April 1, 2011
Editor's Note
Major missed opportunities
DIRECT MERCHANTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WITH ROOTS IN THE CATALOG CHANNEL, aren't exactly known for being among the first to embrace ecommerce and other...
News
Swiss Colony Parent Acquires Wisconsin Cheeseman
The Dane County (Wisconsin) Circuit Court approved the sale of Wisconsin Cheeseman by parent firm by Wisconsin Food Gift Co. to Colony Brands on Monday for $550,000, according to court documents. The acquisition includes the brands, assets and inventories of Wisconsin Cheeseman. ...
Delia�s On The Selling Block
Teen apparel cataloger/retailer Delia�s has put itself up for sale. The company, which has a market value of about $60 million, has been soliciting interest from buyers....
Shareholders Approve J. Crew Deal
Now, it's actually over. The deal that started back in November when the J. Crew Group announced it was being acquired by funds affiliated with TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners...
Oriental Trading Exits Chapter 11
It was a happy Valentine�s Day for Oriental Trading Co.: The party supplies and novelties seller announced today it has come out of bankruptcy. ...
Harry & David Bring in Turnaround Pro
TROUBLED FOOD GIFTS MERCHANT HARRY & DAVID HAS BROUGHT IN A TURNAROUND SPECIALIST AS ITS NEW CEO. Kay Hong, a managing director at global turnaround specialist...
NEMOA Panel Spouts Award-Winning Advice
MCM Awards judges Neal Schuler, president/principal of Schuler Creative Consulting, Brad Wolansky, CEO at The Golf Warehouse, and Amy Africa, chief instigation officer at web consultancy Eight By Eight, might not always see eye to eye. But one thing they all agree on: Merchants need to get the basics right....
Give People a Reason to "Like" You on Facebook
There's a reason you want people to like you on Facebook: For marketers, a �like� is almost as powerful as an email address, said ecommerce platform provider MarketLive founder/chairman Ken Burke during a session at the NEMOA Spring Conference in Boston. ...
Mobile App Push May Be Softening
Merchants seem to be shying away from creating apps for specific mobile devices and are instead creating sites that are native to mcommerce, according to Bernardine Wu, founder/CEO of ecommerce consultancy FitFotCommerce....
New PMG Brings a Refreshing Change to the USPS
JACK POTTER RETIRED AS POSTMASTER GENERAL (PMG) OF THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE ON DEC. 3, 2010. That same day, his deputy, Patrick Donahoe, became the head...
Cover Story
MCM OUTLOOK: 6 Trends for 2011
Advancing technologies, shifting consumer shopping patterns and priorities, and new economic realities are all fast changing the way multichannel retailers...
E-Commerce
SEO and Replatforming: How Your Ecommerce Upgrades or Overhauls Can Affect Search
More than half (57%) of online retailers increased their ecommerce technology spending in 2010, according to The Forrester Wave: B2C ecommerce Platforms,...
Website critique: Polishing a pewter merchant's site
Amos Pewter designs, makes and sells pewter gifts and keepsakes. But is its website a shining example? Or could it use a buffing up? Our critiquers Amy...
Mobile coupons: physical vs. cloud
Mobile couponing gives you an opportunity to meet customers where they are present in a channel, interact with them on a personal level and, ultimately,...
Five keys to mobile-ready email design
We all know that more people are reading their email on smartphones. But do you know how to craft your emails so that smartphone users can read and respond...
Catalog
Seven little words to remove from catalog copy
One of the most desirable disciplines any copywriter can employ is avoiding the automatic use of words that have less impact than a word might have. Why...
Look for paper prices to keep going up
The cost of catalog paper will go up in the second quarter. Most of the major paper mills have announced an increase of $2 per hundredweight (cwt) effective...
NewPage Looks to Stay Afloat
Some industry watchers are concerned about the fate of coated paper supplier NewPage, which shut down its Whiting mill in February. It's anybody's guess...
Marketing
Your Customer is the Real Undercover Boss
Much as we may enjoy watching various C-level executives go on the popular reality TV show, the real for all merchants is or should be the customer. Walmart...
Lists & Data Strategies
Is your contact strategy in crisis?
Being proactive is a big buzz phrase in our industry. But many direct marketers continue to engage in practices that seriously undermine the effectiveness...
Operations & Fullfillment
Packaging options abound
The packing material you select for your order packages not only protects your merchandise from damage, it also says something about your brand. Packaging...
A look at regional parcel carriers
When it comes to parcel delivery, FedEx and UPS are clearly the dominant players. But you can use regional carriers to supplement the service of the Big...
How to:leverage barcode technology
Barcoding technology can help streamline processes and reduce costs in warehouse fulfillment operations. But in many cases, even large multichannel merchants...
B-to-G
Should you be selling to the government now?
If you have heard me speak anywhere in the past 20 years, you've heard me singing the praises of doing business with the government. Business-to-government...
Backword
MCM Awards 2011 Finalists
Multichannel Merchant last month announced the finalists in the 26th annual MCM Awards competition. The judging panel named 47 print catalog finalists...
