Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: July 23, 2009
W.W. Grainger Inc. last Wednesday reported an 18% drop in second-quarter profit but said it was able to carve out market-share gains even as the economy is showing no signs of a rebound.
Apple® announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 third quarter ended June 27, 2009. The Company posted revenue of $8.34 billion and a net quarterly [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: July 2, 2009
One of the things which happens in any downturn is that people try lower priced goods and services. They may try private label over brand, or they may shop in stores they normally have not shopped in to try to save some money. What many of these people find is that the “value” they thought [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: June 22, 2009
A year ago we published a paper on marketing in a down economy. We identified 11 key tactics. I am sharing them in this blog over the next few weeks, but if you want them all at once you can download the paper free.
Secret #7 is get the most from your vendors (aren’t your customers [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: February 16, 2009
You’d think with the downturn in full stride and high-end brands and retailers suffering that people would be looking to save money any way they can. Well value still sells, no matter the price. My case in point today is private education.
As a matter of law children are provided free education in the United States [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: January 15, 2009
The AP reported today that global PC shipments dropped for the first time in six years. Unlike other retail categories where unit volume was up but average selling price was down due to discounting, PC unit sales actually dropped in Q4 of 2008 compared to Q4 of 2007. The slip was small (0.4%) but nevertheless [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: January 13, 2009
Amid the doom and gloom in the auto sector, here comes Audi with record sales for the 13th year in a row. While Audi is a niche player in the industry (sales above 1M units for the first time), it is nevertheless a player in the auto industry where everyone else is seeing a downtrend [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: December 27, 2008
While I have no doubt that this holiday season’s retail sales will not have been great, I will look forward to hearing the actual numbers. And I suggest you look at them in detail. Since the report will come out before the new Obama administration takes office, the press is still likely to put as [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: November 10, 2008
Circuit City filed for bankruptcy today. Economy related? Probably, but not exclusively. A while back Circuit City restructured their compensation plan for their sales people, effectively reducing the pay of their top people. This caused many of their top sales people to leave. Sales dropped and now bankruptcy. Cause and effect? I think so.
Mitch
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: November 5, 2008
Not to sound like a broken record, but companies that focus tend to do better than companies that do not. If for no other reason than because they can become great and relevant at something, which assuming that is something customers care about, generates sales and profits. This need to focus is especially important in [...]
Posted by: Mitch/Ralph on: October 22, 2008
Mervyns, a California based retailer declared bankruptcy earlier this year and just announced that they were going to liquidate as they could not find a buyer or appropriate financing to continue. No doubt many will ascribe their demise to the credit crunch and recession. While the credit crunch may have been the final nail in [...]
