The Wall Street Journal
"Wal-Mart Adds Guns Alongside Butter"
By: MIGUEL BUSTILLO
The secret is out of the bag; well, who knows if it were an actual secret. Wal-Mart is putting back the guns and ammunition on the shelves. In recent months, these products were only left in a third of the stores. This recent return comes with an effort to regain shoppers, specifically the men.
Wal-Mart has always been a powerhouse in the shopping world, but in recent months and years, it has faced issues with its efforts to brand and rebrand itself as the "one-stop shop." Five years ago, the guns and fishing section decreased due to a dip in sales, but now they are coming back into almost half of the stores with attempts to undo the damage placed on the stores by a failed attempt to rebrand the store as being more upscale. The fabrics section was another one that drastically decreased but is now coming back to stores in efforts to keep that demographic in the Wal-Mart shoppers family. Personally, my mother and grandmother were very disappointed when Wal-Mart did all of these major renovations to products and sections. They are both big sewers, so they'll be happy if Wal-Mart keeps its promise to bring the fabrics back. These are two of the "heritage categories" that Wal-Mart feels will bring it back our of the slumps.
The remainder of the article pens Wal-Mart officials' saying that they underestimated the power and importance of these products. It discusses how they plan to more forward with these new additions, and it discusses competitors such as Bass Pro Shops. Finally, the article recognizes Wal-Mart's "code of conduct," which makes them a leading retailer today.
Over the past five years, it has been interesting to me to watch this transformation and see the failures and successes. I knew things would backfire when Wal-Mart tried to do some many new things at one point. They put in higher scaled items and completely took out essential products and brands that shoppers had bought for years. My mom couldn't buy paper plates sometimes, and my grandmother couldn't buy some ingredients anymore that she has used in recipes for decades. Also during this time, Wal-Mart underwent an aesthetic rebranding with major or total renovations in almost every store. This by itself was a nightmare for shopper for months as things got rearranged, repainted, and restocked. Shoppers couldn't be patient, so they left. They couldn't buy their favorites anymore, so they left. Now, I see it that Wal-Mart is not completely failing, but they are about to crawl on hands and knees to get men back in their stores by adding the guns and homemakers by adding the fabrics and foods like butter.
For pretty much my entire lifetime, Wal-Mart has been a powerhouse in retail and a place where my family goes at least twice a week. My question is this: why did they try to change so much of an already really good thing?
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
A Royal Affair
The Wall Street Journal
"Wedding to Boost U.K. Retail"
By ALEX BRITTAIN, MICHELLE ABREGO and JENNA LAYNE VOIGT
"Wedding to Boost U.K. Retail"
By ALEX BRITTAIN, MICHELLE ABREGO and JENNA LAYNE VOIGT
Last week, an article reported that U.K. retail was on a fast downward slope, but this week's article about U.K. retail spreads a little hope. As the royal wedding is quickly approaching, many say that the retail items that are associated with the national event will help boost retail. Others say that the boost will be great and much needed, but it will only be short-lived. The reasoning behind this claim is the fact that U.K. employees will have a day off for the wedding. U.K. will also be celebrating two holidays that sandwich the wedding holiday, so production will be halted for three days almost back to back to back.
Food and drink sales are expected to sky-rocket as people start to prepare for their wedding parties. The pubs centrally located around the wedding processional are also expecting a hike in retail. People are hoping this will be a catalyst to get retail back on its feet, but researchers say high prices and job security are factors to prevent a long-term boost.
First of all, I am intrigued by the enormous attention Americans have put on this wedding. We have always been fascinated with the British Royal family, mostly because of Diana. I remember hearing girls talk about and drool over Prince William when we were in grade school. Everyone has been waiting for this wedding. Americans have eaten up the the footage and coverage of Diana, Charles and Camille, and William and Harry.
Now that the royal family and its power looks a little bit different from earlier times with Elizabeth and Victoria, it's interesting to see that U.K. businesses are counting on the royal family and its fairy tale wedding to help in this time of need. It will be interesting to see how things play out for retailers. It's always interesting to me when the American "first family" and the British royal family are compared. I didn't see articles about Chelsea Clinton's wedding being counted on to boost America's or even New York's retail. I know it's a little different, but it's always interesting to read and discuss.
Friday, April 15, 2011
A First Time for Everything
The Wall Street Journal
"Web Advertising Eclipsed Newspapers in 2010"
By: Nat Worden
We have the results, and web advertising wins, making a return to double-digit percentage increases and beating out newspaper advertising in terms of revenue for the first time. In this article released yesterday, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said that total Web advertisement revenue increased 15% in 2010, reaching $26 billion. In 2009, the industry dove three percent due to the economic downturn. Even though this industry is seeing the light again, the increase in 2010 is only growing at half the rate the industry was seeing before the recession began in 2008.
Nevertheless, the industry has to start somewhere, so they are excited about this turn of events, citing Facebook Inc. and Netflix Inc. and their business as reasons for the upturn. The maturity level that online advertising as reached compares with that of other mediums, so this new form is beginning to gain nods, acknowledgement, and respect. It was said that the increase in revenue during 2010 speaks volumes, showing the power of the Internet in this generation. Also, these numbers show that major brands are beginning to gain confidence in the Internet's power and are more willing to carve a bigger piece of the advertising budget to use online.
As a testament to Google, search remained the largest category for online-ad revenue at 46%, but it is down from 47% last year. It will be interesting to see if this is just a yearly fluctuation or if a new powerhouse will arise in the future. Speaking of Google, it's been interesting over the years to see how many people use Google. I don't have any problem with Google, but I've always used Yahoo! Search. I didn't realize how much of a difference there was until recently when I began to study this in class.
For the first time, mobile advertising was recording during the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual report. This market is expected to see tremendous growth over the coming years. To me, this seems very obviously, especially when one looks at the dominance that the Apple iPhone and other smart phones have these days. The Apple iPad advertising revenue was also included in the mobile number, which ranged from $550 million to $650 million in 2010.
Because I am in this generation, I don't know what it was like without the Internet or mobile devices. I never studied advertising without considering the Internet. In my lifetime, the question about the lifespan of print has always been asked and debated. What is going to happen? Well, we have watched as print has survived. Now, it may have to keep evolving so that it can stay around longer, but isn't that the name of the game? With each new generation of consumers, companies and industries have to brand themselves for the consumer. The product can still have the "home grown roots" feel to it, but the advertising process will more than likely have multiple elements. I see it as no surprise that online advertising revenue is now ahead of newspaper's revenue, but I don't think this means advertising inside newspapers will completely die out. It will just look differently. Different people buy into a product for different reasons and because of different advertising concepts.
"Web Advertising Eclipsed Newspapers in 2010"
By: Nat Worden
We have the results, and web advertising wins, making a return to double-digit percentage increases and beating out newspaper advertising in terms of revenue for the first time. In this article released yesterday, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said that total Web advertisement revenue increased 15% in 2010, reaching $26 billion. In 2009, the industry dove three percent due to the economic downturn. Even though this industry is seeing the light again, the increase in 2010 is only growing at half the rate the industry was seeing before the recession began in 2008.
Nevertheless, the industry has to start somewhere, so they are excited about this turn of events, citing Facebook Inc. and Netflix Inc. and their business as reasons for the upturn. The maturity level that online advertising as reached compares with that of other mediums, so this new form is beginning to gain nods, acknowledgement, and respect. It was said that the increase in revenue during 2010 speaks volumes, showing the power of the Internet in this generation. Also, these numbers show that major brands are beginning to gain confidence in the Internet's power and are more willing to carve a bigger piece of the advertising budget to use online.
As a testament to Google, search remained the largest category for online-ad revenue at 46%, but it is down from 47% last year. It will be interesting to see if this is just a yearly fluctuation or if a new powerhouse will arise in the future. Speaking of Google, it's been interesting over the years to see how many people use Google. I don't have any problem with Google, but I've always used Yahoo! Search. I didn't realize how much of a difference there was until recently when I began to study this in class.
For the first time, mobile advertising was recording during the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual report. This market is expected to see tremendous growth over the coming years. To me, this seems very obviously, especially when one looks at the dominance that the Apple iPhone and other smart phones have these days. The Apple iPad advertising revenue was also included in the mobile number, which ranged from $550 million to $650 million in 2010.
Because I am in this generation, I don't know what it was like without the Internet or mobile devices. I never studied advertising without considering the Internet. In my lifetime, the question about the lifespan of print has always been asked and debated. What is going to happen? Well, we have watched as print has survived. Now, it may have to keep evolving so that it can stay around longer, but isn't that the name of the game? With each new generation of consumers, companies and industries have to brand themselves for the consumer. The product can still have the "home grown roots" feel to it, but the advertising process will more than likely have multiple elements. I see it as no surprise that online advertising revenue is now ahead of newspaper's revenue, but I don't think this means advertising inside newspapers will completely die out. It will just look differently. Different people buy into a product for different reasons and because of different advertising concepts.
Friday, April 8, 2011
"There's an App for That"
The Wall Street Journal
"Mobile-App Makers Face U.S. Privacy Investigation"
By: AMIR EFRATI, SCOTT THURM and DIONNE SEARCEY
American consumers are becoming more and more dependent upon the flexibility, speed, and connectivity that a smartphone can provide. These devices connect Americans to people and places all over the world, and the phrase, "There's an app for that." has been engrained in our minds. We know that there are thousands upon millions of downloadable applications for consumers to enjoy, but what would we think if we found out these applications handed over personal information to outside companies for advertising and revenue purposes?
The article mentioned above announces that several application providers are now under an investigation to look into this potential breach of privacy. In New Jersey, federal prosecutors are currently trying to find out if application providers illegally obtained or gave out personal information about their consumers without the proper disclosure information. This means that a consumer's location, age, gender, and other information could have been given to another entity for the purposes of customizing advertisements found throughout the smartphone applications. This investigation is taking place because it is unclear whether application providers fully explained to their users what types of personal data they collected or why it was being collected. Collecting this type of data without knowledge or consent would be in violation of a federal computer-fraud law.
Many companies with smartphone applications are currently being issued subpoenas; one of these is Pandora, Inc. In a recent study, 101 applications were tested, and it was found that 56 of them transmitted a phone's unique identifier to outsider companies without the users' knowledge. Forty-seven transmitted users' locations, and five offered the users' ages and genders. At the time of the test, forty-five of the applications did not have a privacy policy located within the application or on-line.
This is becoming more serious everyday, for more people are switching over to the smartphone. Consumers want the latest and greatest in technology, but as we are becoming more aware, they don't want it to cost them their privacy. I am becoming more aware that Americans are generally more private when engaged in face-to-face conversation, but when online, everything comes out onto the page or text or tweet. Now, I know this article is not about the lack of censoring when users blurt information online for the whole world to see, but it is still linked in a way. Online privacy, whether from the consumers' side or the producers' side, is becoming a major issue in our country. Application creators need to take more responsibility and not take lightly the technological power that they now have over application users. Yes, consumers should be more careful when downloading and using technology, and we should look out for our own safety. Nevertheless, the creators need to realize that if they cut corners or give private information out to advertisers and other outside companies without consent from the users, it will be uncovered. Investigations will continue, and these smartphone application firms could potentially enter into a time when a major PR overhaul must take place. In my mind and in a perfect world, producers and consumers should work together by asking questions, researching, and remaining honest.
When this article was discussed in my Business Administration class, we were shocked that Pandora, Inc. was included in this article and that they could potentially suffer from this investigation. While my classmates and others love their Pandora applications, they still wonder why Pandora would give out personal information. Maybe Pandora does not do this; but for now, we won't know until the investigation is finished and the court rules. Have we given ourselves over to technology, allowing it to abuse our trust and privacy, or do we as consumers look the other way and not care about our private lives until they become extremely public?
"Mobile-App Makers Face U.S. Privacy Investigation"
By: AMIR EFRATI, SCOTT THURM and DIONNE SEARCEY
American consumers are becoming more and more dependent upon the flexibility, speed, and connectivity that a smartphone can provide. These devices connect Americans to people and places all over the world, and the phrase, "There's an app for that." has been engrained in our minds. We know that there are thousands upon millions of downloadable applications for consumers to enjoy, but what would we think if we found out these applications handed over personal information to outside companies for advertising and revenue purposes?
The article mentioned above announces that several application providers are now under an investigation to look into this potential breach of privacy. In New Jersey, federal prosecutors are currently trying to find out if application providers illegally obtained or gave out personal information about their consumers without the proper disclosure information. This means that a consumer's location, age, gender, and other information could have been given to another entity for the purposes of customizing advertisements found throughout the smartphone applications. This investigation is taking place because it is unclear whether application providers fully explained to their users what types of personal data they collected or why it was being collected. Collecting this type of data without knowledge or consent would be in violation of a federal computer-fraud law.
Many companies with smartphone applications are currently being issued subpoenas; one of these is Pandora, Inc. In a recent study, 101 applications were tested, and it was found that 56 of them transmitted a phone's unique identifier to outsider companies without the users' knowledge. Forty-seven transmitted users' locations, and five offered the users' ages and genders. At the time of the test, forty-five of the applications did not have a privacy policy located within the application or on-line.
This is becoming more serious everyday, for more people are switching over to the smartphone. Consumers want the latest and greatest in technology, but as we are becoming more aware, they don't want it to cost them their privacy. I am becoming more aware that Americans are generally more private when engaged in face-to-face conversation, but when online, everything comes out onto the page or text or tweet. Now, I know this article is not about the lack of censoring when users blurt information online for the whole world to see, but it is still linked in a way. Online privacy, whether from the consumers' side or the producers' side, is becoming a major issue in our country. Application creators need to take more responsibility and not take lightly the technological power that they now have over application users. Yes, consumers should be more careful when downloading and using technology, and we should look out for our own safety. Nevertheless, the creators need to realize that if they cut corners or give private information out to advertisers and other outside companies without consent from the users, it will be uncovered. Investigations will continue, and these smartphone application firms could potentially enter into a time when a major PR overhaul must take place. In my mind and in a perfect world, producers and consumers should work together by asking questions, researching, and remaining honest.
When this article was discussed in my Business Administration class, we were shocked that Pandora, Inc. was included in this article and that they could potentially suffer from this investigation. While my classmates and others love their Pandora applications, they still wonder why Pandora would give out personal information. Maybe Pandora does not do this; but for now, we won't know until the investigation is finished and the court rules. Have we given ourselves over to technology, allowing it to abuse our trust and privacy, or do we as consumers look the other way and not care about our private lives until they become extremely public?
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