Retail Gift Card Association aims at Bad Gift Card Publicity Business Articles | March 16 Wholesale DeMarcus Cousins Jersey , 2009 The newly formed Retail Gift Card Association should address the issue of retailer bankruptcy and what happens to outstanding gift cards.?
Following the generally bad press that gift cards received during the holiday season of 2008, a number of retailers have come together to form the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), with the aim of building a positive image of closed-loop gift cards. Members of the Association include Best Buy, Subway, Wal-Mart Stores, Home Depot Wholesale Oscar Robertson Jersey , Kohl?s, Limited Brands, Nike, Applebee?s and Marriott International. This is a good development and consumers will be the ultimate beneficiaries.? However, for this to work, the association must address the reasons underlying the bad publicity they got from the media Wholesale Mike Bibby Jersey , legislators and consumer groups. One of the main issues has to do with bankruptcy. As the economy gets worse, more retailers are going bankrupt and there is no uniform standard regarding what happens to outstanding gift cards when a retailer goes bankrupt (whether it is Chapter 7 or 11 bankruptcy). For example, when the Sharper image went bankrupt in 2008, they initially refused to honor gift cards. After pressure from consumer groups and some state Attorney Generals, the company relented, but only allowed customers to redeem part of their gift cards. Similarly Wholesale Chris Webber Jersey , when the Bombay Company went bankrupt in late 2007, they refused to honor gift cards. Gift card holders had to file a claim with the bankruptcy court and were only able to get 25 cents on the dollar.? Furthermore, when electronics retailer Tweeter went bankrupt in late 2008, the company announced they were only going to redeem outstanding gift cards for only 5 days. It was only after Attorney Generals from a few states, including Maryland and Connecticut stepped in did the company extend the gift card redemption period to run until their liquidation sale was complete.? It is true that many of the major retailers that have gone bankrupt recently have redeemed gift cards, like Circuit City Wholesale Mitch Richmond Jersey , Linens ?N Things and Mervyn?s. But without uniform guidelines or standards, examples like the Sharper Image and Tweeter will continue to reflect badly on gift cards in general, thereby hurting all retailers. While consumers have the option of filing a claim with the bankruptcy court should a bankrupt retailer refuse to honor gift cards, that option is not viable since gift card holders are unsecured creditors and would therefore be at the bottom of the pecking order.? Therefore the best thing the association can do is to encourage their members to offer some kind of bankruptcy guarantee where consumers will be assured that they will be able to redeem their gift cards should the card issuer go bankrupt. That will not only generate good publicity but will also boast gift card sales, thereby benefiting the retail industry as a whole.?
Every Minute Matters: Discerning Attendee Types Marketing Articles | April 27, 2005
Set one foot on the trade show floor and instantly you?re surrounded by people. Tall ones Cheap Arron Afflalo Jersey , short ones, old ones, young ones. C-level executives are rubbing shoulders with corporate nobodies. Some rush from booth to booth in search of giveaways while others draw your sales staff into long, pointless conversations.
The good news is that between 80-90 percent of the attendees are often there to purchase new goods and services. The bad news is that other 10-20 percent can eat up lots of valuable floor time. How in the world do you identify who are valuable prospects and who are ?just looking? in this throng of people?
I?ve identified twelve distinct types of trade show attendees. Almost every person at the show will fall into one of these categories. Teach your staff to recognize these types. That way they can politely yet quickly handle the non-starters and spend their valuable floor time concentrating on the promising prospects.
Keep them moving if?
They come for the demo ? any demo, every demo. Some people just love to watch a show, whether it?s for the newest floor cleaning squeegee mop or a hydraulic drill press that can bore through four feet of concrete. They seem to travel in flocks Cheap Tyreke Evans Jersey , congregating around one demonstration after another, with no intention of purchasing the products being shown. Asking a few open-ended questions will help your staff know who?s at the show to do some shopping and who?s simply looking to be entertained.
They say ?Gimme, Gimme, Gimme? Any type of giveaway attracts these types. Keychains, pens, can cozies Cheap Ben McLemore Jersey , mouse pads, t-shirts ? it doesn?t matter. If it?s free, they want it. They may even want more than one, to give to their family, friends, and colleagues. You can often identify this type by their bulging tote bags and pockets full of unsharpened pencils. Keen questioning will ascertain if this visitor has any potential.
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