| LED Digest 1886: Preparing for the Holiday Season |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam,led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com ............................................... October 26, 2004 Issue #1886 ............................................... .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Preparing for the Holiday Season ==-- ~ Sandy Galvin "...our customers seem to sense that free shipping is a con game, but that fulfillment is a real issue." --== The (In)stability of the 'Net? ==-- ~ John "zeke" Brumage "...spyware usually arrives hidden in 'free' software." ~ Richard Jones "With all the problems that [Windows] has, why not consider a stable OS like Unix?" --== Mac or PC? ==-- ~ Charles Oertel "...a virus could destroy your personal files on Linux - but not the system as a whole." ~ Gordon Moe "It is not a case of which is better, it is a case of what you want to do." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Typefaces & Text Sizes for Everyday Sites? ==-- ~ Michael Linehan ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Sandy Galvin Subject: Holiday season > The holiday season is almost upon us. I would like to know what > other ecommerce sites are doing to get ready for the holidays. - Janet Pickard, LED 1885 Well... some preliminaries: (1) We sell toys. (2) We sell nested sizes (One unit, two units, four, six, eight), (3) Our product is very heavy which affects shipping, (4) We have competition, (5) we change prices by changing our "sale" prices, altering the discount from 35% (in the summer) to 15% (around Christmas). (6) We manufacture our own product, (7) we have about five years of historical data for the Internet including page hits per day, visitors per day, average sales per page hit per day, etc. (8) Our customers are typically parents and grandparents, and (9) we use a lot of PPC, (10) we have excellent free-SEO placement, and (11) We are still growing about 40% per year at this time. In the fall, our monthly sales are linear for the first 9 months, increase about 1.25 in October, about 3.0 in November, and about 5 times in the first 18 days of December. This is from (a) a general increase in traffic, (b) an increase in the ratio of buyers to visitors, and (c) an increase in the average purchase (about double). When all is done, we make about 50% of our gross in the last quarter, and about half of this in December. The sales ramp begins to happen during the third week of October. It increments on the first of November. It increments again on the day after Thanksgiving. It increments gradually between December 1 and December 15th. In early December, it's simply mayhem. Obviously, it's our style to build inventory during the first nine months, and sell out in the fall. This means that we are obliged to focus hard on these predictions and to avoid, on one hand, the regret of running out of product in the last few weeks (more important) or, on the other hand, to end up with a pile of unsold merchandise at the end of the year (less important). However, our freedom is limited to some extent by our competitors -- if they stay low we are forced to follow suit. We are flirting with "freeish" shipping -- typically $7.95 for any order. This means that we get paid for shipping small orders, but give a discount for large ones. It solves the problem of "shipping paranoia" which is substantial because shipping our largest orders may involve over $100 in shipping, some of our customers just don't understand weight and distance, and many of them don't realize that B & M stores paid incoming shipping. On the other hand, our knowledgeable customers know this is nonsense and we have to make the money back. The jury is still out on this strategy, but the "Grands" crowd seems to believe in the free shipping ruse. Go figure. We place some emphasis on reassuring customers after November 15th that their orders will arrive in time for Christmas -- for sure, no exceptions, 14 pt. Bold in blinking red. After this date, our customers seem to sense that free shipping is a con game, but that fulfillment is a real issue. We think that the "Big sale" cum "Free Shipping" ploy is a pre-Thanksgiving tactic and rings false after December 1. We try to slowly ramp up prices beginning in August. We change prices weekly. Between October and December, the remaining inventory may also play a role in our prices. After December 1, anything goes. I think that the essential thing abut a Christmas strategy is to puzzle out the evolving thinking of one's modal class of customers. "What are they thinking?" "What are they worried about?" "What are they seeing elsewhere?" "What heuristic do they use to calculate value?" The strategy may not be the same every year, it may not be the same for different businesses, it may not be the same at different points in the cycle, and you can't tell afterwards whether a rejected alternative would have worked (since you didn't do it). Welcome to management. If you end up with some money in your pocket -- you done good. Sandy Galvin Barclay Blocks http://www.barclaywoods.com ------- new post - new topic -------- From: John "Zeke" Brumage Subject: Net instability > Another article http://snipurl.com/9wtq [washingtonpost.com] > speaks about users that abandons the net after their computers > have been hi-jacked by spyware. What can we do to fight virus, > spam & spyware on a global scale? - Lennart Svanberg, LED 1884 Operating a computer today without doing the updates is like driving a car without checking the oil or the brake fluid. Microsoft's newest operating system, XP-SP-2 is the best approach to being safe on the internet, security updates are downloaded silently and should stay ahead of the threat matrix. However, spyware usually arrives hidden in "free" software. The fine print in the EULA specifically states that you give permission for the spyware / adware to be running. As writer Kurt Vonnegut said TANSTAAFL... There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. I tell my customers to look for the business model, if a shareware program nags you for an upgrade or a donation, you can see the intended revenue stream. Otherwise, you can expect something evil going on. Recently we had a customer that brought in a BRAND NEW 11-days old computer. Apparently she took it home, signed up for the free AOL account, then must have proceeded to Google for the word "free". The machine took 5 minutes to boot (this is a new P4.8Ghz) and never, ever shut down. AdAware found 308 spyware programs before one of them crippled AdAware. DON'T let your kids play with the computer until you have explained TANSTAAFL to them and they agree that they are NOT to install anything. Give them a separate login to the computer that does NOT have administrator privileges, while you are at it, make an account like that for yourself, and only log in to the administrator account when you DO want to install something. Set a rollback point every week or so. Remember viruses are not college kids playing around anymore, they are COMMERCIAL and MILITARY (terrorist) tools. Every one of us can help by running up-to-date and self-updating software such as XP-sp2 or RedHat Linux, and by educating our families and friends. In the middle of writing this, I got a call from one of my customers that was NOT updating, he said he would scan with Spybot and AdAware, have zero spywares on his machine, then after 30 minutes have 60 new spywares. John "zeke" Brumage ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Richard Jones Subject: Net instability Lennart Svanberg asks, > What can we do to fight virus, spam > and spyware on a global scale? If by "global scale" you mean the Governments, I refuse to go along with that notion. If you mean our ISP's, then I concur... they should protect their clients. On spam & spyware: Seems to me that each of us is responsible for own environment. We employ others to provide us with software that should "protect" us... if this doesn't work, then maybe, just maybe, we should consider an operating system that is less "open" to such attacks? On viruses: Windows* has been a target since it was a popular operating system put onto the PC platform. The developers have been trying to "emulate" a REAL operating system since they started and still haven't been able to make it stable and error free from attacks. Maybe it's time for users to expand their horizons and think about using an OS that has been stable since the 80's? I know, some of the readers of this Digest are devoted Microsoft users, BUT why? With all the problems that the MS OS has, why not consider a stable OS like Unix? Oh, you say there aren't many programs that run on Unix? You'd be surprised what is available. Oh, your favorite game won't run on Unix? So buy a machine that is strictly for games. Richard Jones RJ Web Services jrj, rj-webservices.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Charles Oertel Subject: Mac or PC > If I switch to a Mac [from a PC], I will have to spend a large > amount of money purchasing software that I already own. - John Smart, LED1885 If you were to upgrade to Linux, you would have more and better software than you currently "own" (read the EULA and then tell me that you really own it) at no extra charge. > I so want to double-click and right-click! Then Linux is for you! How about adding "middle-click", multiple desktops, a variety of window styles and configurable behaviours. Have a system where you are in charge and call the shots. Have things the way you want them. > In fact, my XP system has crashed 3 times in the past (roughly) > 6 months - not bad going (but 3 times more than ideal!). How about NO crashes in 3 years (and my box serves 6 users, is the DSL gateway, does backups, serves 10 websites and an intranet, does graphics editing and web development and runs a database server)? How about NEVER doing a reboot for any reason (not even software installs or upgrades)? How about no viruses or intrusions in spite of a permanent DSL connection? > As for the virus issue, it is just a matter of time. A common misconception by those who don't really know the facts. Most of the internet architecture (60 - 70%) runs on Linux / BSD and does not suffer from viruses. The reason is not penetration or market share - it is a fundamental difference in the architecture that prevents any user from harming the system. So yes, a virus could destroy your personal files on Linux - but not the system as a whole. And yes, you would deserve it, because on Linux it takes more than clicking an attachment or viewing an email or web page to invoke malicious code. regards Charles Oertel FineBushPeople.co.za ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Gordon Moe Subject: Mac or PC > Sounds like the start of another "discussion" > on which is better, Mac or PC. - Tom Aman, LED 1884 Most geeks are passionate about their preferred platform. Let's not forget the gist of the original "discussion." It was related to virus issues, not which platform was "better." Arguments go both ways for which platform is better for graphics, business, programming, music, surfing, more stable, etc. The fact that Macs are less prone to virus attacks, ad-ware and spy-ware cannot be disputed. Period. It is not a case of which is better, it is a case of what you want to do. If you want to spend more time on maintenance issues with viruses, ad-ware and spy-ware, go with a PC. Gordon Moe http://www.eBirdseed.com/ ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Michael Linehan Subject: Window sizes > Anyone care to weigh in on the best typical typeface(s) > and text size(s) for the everyday web site? - Sandy Galvin, LED 1885 I'd say it depends very much on who your target market is, and how good their eyes are! Quite frequently, I've gone to work with a client in their office. I look at their computer and wonder, "How the heck can you even read that?" Typically, they have a 17" screen at 800x600 with the text expanded many times. There is so little on the screen at any one time that the reading experience is made very disjointed. Their eyes are comfortable reading and working with text that big. So, I'd say no absolutes. You need to aim somewhere in the middle. Of course, you could also give them direct control over text size, say four sizes represented by a little icon just below the header. That's a good option as I've also encountered many people who don't realize they can control the text size from their menu. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy. ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2004 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." - H. L. Mencken |
