How to Be Better at Your Job in 2013

Posted on December 25, 2012 by bermanevansretail

Think of what YOU can do to make yourself more valuable to your firm.

bermanevansretail's avatarRetailing: From A to Z

Jacquelyn Smith has a lot of good job tips in her new Forbes article, “14 Ways to Be Better at Your Job in 2013.”
As Smith notes: “With a new year approaching, many people have an ‘out with the old and in with the new’ mentality—and work is usually a big part of that, says corporate veteran and author Andy Teach. ‘No one has a perfect work life and there is always room for improvement,’ says Teach, author ofFrom Graduation to Corporation: The Practical Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder One Rung at a Time. ‘Most people aspire to be better at their jobs because it results in increased happiness and personal satisfaction.’ AND they want to improve their short- and long-term career prospects.
For a slide show on how to be better at your job in 2013, click this image.

 

To read Smith’s full story, which…

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Life Out of the Box: A Story of Giving Back

Posted on December 24, 2012 by bermanevansretail
With the holiday shopping season coming to a close, here’s a very inspirational story that highlights the spirit of “giving back.” We ALL need to think about how we can give back, too!!
Life Out of the Box is a company started by two young American entrepreneurs. The firm is best described by this information from its Web site:
“We hope to inspire you as you follow us, but if nothing else we hope to just entertain you and give you a unique perspective into the life of two 25 year-olds discovering the world while making a better life for those around them.”
“We left the United States in May 2012 and moved to Nicaragua to create a business that gives back to the community. Since we moved here, we’ve been traveling all over the country to find various handmade products by the people of Nicaragua and ultimately develop a line of products that we can sell overseas. Buying and selling products from these local artisans will not only help their local economy, but will also expose people overseas to the beauty of an unfamiliar culture.”
“Life Out of the Box is a ‘product for a product business.’ For every product that we sell overseas, we will give back a product to help educate the kids here in Nicaragua. Sell a product, give a product. One for One. We want to give the kids a useful product that will allow them to have the opportunity to live their life out of the box and pursue their own dreams. So far, these products include a variety of notebooks, agendas and pencils. We are both very connected to education and believe that it’s the best place to start in helping developing countries. It’s the root of where change can start–where kids can learn and develop their own skills to improve their country’s economy, help their families and go on to teach the next generation.”
“While we’ve been traveling around the country looking for products to sell, we have also been working with various non-profit organizations to find out how we can make a difference. Overall, our journey has been very exciting and fun and we hope that you follow us in our pursuit of living Life Out of the Box. Below is a video that sums up how Life Out of the box works.“

 

 

Posted in Global Retailing, Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 4: Store Location Planning, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Social Media and Retailing, Video Clips (non-career) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Retailers Trying to Satisfy Device-Hopping Shoppers

Posted on December 24, 2012 by bermanevansretail
Besides the challenges of showrooming (consumers’ use information gathered at a store and then buying online at the best price), retailers must also now deal with the need for convergence: enabling shoppers to seamlessly begin and complete the purchase process. This is quite a complex undertaking — for bothe traditional retailers AND their online counterparts..
Consider these observations by Claire Cain Miller and Stephanie Clifford, reporting for the New York Times: “While visits to E-commerce sites and apps on tablets and phones have nearly doubled since last year, consumers are more frequently using multiple devices to shop. In many cases, they are more comfortable making the final purchase on a computer, with its bigger screen and keyboard. So retailers are trying to figure out how to appeal to a shopper who may use a cellphone to research products, a tablet to browse the options, and a computer to buy.”
As shown below: “At eBay, if shoppers log in on one device, data like credit card details and saved items will be available on all their devices.” Click the image to read the full NY Times story.

Source of montage: New York Times Company

 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Social Media and Retailing, Technology in Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment