Archive for April, 2008
Economists Say USA is in Recession
Two-thirds of the 52 economists interviewed by USA Today in their quarterly survey say the U.S. is now in a recession. Add to that those surveyed who believe we will be in a recession soon, and the number reaches 79%. If there is any lightheartedness in this tough business climate, it is when people joke [...]
China Problems Loom
I just heard from one of our gift and hard good direct clients—one in a series of messages like this I’ve had lately. This latest is that their Chinese producers failed to deliver on goods, costing this small catalog $100,000 in sales even though they had purchase orders in and accepted with confirmed delivery dates.
Another [...]
Direct Commerce Systems Workshop
The F. Curtis Barry & Company and Catalog Success’ co-branded two-day interactive systems workshop, “Evaluating, Selecting and Implementing Direct Commerce Systems†has added a new twist to the registration for this workshop.
The first 20 registrants for the systems workshop will receive a discount of $100 off the registration fee of $795. The spots are filling [...]
Operations Expense Reduction – Managing the Pennies
Nobody needs to tell you it’s a tough business climate. Last week at NCOF, I gave a speech to 180+ people on Operations Expense Reduction – Managing the Pennies. You can access the speech on our website. Also, in working with our clients to reduce expenses, F. Curtis Barry & Company has compiled an 11-page [...]
Take 10 Minutes to Protect Your Future Profitability
No CEO needs one more thing to do. Everyone has been hard at work to offset the effects of the postal increase. But have you been proactive with your congressional representative or the USPS? I am concerned that catalog executives are not making their voices heard.
Recently, F. Curtis Barry & Company joined American Catalog Mailers [...]
Selecting and Implementing the Right System
During a session I led at last week’s National Conference on Operations & Fulfillment in Orlando, Fla., I identified several critical mistakes businesses make in their systems selection processes, regardless of the type of system. These include distributed control systems, order management systems (OMS), warehouse management systems (WMS), e-commerce or similar ones.
Among the mistakes I [...]
F. Curtis Barry & Company, Taurus Software Partner to Make Key Multichannel Data Easily Accessible and Usable
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Upcoming solution will bring together multiple data sources to analyze business performance, aid merchandise analysis, analyze productivity in call centers and fulfillment centers
Redwood City, CA, and Richmond, VA; April 2, 2008
For 20 years, Taurus Software has been “making data liquid†for over 700 companies world-wide, with over 80 clients being in the direct [...]
Co-Branded Systems Workshop “Evaluating, Selecting and Implementing Direct Commerce Systems”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Richmond, VA, & Philadelphia, PA, April 7, 2008 — F. Curtis Barry & Company, a leading consultancy to multichannel businesses, in partnership with Catalog Success, the leading publication serving the catalog/multichannel business, today jointly announced a co-branded two-day interactive workshop, “Evaluating, Selecting and Implementing Direct Commerce Systems.â€
“The software marketplace for today’s multichannel direct [...]
What’s Happened to Gross Margin From Imports?
This is a question that needs to be asked because of some recent trends. Consider:
1. Production chases low cost labor. Where Japan and Taiwan were the centers before China, production is starting to move from China to other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia as well as Mexico, Central and [...]
