: December 28, 2012 - 2:47 PM
If you're spending time this weekend making charitable contributions online or mailing checks by Dec. 31 to get a 2012 tax deduction, you can check a charity-rating service to see how wisely the charity is spending your money.
Sounds like a good idea but it's not as easy as it sounds. Only about 7,500 of the 1 million charities in the U.S. are evaluated by three popular review agencies such as Charity Watch, Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, said Ken Berger, CEO of Charity Navigator.
Making matters more complicated, the ratings, which can be a letter grade, one to four stars or a simple "yes" or "no" seal of accreditation depending on the source, vary widely among the reviewers. The Humane Society of the United States, for example, is given a "D" rating from Charity Watch, 4 stars from Charity Navigator and the BBB Accreditation Seal.
Conflicting ratings means more work for conscientious givers, and may make some givers avoid the ratings all together. But if you're giving to a charity for the first time, it can still be helpful to check some of the ratings at Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, Give Well or the BBB's Wise Giving Alliance.
If a charity isn't listed by any ratings services, Charity Navigator offers some guidelines for performing your own due diligence.
Could weak Windows 8 sales spell holiday trouble for Best Buy?
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: December 3, 2012 - 4:11 PM
Probably not the start Best Buy had hoped for.
The initial sales numbers for Windows 8 devices are out and they don’t look good. Since Microsoft debuted its latest operating system on Oct. 26, Windows device sales have fallen 21 percent compared to the same period a year ago, according to the NPD Group.
Windows 8 has captured only 58 percent of Windows unit device sales, far less than the 83 percent for Windows 7. NPD says Windows 8 tablet sales have been “non existent,” accounting for less than one percent of all Windows 8 device sales.
“You would like to see some kind of acceleration,” said NPD analyst Stephen Baker. “We didn’t see any impact.”
So why does this matter to Best Buy? The consumer electronics retailer, the country’s largest seller of PCs, typically gets a big sale lift from the release of a next generation Windows operating system. Best Buy especially hoped Windows 8 would give a sizable boost to the key holiday shopping period. At a recent investors conference in New York, top executives noted the retailer carries 45 Windows products that are exclusive to Best Buy, including 28 touch screen devices.
Best Buy spokeswoman Amy Von Walter said Windows 8 is such a unique system that it will take time for consumers to digest it.
"We always knew that Windows 8 was going to be a long term proposition," she said. "Unlike other new devices, Windows 8 will be rolled out over several months."
True enough. But will Windows 8 make a meaningful impact on Best Buy's holiday sales?
Baker said weak initial sales doesn’t necessarily mean a bad holiday season. For one thing, sales of more expensive Windows 8 notebooks with touch screens have been strong, helping Microsoft to establish a foothold in the premium segment normally dominated by Apple.
“The most expensive [Windows 8] products did the best,” Baker said.
In fact, Best Buy said sales of Lenovo's Yoga laptop have been strong, said company spokesman Jeff Haydock.
"Overall, we are pleased with Windows 8," Haydock said. The devices "have performed within our expectations of the launch. We have also seen increased computing traffic to our stores and online."
With its radically designed interface, Windows 8 may also offer Best Buy the chance to do what it normally does best: explain complicated technology to consumers. Von Walter said the company devoted 50,000 hours training Blue Shirts on the new technology.
Nonetheless, Windows 8’s disappointing debut can’t please Best Buy. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with Windows 8, Baker said. It’s just that Windows 8 has so far failed to reverse in any small way the continuing decline in PCs and notebooks, he said, which make up a big chunk of Best Buy overall sales.
“Windows 8 is not the problem,” Baker said. “Computers are the problem.”
Need extra cash for the holidays? It's in your older TVs and computers
Posted by: John Ewoldt Updated: November 30, 2012 - 11:37 AM
We can all use a little extra cash during the holidays or just after the holidays when bills start arriving. One of the easiest sources of found money in the next week lies in any flat screen TVs, computer monitors, or laptops you purchased between January 1999 and December 2006.
Because companies such as Hitachi, LG, Sharp, Samsung and Toshiba were found guilty of price fixing, consumers can get a minimum of $25 to $100. But amounts could easily rise to $250 per LCD screen, depending on the number of people who file a claim, said Alison Buckneberg, communication specialist at Gray Plant Mooty in Minneapolis, one of a dozen law firms that managed the $1.1 billion settlement in a San Francisco U.S. District Court.
This settlement is considered one of the most consumer friendly settlements ever because claimants do not have to show proof of purchase or even identify the manufacturer or model number. Even better, consumers are eligible for cash rewards, not a rebate on a future purchase.
So far 18,000 Minnesotans have requested a claim, which is among the highest number of claims of any state, exceeded only by California and Wisconsin. Twenty-four states are included in the settlement.
Buckneberg expects people who file claims to receive checks early in 2013.
To file a claim, go to LCDclass or call 1-855-225-1886 by Dec. 6.
John Ewoldt
Best Buy offers some info on Black Friday performance
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: November 27, 2012 - 12:28 PM
With his investors and financing largely in place, Best Buy founder Richard Schulze wants to wait until after he sees Best Buy’s Black Friday weekend numbers before offering to buy back the company.
So how did Best Buy do? A Deutsche Bank analyst declared Best Buy to be the weekend’s “big winner” after reporting that 86 percent of stores it surveyed said they were “busy.”
That’s hardly scientific. And lots of traffic doesn't always or necessarily translate into real sales and profits, which is what Schulze wants to know.
The company provided a little more color:
1. Driven by exclusives and competitive pricing, three key categories – mobile phones, laptops and e-Readers – all exceeded Best Buy’s full-day hardware projections by 3 p.m. central time Black Friday.
2. The post-paid phone business online this year was 4-times better than what we did last year.
3. We broke records on BestBuy.com last Thursday and Friday. Thanksgiving day was our biggest traffic day online last year and we were anticipating the same this year. Looks like that bore out.
Best Buy also confirmed an earlier tweet from executive vice president Stephen Gillett that bestbuy.com sales on Nov. 20, the start of its early access online event for Reward Zone members, jumped about 400 percent from the same day the previous year.
What the company didn't say was how it did in televisions and desktop computers, two weak categories that form a big chunk of Best Buy sales.
Also a National Retail Federation report found that 37.7 percent of consumers it surveyed during Black Friday weekend said they purchased consumer electronics or computer related accessories, down from 39.4 percent in 2011.
Interestingly enough, the same survey found more people visited an electronics store and more people bought CDs, DVDs, and video games.
So when the numbers all add up, I suspect the status quo will largely remain unchanged for Best Buy: strong growth in online, tablets, smartphones, and e-readers but weak sales in televisions.
My only question would be the impact of Windows 8 on laptops and desktops, something I will try to answer later in December.
And we're off....
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: November 22, 2012 - 9:30 PMAnyone who has ever read this blog knows that I'm not a big fan of Black Friday (or shall we say Black Thursday night). The crowds, the noise, the sheer nakedness of American capitalism on display for the world to admire or mock.
But even I got a little rush waiting for the doors open at the Target store in Bloomington. About 50 people waited outside before the doors opened at 9 p.m., hardly a mob. In fact, I've seen more three times as many people line up outside of Best Buy in Roseville around 4 a.m. a few years ago. Go figure.
Ten minutes before the store opened, a Target manager tried to lead the store employees in a mini-rally but was quickly interrupted when some moron knocked over a bunch of DVDs. That moron would be me.
Making matters worse, Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel witnessed the event, the second time I embarrassed myself in front of the man. (More details in a later blog post).
"I'm glad I'm not you," a Target spokeswoman whispered to me.
Thanks much. I feel better.
Speaking of Steinhafel, I spoke to the CEO for a few minutes. We'll post some of our video later on startribune.com. Steinhafel seemed to be in a good mood, as any CEO would be when customers are about to tear the store apart on Black Friday.
But this year will be slightly different. Steinhafel is hoping to extend the sales momentum Target usually gets on Black Friday all the way to Christmas. Normally, people would buy up stuff the day after Thanksgiving and the wait until a few days before Christmas before crowding the stores again.
Beginning on Dec. 1, Target is launching an extensive collaboration with Neiman Marcus that features exclusive merchandise, including clothing, accessories, and even a bicycle, from dozens of prominent designers. Steinhafel says he's confident the collection will keep shoppers in Target stores throughout the holiday shopping season.
Target also has high hopes for its digital efforts. In addition to a bug free website, Target has installed free Wi-Fi throughout its stores (I'm using it right now) and QR codes on select merchandise. Shoppers can scan the QR codes with their smartphones and find more information online. They can even compile their own digital shopping list. Customers can also find the QR codes outside the stores on bus shelters and buy the item right there.
Until now, Target has never really been known as a high tech retailer. Steinhafel hopes that will change this year.
Best Buy misses out on initial iPhone sales craze
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: September 21, 2012 - 10:14 AM
Best Buy is one of the world’s largest sellers of Apple products like the iPhone and iPads. But you would never really know that once you see the throngs of customers waiting to purchase the iPhone 5 outside of the 250 or so Apple stores across the country Friday morning, including the Mall of America and Uptown.
The debut of a hot consumer electronic product is sort of like the movie business. Everything depends on opening weekend grosses, which sets the pace for how the movie fares for the rest of its run.
Analysts expect iPhone 5 to be a big blockbuster, even though the device offers only relatively modest upgrades like an improved camera, 4G capability, and a longer screen.
Unfortunately for Best Buy, Apple’s decision to debut products like iPhone 5 at its own retail chain kind of steals most of the initial sales thunder from BBY stores. Oh sure, Best Buy will sell plenty of iPhone 5s. But one would think they would sell a whole more if Apple chose to debut the phones at a Best Buy.
Microsoft is also stretching its retail muscles. The company will reportedly debut its Surface tablets this fall at the roughly two dozen Microsoft stores. And borrowing a page from Target Corp., Microsoft will also open 32 “pop-up” stores at malls and shopping centers this holiday shopping season. (Even Amazon, Best Buy’s online nemesis, plans to open physical stores.)
All of this should worry Best Buy. Back in the day, retailers were retailers and manufacturers were manufacturers. Today, those lines are completely blurred. In the past, you would line up outside a Best Buy for the latest gadget.
Nowadays, the only time you see huge lines outside of a Best Buy is Black Friday, when the retailer offers huge day-after-Thanksgiving discounts to jump start the holiday shopping season.
New Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly has certainly thought about this. Best Buy must work with its key suppliers like Apple and Microsoft to create value and excitement, he said.
“As a major retailer, we are very important to them,” Joly told the Star Tribune in an earlier interview. “There has to got to be things that we can do for their benefit and our benefit. Ralph Lauren has its own retail business but also partners with Macy’s. There are lot of partnership opportunities. Is it exclusive products? Or other things? I don’t know yet.”
These days, brick and mortar stores use exclusivity to drive people to its stores. Without design partnerships like Missioni, Shops at Target, and Neiman Marcus, Target might be just another discount chain hawking pet food, toothpaste, and shower curtains.
It’s hard to think of any such equivalents at Best Buy. The retailer does offer several private label brands, including Rocket Fish, Dynex, and Insignia.
But “Best Buy has not aggressively marketed their own brands,” said Carol Spieckerman, president of newmarketbuilders, a retail consulting firm. The retailer has so far failed to offer something truly unique and experiential to shoppers, she said.
Best Buy still harbors hope that it can exclusively sell that next must-have gadget. The company operates a venture fund that seeks to invest in hot technology startups from Silicon Valley in exchange for first rights to sell that product.
Some new technology that will prompt people to line outside of Best Buy the same way they do for Apple.
Until then, Best Buy can only wait until the second wave of iPhone buyers hit its stores.
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recent posts
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- Best Buy offers $5 per old cell phone, MP3, gaming hardware et al.
- Charity rating services can provide widely divergent ratings
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- Macy's, Toys R Us open 24 hours through Sunday for holiday shopping
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- Target slashes prices on its Target + Neiman Marcus collection by 50%
- Gift card bonuses: Which retailers/restaurants are offering them?
- Wishful thinking: Which luxury retailers might come in the Twin Cities?
- Could weak Windows 8 sales spell holiday trouble for Best Buy?
- Retailers offering free shipping always jumps during the holidays
- Need extra cash for the holidays? It's in your older TVs and computers
- H&M to open in Calhoun Square on Dec. 14
- Best Buy offers some info on Black Friday performance
- Target plans big splash for Neiman Marcus collection
- A Best Buy Black Friday vignette
- And we're off....
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