National Wildlife Customer Alert
It has been seven weeks since BlueSky Brands shut down operations, stranding a number of catalog and e-commerce businesses. Now we’ve received an e-mail that the National Wildlife Federation sent to customers who have purchased items directly from the Federation.
Here’s what the e-mail said:
“There are still many opportunities to receive great wildlife and nature-themed merchandise when you support National Wildlife Federation!
Previously the National Wildlife Federation’s name and logo was licensed to National Wildlife Direct, a separate, unrelated company that offered nature-themed products and gifts. Unfortunately, National Wildlife Direct recently closed its doors and is no longer in operation.
However, we know how much you love helping wildlife and our environment while you shop. Watch your email in-box to find out about new offers coming directly from the National Wildlife Federation such as:
- Carry-all Bags: Handy totes, field bags, backpacks and more
- Outdoor Gear: Umbrellas, windbreakers, fleece jackets, beach towels and blankets
- Animal Adoption Gifts: A special Wildlife Adoption Center with many items to choose from. Receive an adorable plush with each symbolic adoption
- Products just for Bird Lovers: Unique bird feeders, bird-watching kits and binoculars
- Gardening Gifts: Gardening totes, how-to books and tools
- Educational Gifts for your Favorite Children: Magazines that help connect children with nature
- And more!
And the best part is, your gifts directly fund the vital conservation programs of National Wildlife Federation.
We appreciate your love of wildlife, the environment and outdoors.”
As you can see, NWF mentions that BlueSky Brands had licensed their name and is no longer in business. Here is the scoop that I got from the head of Customer Service at NWF:
The catalog, of course, is closed down indefinitely. If existing customers of the catalog/website have outstanding orders, they can call 800-822-9919 or e-mail info@nwf.org. NWF will talk them through what they need to do to resolve the situation. They will not receive the product they ordered. If they ordered via credit card, they will be told to dispute the charge through the bank or credit card company. If payment was via check, they will not receive a refund until the issue with BSB is resolved.
The products mentioned in the e-mail are already sent out to people who sign up for memberships in NWF. These products are distributed via a 3PF vendor that they have been using for some time.
We applaud NWF for stepping up to help these customers, even though it was not their actions that caused the disaster. Such a possibility is always present when you license your name and don’t have direct control over others’ actions.
Jeff Barry is marketing manager of F. Curtis Barry & Co. – we are catalog consultants working with multichannel businesses to improve warehouse operations through the assessment and implementation of warehouse management systems and careful benchmarking of strategic metrics.
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Are We Trying to Make a Broken Business Model Work?
At our recent Executive Forum we talked about how rising postage costs, increasing paper costs and the fall off in prospecting response rates have radically changed the traditional catalog business model. While there are large, efficient catalogs that spend in the high 20-percents on the total cost to create and mail catalogs, many businesses are paying 30% to 35% of net sales. Postage will continue to go up.
List prospecting has declined for 10 years and has been dismal for many companies. Some attendees felt that the co-op databases, while they developed responsive lists and expanded circulation for the membership, may in the long run have eroded response rates as customers are receiving too many pieces of mail.
When you look at major expense categories, other than merchandise purchases, the total marketing cost is the major expense well ahead of fulfillment and G&A overhead combined. To turn around company profitability, the industry has got to get more prospects and sales at a lower cost than we are used to with the traditional catalog model.
But the real question is this: are we, in the catalog industry, relying on a broken business model? And is the old traditional catalog business model one that can be fixed? We have had occasion to work with a couple dozen Internet pure plays in the past year. None of them use catalogs. Granted, they are all smaller companies. But they generate traffic to their sites with search engine optimization (SEO), mostly organic rather than paid search.
How much money are you spending on SEO? If the traditional business is broken, is that expenditure enough to push your company to more financial viability? In talking with clients, I’ve found very few who are experienced and comfortable with this new electronic media and can decrease their dependence on print catalogs.
How is your experience—good or bad—with SEO? Post your experiences, and let’s learn from each other.
Curt Barry is president of F. Curtis Barry & Company, a multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firm for catalog, e-commerce, and retail businesses. We offer clients expertise in business process and order management systems, inventory management systems, warehouse management systems; warehousing and distribution; contact center services; inventory management and forecasting solutions; and strategic, financial, and operational planning for all business channels.
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Macy’s National Strategy Gets a Makeover
The Wall Street Journal (April 21, 2008, B1) detailed a strategy by Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren to localize store assortments to cater to what shoppers are more interested in buying. This localization—called “My Macy’sâ€â€”will for now will be only 15% of the total SKUs, which range from 1.5 million to 4 million, depending on store size.
Macy’s same store sales declined 1.3% for 2007 from the previous year and 2% overall. Macy’s is the largest department store in the U.S., with 2007 sales at $26.31 billion. The other department store leaders are J.C. Penney, with sales of $19.86 billion; Sears, $19.50 billion; Kohl’s, $16.47 billion; and Nordstrom at $8.83 billion. Only Sears posted a worse 2007 sales decline than Macy’s.
Mr. Lundgren is obviously one of America’s smartest and leading merchants. But somehow, to me as a shopper, the strategy of all the stores across the country being a cookie cutter didn’t make sense from the beginning. If shoppers didn’t find what they were looking for in one Macy’s store, there was no reason to even set foot in another.
Having acquired nearly all the major regional chains and then homogenizing them to eliminate any differences, Macy’s may be lucky sales weren’t even lower. Even before Macy’s acquisition strategy took place, one of the faults in traditional department store retailing was that stores looked too much like each other and they carried the same national brands.
If you think of your own town, there are sure to be residential areas that are very affluent, with customers who are more selective and can afford better brand names. At the same time, in an urban environment assortments may need to be tailored to shoppers who work downtown. The people who live downtown may be affluent younger professional folks and a minority of lower income residents.
Once again, we believe the Internet has a profound effect on this strategy; in today’s shopping world, comparison shopping engines can pinpoint stores with lower prices and greater availability. This makes national brand names much more comparable and stores more vulnerable.
However, gearing stores to more localized assortments will be harder than one may think. It means turning some of the control over to local management rather than centralized buying and decision making. According to WSJ, “Management behind the scenes will be revamped to have 13 executives oversee the merchandise assortments at 10 stores each, instead of 7 executives overseeing assortments in up to 23 stores.â€
In going localized, Macy’s is following the approaches that Best Buy, Ross Stores, Inc., Wal-Mart and Gap, Inc. have trail-blazed.
We wish Macy’s well as they make their transition—and we’d love to hear what readers think of this new approach.
Curt Barry is president of F. Curtis Barry & Company, a multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firm with expertise in multichannel systems, warehouse, call center, inventory management, merchandise planning and benchmarking. Learn more online at: http://www.fcbco.com.
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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 that the Feds will take six months to declare what most people experienced in their businesses six months before.
The good news is that the 52 economists interviewed feel that the recession will be “short and shallow and inflation will abate.†Eighty-seven percent of those surveyed expect the Feds to reduce short-term rates to 2%. Inflation was 4% in March, and they feel it will decline throughout 2008. Unemployment will reach 6%, which they feel is low for a recession.
But there was no explanation or rationalization of the terms “short and shallow.â€
From a different angle, FoxBusiness.com’s article this morning reports “The country’s economic growth during January through March was the same as in the final three months of last year, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.”
“The statistic did not meet what economists consider the classic definition of a recession, which is a retraction of the economy. This means that although the economy is stuck in a rut, it is still managing to grow, even if modestly”, FoxBusiness.com also stated.
I will say that I’m seeing many of our clients dealing as well as they can with the reality of the recession. They have moved out of the stages of confusion and what looked like paralysis earlier in the year.
Our advice is to plan the fall and holiday very conservatively, to avoid severe inventory buildup. There has been less promotional activity in 1Q 2008 than there was in 4Q 2007. Most of our clients are going to be very careful to avoid major mailings in front of the election.
What are other businesses planning? Readers, how are you planning fall and holiday 2008? Let us know.
Curt Barry is president of F. Curtis Barry & Company, a multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firm with expertise in multichannel systems, warehouse, call center, inventory, and benchmarking; Learn more online at: http://www.fcbco.com.
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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 client with sales of $600 million in inexpensive merchandise says that their Chinese resources will only quote on a single purchase order at a time and will not hold prices. Prices are going up at a rate of 10 percent several times per year. A third client of upper-end products has not had the problems of the other two. They seem to be holding prices.
Multichannel businesses and suppliers have painted themselves into a corner – it means developing other resources in a hurry. I hear comments about low cost production moving to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, etc. But while many of these countries have low-cost labor supplies, they don’t have the scale of manufacturing and the infrastructure in place to match the production output of China. And with most of our factories long since shut down, the machinery shipped overseas in many cases, and labor now mostly in other jobs in the service sector, you can forget about moving production back to the U. S.
China—even as it cracks down on protesters in Tibet or has air pollution that makes Los Angeles look pristine—is the “major player in townâ€.
But with the Chinese government having cut back on rebates, factories suddenly having to start paying attention to environmental laws and new regulations, a labor shortage causing production cutbacks, and the Chinese yuan having gained as much as 15 to 20 percent in value versus the American dollar in just the past two years, it appears inevitable that we will pay higher costs. How will that, in turn, affect our sales?
So readers, we’d like to know: What’s going on out there from your purchasing perspective?
Curt Barry is president of F. Curtis Barry & Company, a multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firm with expertise in multichannel systems, warehouse, call center, inventory mangement, and benchmarking; Learn more online at: http://www.fcbco.com.
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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 up quick, so please don’t hesitate to register for this interactive systems workshop.
To learn more about the workshop and to register visit our website at http://www.fcbco.com/seminar
Have more questions, please contact Jeff Barry at 804-740-8743 or email him at jbarry@fcbco.com
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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 handout, “70+ Ways to Reduce Expense, Increase Productivity and Improve Customer Service.â€
Reduce costs. Increase productivity. Improve customer service. 70+ Tips & Ideas to help your company in the following areas:
One thing that was instructive and a lot of fun at NCOF was that we got the audience to volunteer what they had implemented to reduce expenses, as well as to reveal the ROI. Here are a few of the major points:
Direct and indirect labor is 60%-65% of the cost per order plus benefits, which in many businesses were 20% or higher. Labor costs can be reduced with training programs for management, incentives, setting benchmark expectations (or engineered standards for larger companies), developing a labor budget, reducing attrition, etc.
Vendor compliance policies reduce your DC expenses and speed receipts.
Renegotiate inbound and outbound freight regularly.
Invest in bar coding to reduce inventory shrinkage and track product throughout the center.
There are benefits through slotting and directed put away from WMS systems.
Utilize methods of minimizing picker walk time including hot pick zones, pick to light, pick and pass, re-slot regularly, etc. Investigate voice picking to speed picks and improve accuracy.
Ergonomically redesign work stations for packers and returns.
There were some really creative and quick ROI solutions. Rather than talking about the doom and gloom, these managers are at work finding out where they can “reduce the pennies.â€
Call me today at 804-740-8743 to discuss how we can help you perform an operations audit, which will reduce expenses.
Curt Barry is president of F. Curtis Barry & Company, a multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firm with expertise in multichannel systems, warehouse, call center, inventory, and benchmarking; Learn more online at: http://www.fcbco.com.
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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 Association (ACMA) because we believed that they were truly representing the catalog mailers’ interests. Today, I got an update from Hamilton Davison, Executive Director of ACMA. From that call I think that ACMA is having a meaningful dialog with the management of USPS about how the recent postal increases have destroyed the catalog industry’s profitability. Davison says, “While we have made a positive start on a wide variety of fronts, there is much work remaining to do. Today, we are only 60 companies and without a significant increase in our membership, it will be necessary to reduce the level of intensity with which we pursue issues of import to catalog companies, including prioritizing those issues that are most significant to our membership. Please consider supporting us, we need your help to help you.â€
One of the latest issues ACMA is dealing with is the potential change in the size of “slim jims.†ACMA is truly out front on these types of issues with USPS.
Pick up the phone and take a couple of minutes to talk with Hamilton Davison (401-529-8183, or visit www.catalogmailers.org). It may be the best thing you can do to protect your future profitability.
Curt Barry is president of F. Curtis Barry & Company, a multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firm with expertise in multichannel systems, warehouse, call center, inventory, and benchmarking; Learn more online at: http://www.fcbco.com.
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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 marketing business. Founded in 1984, F. Curtis Barry & Company is a nationally recognized operations, fulfillment and warehouse consulting firm serving the multichannel industry, developing solutions that combine proven industry best practices with the latest technology available. Now, in a joint venture, the two companies are developing a software product that provides:
- A management dashboard of key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Pro-active alerts that identify areas where you can improve your business and save hard dollars
- Ability for managers to easily “point, click and drag†for analysis and reports
- Online updates to these dashboards and analysis tools from the underlying databases
- Modifiable templates that can be tailored for each business
- Analytical modules including e-commerce, marketing, merchandising, inventory control, operations and finance
- Ability to import plans, budgets and history (e.g., calls, orders, shipments, etc.)
The combination of F. Curtis Barry’s unparalleled industry knowledge of what to look for to improve your business, and Taurus’ ability to draw together data from any source and provide dynamic analysis, provides an entirely new way to view your business. Instead of having to find what’s wrong, these metrics will point it out to you.
The joint venture’s first application module will concentrate on merchandising, with an analytical series for measuring product profitability using net contribution to profit, including fulfillment and overhead expenses to the SKU level. Analytical sequences include:
- Promotion, category, sub-category
- Page and depiction
- New versus repeat product
- Import versus domestic product
- Price range report
Consulting services will be provided by F. Curtis Barry & Company to interpret the KPIs and industry benchmarks, as well as to assist in planning strategies to improve their businesses.
Taurus’ President, Cailean Sherman, explains, “For the last five years we’ve been helping multichannel retail businesses gain ad hoc access to their data. But this has required that the users work through their data to uncover problems and inefficiencies. We knew that there must be a way to offer solutions, rather than just information. We knew that if we could gather all of the information necessary to answer a question how are my products really performing? including costs and budgets and overhead and sales that we could identify which products were truly making money, and which were losing money.
Adds Curt Barry, President of F. Curtis Barry & Company, Combining F. Curtis Barry’s experience and expertise with Taurus’ tools allows us to create a unique pro-active analytical package. It is platform and source system independent, which means any customer can take advantage of the metrics regardless of their application package.
About Taurus
Taurus Software has been making data liquid since 1987. Taurus offers an entire range of solutions that incorporate products such as DataBridger—a robust open platform data foundation creation tool, and application specific data models such as Ecomedate for Ecometry customers and Analysis Suite—a powerful analytical and reporting toolset. Taurus is a member of the HPe3000 Transition Partners Program and has technology partnerships with DirectTech, Quest Software, Lund Performance Solutions, Managed Business Solutions, Escalate Retail, Orbit Software, Pathway Pacific, DST Health Solutions and Acumium. To learn more about Taurus Software, visit www.taurus.com or call 650-482-2022 x1.
About F. Curtis Barry & Company
F. Curtis Barry & Company is a consultancy specializing in multichannel operations and fulfillment for catalog, e-commerce, and retail businesses. F. Curtis Barry & Company offer clients expertise in business process and order management systems, inventory management systems, warehouse management systems; warehousing and distribution; contact center services; inventory management and forecasting solutions; and strategic, financial, and operational planning for all business channels. To learn more about F. Curtis Barry & Company, visit www.fcbco.com or call 804-740-8743.
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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 commerce companies (catalog, e-commerce, direct response TV, etc.) is crowded, growing rapidly, and can be confusing,†said Curt Barry, president of F. Curtis Barry & Company. “With an ever-changing assortment of applications, vendors and acquisition options, there are now many classes of software that can be implemented for direct commerce: e-commerce, order management, catalog management, customer relationship management, warehouse management, enterprise resource planning and accounting systems. While all of these process direct orders, perform warehouse tasks, and provide merchandising and marketing information, certainly some classes of systems may be more effective for your business than others.â€
Paul Miller, editor-in-chief of Catalog Success, pointed out, “The workshop will help catalog and e-commerce companies make the right decisions for their businesses. They’ll come away better able to identify their businesses’ key functionality, the appropriate class of software to choose from, and the right direct commerce vendors to consider, as well as a variety of acquisition business models.â€
In this comprehensive, two-day interactive workshop scheduled for June 17-18, 2008, F. Curtis Barry & Company will provide in-depth information on:
 Identifying your company’s critical business requirements
 Understanding direct commerce software and vendors
 Appropriate systems acquisition strategies and return on investment
 Developing an appropriate multichannel systems strategy
 Selecting the right system
 Developing your implementation strategy and plan
 Key components to software contracts
“Evaluating, Selecting and Implementing Direct Commerce Systems†will be held June 16 and 17, 2008, in Richmond, VA. “By holding the workshop right in our home town,†Curt Barry noted, “we’ll be able to involve myself and four of our consultants, both to give more personal attention to the attendees and to draw on our range of consulting expertise with installing e-commerce, call center, warehouse management, marketing, merchandising and inventory systems.â€
For more information and to register, visit F. Curtis Barry & Company’s Web site at http://www.fcbco.com/seminar/.
About F. Curtis Barry & Company
F. Curtis Barry & Company is one of America’s leading multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firms, with expertise in multichannel systems, warehouse, call center, inventory and benchmarking. Learn more online at: www.fcbco.com or call Jeff Barry at (804) 740-8743.
About Catalog Success magazine
Catalog Success is the leading publication serving the catalog/multichannel business, providing its readers with bankable tips and ideas for greater sales and profitability. In addition to its flagship monthly magazine, Catalog Success produces the weekly Tactics & Tips and biweekly Corner View e-newsletters. For more information, visit www.CatalogSuccess.com or call Paul Miller, editor-in-chief, at (914) 669-8391 or Peggy Hatch, group president/publishing director, at 215-238-5091.