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Arcandor Sees Russia Becoming Top Mail-Order Market

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

Arcandor AG, the owner of Karstadt department stores and the Quelle catalog company, said Russia may become its largest overseas mail-order market next year as sales surge in the country.

The retailer’s annual sales in Russia may reach 1 billion euros (USD 1.58 billion) in 2013, said Marc Sommer, the head of Arcandor’s Primondo mail-order unit. Primondo’s Russian sales may rise 57 percent to USD 180 million this year and will increase by about 60 percent annually through 2010, he added.

“The mail-order market is undergoing a boom in Russia,” Sommer said today at a press conference in Moscow. “People begin to realize how convenient it is to order by catalog and get goods delivered to your home.”

Arcandor’s Russian mail-order sales have more than doubled annually since it entered the market with Quelle in 2005. Russia’s apparel and footwear market will increase by 16 percent to 37 billion euros this year and may reach 55 billion euros in 2011, Sommer said today at a company presentation.

“People are buying European fashion very eagerly,” Sommer said. Rising incomes in Russia, the world’s biggest energy supplier, fuel consumer spending and lure international companies such as Inditex SA, Europe’s largest clothing retailer, and Stockmann Oyj, a Finnish department-store company. Hennes & Mauritz AB plans first Russian stores in 2009.

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TNT Express and ORTEC sign strategic global contract on network optimisation

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

TNT Express has signed a strategic global contract to optimise TNT Express’ global infrastructure and networks through the provision of and access to ORTEC’s state-of-the-art optimisation knowledge and solutions. Together, ORTEC and TNT will seek to optimise network solutions as part of the Global Optimisation (GO) programme to further enable the standardisation of TNT’s infrastructure on a global scale, as well as enhance the operational transformation and integration of TNT’s newly acquired companies in Spain, Brazil, India and China. The solutions will also include carbon footprint calculations for improving sustainability and reducing carbon emissions – an essential component of TNT’s Planet Me programme.

‘Network optimisation is critically important to TNT in achieving our strategic focus and aspirations,’ says Mark Bradley, Global Operations Director of TNT Express. ‘Already, initial results of the partnership are most promising. ORTEC solutions have already been introduced in several countries around the world and delivered significant unit cost optimisation and service improvements in all functional areas of operations.’

The GO-Toolbox consists of several ORTEC solutions, each of which contains advanced optimisation techniques. The solutions are specially tuned to optimise each of the components of the TNT Express supply chain – from line haul networks, hubs and country infrastructure to pick ups and deliveries. The solutions can either be used individually or as part of an integral programme of activities, leading to network wide optimisation possibilities.

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Marketers too late in targeting expectant mums

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

Marketers are dramatically failing to target expectant mums at the right time of the pregnancy and birth cycle according to independent research specialist Mum’s Views.
The research entitled “What Mums Really Want” was commissioned by Lifecycle Marketing, publishers of Emma’s Diary the UK’s leading pregnancy guide.
Currently 84 per cent of new mums receive the market-dominant sample packs of baby products whilst in hospital with most given out after giving birth but the research confirms that this is not the most effective channel or time to be influencing new mums’ purchasing decisions.
The research which polled over 2,600 new mums and pregnant women, shows that 99 per cent of new mums start to buy products for their baby before giving birth, with the majority (71 pct) starting to buy before the end of the second trimester of pregnancy (26 weeks).
The research also found that, generally speaking, mums are loyal to the brands that they use, with 79 per cent of mums claiming loyalty to the brands that they buy.
Of the new mums that were polled, over 90 per cent said they had bought most of the items they needed for baby by the time they went into hospital and the following percentage of respondents had bought these everyday mother and baby items before the
Emma’s Diary, created by Lifecycle Marketing, is the leading guide to pregnancy in the UK (ABC) and is published on behalf of the Royal College of General Practitioners. It has been distributed by GPs and Midwives throughout the UK for the last 15 years and is given to Mums-to-be on confirmation of their pregnancy.

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Adding self service to your channels makes customers more likely to buy

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

The third annual NCR Self-Service Consumer survey reveals that 86 percent of US and Canadian consumers say they are more likely to do business with a company that offers the flexibility to interact using self-service – whether via the Internet, on a mobile device or at a kiosk or ATM. That’s an increase of 11 percent over those who gave the same response in last year’s study. Moreover, 56 percent say their likelihood to use self-service has increased over the past year.

In addition to being more likely to do business with enterprises offering self-service, 66 percent of the survey respondents say the availability of self-service technologies creates a more positive perception of the deployer’s brand.

“These factors – ‘likelihood to do business’ and ‘brand perception’ – together have important implications for customer loyalty, which certainly deserves to be a key criteria for any organization’s self-service strategy,” Nuti added.

The survey also shows that consumers clearly value the ability to use a combination of self-service channels – their PDA or mobile phone, the Internet and touch points such as ATMs or kiosks – to improve their overall experience. For retail transactions, 97 percent surveyed would use a combination of such self-service channels to handle a transaction or service. The findings are similar for the travel and hotel sector (94 percent).

Speed, convenience and ease of use are identified most frequently by respondents when asked why they would choose self-service over personal assistance in each of four industry sectors:
— retail (faster-68 percent, more convenient-64 percent, easier-52 percent);
— travel (faster-63 percent, more convenient-61 percent, easier-60 percent);

Among other factors consumers cite as reasons for choosing self-service are heightened privacy and greater control.

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U.S. Postal Service introduces recycling by mail

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

The U.S. Postal service has piloted a program that accepts small electronics and inkjet cartridges from individuals who want to “recycle” them by mail.

Postage-free envelopes are available at 1,500 pilot centers located in California, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Baltimore, Md for people to send in old cell phones, personal data assistants, MP3 players, digital cameras, iPods, inkjet cartridges and other small electronic items.

The Postal Service is testing the program in several states and, if successful, may launch the program on a national scale.

Clover Technologies Group, a company that recycles and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics, has offered to foot the bill. It then remanufactures or remarkets the mailed items. In cases where the items can’t be remade, the component parts are reused or broken down further and the materials recycled.

The USPS says it awarded the contract to Clover because of its “zero waste to landfill” policy.

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