NEWS
 |
Welcome
to 2004 By ChannelMedia Editor Keith Newman |
Welcome to 2004. First I would like to say we are pleased
to announce the launch of our new look and hope that you find
it pleasing to the eye and more user-friendly. As always we
appreciate and respect your feedback so let us know what you
think.
So now what? Hopefully, you're still enjoying traditionally
strong January sales and at the same time busy re-ordering
that product that flew off your shelves the final days of
the holiday spending season. Only now you have time to lift
your head up, take phone out of your ear and schedule a
back massage to alleviate all the soreness from all of those
pats on the back from your boss for a job well done. Okay,
back to reality and the matter at hand, 2004. For while
a late spending surge the last week of the season saved
many a merchant, most only performed modestly better than
the year earlier. This is somewhat surprising given all
the economic data supporting a sustainable recovery, an
increase in consumer spending, a stock market boom and the
general re-emergence in job growth the second half of the
year.
Briefly reviewing the multitude of stories on the Holiday
Season, the key winners were those who strongly braced web-based
selling and not the right products and procedures for delivering
the web shopper. Also, CE remains very hot as a category and
there are numerous products and categories to mine.
So, back to planning for 2004. Here are some choice suggestions
(more are available by request!).
- Online: Now or Never. It appears that the online shopper
is not a fad so either get serious, partner with someone
like Amazon or eBay, who are both looking to go broader
and deeper in assortment and in their respective role
as an outsource partner or skip this part of the business.
A half-hearted effort in ecommerce will yield less than
a fair return. Rather, the bar is continually being raised.
Either find a way to make this business work or eject
and focus on other areas.
- Selling Small Business. It starts with an attitude and
ends somewhere around the operational efficiency and marketing
excellence of players like CDW and Dell. But the other
reason these two examples are beating the market growth
figures is because they are focused on delivering what
this market wants and needs. What they miss is hand holding
and on-site service and support. Also, for the timid purchasing
manager or owner, a phone call from a local operator with
a well-known address is a very potent competitor.
- Find A Room in the Connected Home. The Connected Home
is a hot category. Wireless networks, VOIP and digital
entertainment are all going to grow for the next five
years. These are categories with hot products, strong
margins and, if you know what you are doing, a strong
service and annuity revenue stream to be attached. The
supply chain for building, selling, and installing these
solutions is being formed right now. Find out where you
want to play and dominate!
- Here's one final recommendation that's quite a bit easier
to accomplish: Attend Spring RetailVision
- Duh! Tons of Retailers, Vendors and Market Watchers,
all of who can provide insights, tools or support for
one of the above key initiatives do. Quite simply, there
remains no better Event to do business. Of course, I'm
a bit biased, but twice a year this statement is validated.
- Here's something free: Subscribe to ChannelMedia. If
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Retail Digest Top 10
1. Micro Center Makes Changes
at the Top.
Micro Center announced that Richard M. Mershad, a twenty-year
veteran of the company, has been named President, in addition
to serving as President and CEO of Micro Electronics, Inc.,
the parent company of Micro Center, IPSG, Redemtech and WinBook.
Prior to being named President and CEO of Micro Electronics
in December, 2002, Mershad has had a long history with Micro
Center. In fact, he was the ninth employee to join Micro Center
when he began his career with the company in 1982 as an on-floor
salesperson. From when he was hired in 1982 until1985, Mershad
advanced from Department Manager to Store Manager and Product
Manager. From 1985 - when he was named Vice President - to
1992, Mershad played a critical role as head of merchandising
and sourcing, where he was instrumental in the physical design
and implementation of Micro Center Stores' departmentalized
approach to selling computer products and services and developing
key contacts with suppliers throughout the world. While serving
on the Executive Committee for Micro Electronics from 1993
to 2002, Mershad also founded WinBook and served as its President.
"Micro Center is achieving one of the strongest periods of
growth in our twenty-four year history, and initiatives put
in place over the last year are laying the groundwork for
even greater success in 2004," said Mershad. "Now, with the
record-breaking results from our After Thanksgiving Sale behind
us, and the Christmas selling season immediately before us,
I'm confident that Micro Center is poised for another big
step forward," said Mershad. Thomas Fritz, who previously
served as President of Micro Center, resigned from the company
to pursue interests in another industry. "We want to express
our gratitude to Tom for his many contributions to our success
and his determination to work diligently to make sure that
we fully realize the vast opportunities before us. We wish
him every success in his new venture," said Mershad.
2. In other major personnel moves across
the Retail Landscape, DataVision saw the
departure of two key executives Ahron Shacter and Jackie Trilling.
Jackie Trilling left to assume the role of Vice President
of Elephant Wireless, a 60-store chain of cellular phone and
accessories. Trilling will also work as VP, Business Operations
and Marketing at Newtech Guru, a leading
consumer electronics e-commerce store. Trilling had served
as Director of Marketing for New York City's DataVision. 10-year
DataVision executive Ahron Shacter hops across the street
to join RCS as head of computer buying operations and marketing.
But, according to DataVision President James Garson the New
York City powerhouse is on a roll having reported near-record
sales for 2003 and a significant increase in its online business.
Garson has also hired Dean Dacian, one of the top MarketSource
Apple Sales Reps and a new buyer, Alan Kaufman. Garson said
he has also added 14,000 square feet to their nearby store
to be used to expand web operations. The company also hopes
to open a new store later this year.
3. Leading online commerce executive, Dan Freeman, recently
resigned from Zones, Inc., to pursue other
opportunities.
4. Circuit City said same-store sales fell
2 percent in December, as growth in new tech products like
LCD and plasma televisions offset weaknesses in the more traditional
areas of home audio and video game hardware and software.
5. CompUSA, Inc., one
of the nation's leading Retailers and Resellers of technology
products and services, announced today that it has signed
an agreement with Protocall Technologies, Inc. of Commack,
New York, to install its SoftwareToGo(R) electronic software
delivery system in all CompUSA stores nationwide. CompUSA
will be the first retail chain in the country to utilize the
SoftwareToGo technology as a new in-store distribution channel
for software sales. The first installations, at 25 CompUSA
locations in the Dallas, San Francisco and Seattle market
regions, will be completed in December. The remainder of the
chain will receive their SoftwareToGo systems in early 2004.
6. Similarly, Protocall has entered into
a licensing agreement with Microsoft Corporation
to offer selected software products through Protocall's SoftwareToGo®
on-demand software delivery system which is being deployed
at CompUSA. Microsoft plans to offer both new release and
existing titles through the system. "We have studied the benefits
of on-demand availability of our products in the retail environment
and view Protocall's system as a timely solution that could
become an important part of our distribution network," said
Steve Schiro, Microsoft, Corporate Vice President, Retail
Sales and Marketing. "Protocall's system offers a new method
of distribution that holds the potential of moving beyond
the limitations that have always been a part of physical distribution."
7. According to sources, Apple
is negotiating a 21,000-square-foot lease for the GM Building's
underground concourse, for the company's second retail store
in Manhattan. "The store will have a mini-entrance at the
edge of Fifth Ave. and then drop into the space that once
housed a Vidal Sassoon shop." Apple's annual rent would likely
land in the US $3 million to $4 million range.
8. Warrantech is unveiling new time and cost-saving
features for its web-based tool, WCPS Online, at the International
Consumer Electronics Show, which starts today in Las Vegas.
New modules for the application include Service Contract Submission,
Dealer Sales Analysis and Express Claims Processing. All of
these features are designed to reduce paperwork and cut the
time and costs of administering warranties for dealers and
service providers, while providing a better experience and
faster service for their customers. "In the Warrantech tradition
of innovation and customer service, we intend to continue
to enhance WCPS Online - the industry's most comprehensive
web-based tool - to meet the real-time needs of Retailers,
Service Providers and Consumers," said Burt Shaw, President
of Warrantech's Consumer Products division. "These new features
are just one example of that commitment and attention to world-class
customer support."
9. 321 Studios is showing off three new products
that will have the entire family 'burning' in 2004. Now you
can back up PC games - with GAMES X COPY. Now you can burn
five movies to one DVD - with DVD X VAULT. Now you can get
all of your DVD and CD creation and rescue tools all in one
box - with DVD X TOOLS. "Parents thanked us for DVD X Copy
then asked us to do the same thing for PC games, and here
it is. You need to no longer fear losing your expensive PC
game collection to scratches, skipping, or freezing," said
Robert Moore, 321 Studios' Founder and President. "Now you
can simply back them up and put the expensive original in
a safe place, and the backup will play on your PC just like
the original."
10. The 248 REX Stores chain said sales for
the fiscal 2003 fourth quarter-to-date through January 1,
2004 fell approximately 9% to $98,095,000 from $108,343,000
in the comparable fiscal 2002 period. Comparable store sales
quarter-to-date through January 1, 2004 fell 6%. The company
considers a store to be comparable after it has been open
six full fiscal quarters. Comparable store sales figures do
not include sales of extended service contracts.
Separately, the company announced today that Lawrence Tomchin
will retire as President and Chief Operating Officer, effective
January 31, 2004. Mr. Tomchin will remain a part-time employee
of, and consultant to, the company, providing counsel and
other services to management as needed while assisting in
the transition of his day-to-day responsibilities to other
members of the senior operating team. Mr. Tomchin will remain
a director of REX. "Larry Tomchin has been a valuable member
of our senior management team since the beginning," commented
Stuart Rose, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are
grateful for his dedication and service over the past 24 years
and are pleased that he will continue to be available as a
consultant and Board member."
CES Wrap-up - Reporter's Notebook
ChannelMedia Staff
Folks, if you missed CES 2004, you missed one of the good
ones. Lots of great new products, some nice future products
and concepts, crowds, taxi lines, all the things that make
a real show in Las Vegas a big win. Bill Gates started it
off with a Keynote Wednesday night in which he demo'd the
first working/shipping PDA watch. Fossil beat themselves
to the punch with the MSN watch. Cool concept; affordable,
legible, and the Pocket PC compatible unit hits the market
while they are still trying to get the Palm unit to work.
With new smartphones, tablet PCs, and Windows Media Player
9, Microsoft is on a huge tear though the industry.
Thursday the show opened to over 120,000 people. Separate
halls for the 12-volt people (automotive electronics), Hilton
Ballrooms for the Hong Kong companies, the Main Hall for
the big players, and the South Hall for the good stuff!!
The second floor of the South Hall was some sort of Convergence
City. All the stuff we've all been talking about for years
is happening. Great stuff! Wired homes (and wireless), HD,
Home Plug, DVD- RW, digital home stuff. Here are some of
the neat things we saw: a pocket-able (about 5 inch by 3.5
inch) Bluetooth enabled, 1GHz processor, 20Gig HD, XP computer
from OQO. This is a breakthrough product, folks. Will it
be successful? Don't know. But in three years we will all
carry one of these instead of our laptop, Pocket PC, or
Palm on the road. My Palm Tungsten C Wireless will fall
by the wayside, if I can toss this puppy in my briefcase
(or pocket) instead. Months from production, this is nevertheless
something we will all be tracking from now on.
Other breakthroughs? How about Digital Deck, a high-end
approach to pumping digital content anywhere in the house;
TV, PC, VCR, DVD player, etc. Unfortunately, it is a cabled
approach, but a real stab at dominating a new niche that
we will all have in our homes in five years. Home Entertainment,
Connected to the Home, Broadband Entertainment; these are
all phrases we better get used to, and named areas within
CES. Digital home convergence is here. BravoBrava has a
very neat app for road warriors to control their TIVOs from
the road, via a handheld. One question; how many road warriors
have TIVO and Palm or Pocket PC?
Sony premiered a product with an odd name: DSC T1T. I think
that's an odd name. Look at it a couple times. It's supposed
to be an award-winning digital camera. I don't talk much
about Automotive Electronics, but Audiovox and a few others
have the greatest family gift in the world; headrest mounted
DVD players. Anybody with kids will acknowledge this as
a premium breakthrough and sanity preserver for those long
car trips with kids. In the 12-volt area, there must have
been 20 of these offerings. Long overdue, I say. Mailblocks
spent a fortune. Another anti-spam player, these guys and
gals put signs on buses (how 90 of them), and even gave
out chocolate bars with their logos to the press. My wife
Susan assured me the chocolate was good.
The Fuji film blimp was circling all week. Notice how we've
gotten used to that? When I grew up, the only one blimping
around (floating, motoring, flying?) was the Goodyear blimp.
Fuji has done a great branding job, and in so doing, has
knocked Kodak right out of the box. As the slave used to
whisper to the conquering general in Rome, riding on the
hero's chariot during his parade; "all glory is fleeting."
Televigation has the gadget guy gotta-have product of this
or any show; TeleNav - turn-by-turn GPS navigation on cell
phones. Is that too cool or what? $6.99 per month, and ships
standard on Nextel's i730 phone. How about the Migo? Your
desktop on a USB key. It even knows when you change your
Outlook settings. Just grab and go with this little gizmo
and plug it into any laptop or desktop you encounter. Presto,
all your settings are up and running, including e-mail settings.
How cool is that? Migo should be huge with the big accounting
firms and global consulting outfits. Amazing technology
breakthrough, all in software.
The connected home is coming folks. HAI was showing its
family of controllers, with touch screen technology for
running your whole house, all your automations, HVAC, everything.
Great stuff. We have a small fountain in the backyard I
control from inside the house. Way cool. Shell Home Products
(from Shell Oil - do ya think these folks have enough dough
to throw at the problem?) has the best suite of products
I have seen yet in this arena. Fabulous array of controllers,
and very cool gizmos.
Screens, screens, and more screens. They are getting bigger,
better, and now we are all in that business. Gateway has
the #1 selling plasma screen in the country - 42." Beautiful
products from a number of companies. Farudja has a 76" plasma
that will knock your socks off. Old-established TI is back,
although I'm not sure they ever left. For half the price
of plasma, TI was showing their DLP technology (Digital
Light Processing) and it is nearly as good as plasma. This
is great stuff. Saw the first one at Fry's in Las Vegas
last year.
Had a great time - let us know if we missed out on some
new stuff. Thanks.
kanewman@sbcglobal.net
RetailVision Spring Welcomes Asian
Vendors & New Digital Home Category
By Pete Prentice, Event Director, RetailVision Now
that the new year is here, we can officially say that RetailVision®
Spring is in the air. This year's Event - taking place April
26-29, 2004 at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort & Spa
in Indian Wells, California - is building more momentum every
day. Here's a quick update of two major and exciting developments:
- Retailers
at RetailVision Spring will be able to do business with
a whole new group of Vendors from Asia. The enhanced presence
of Asian companies is a reflection of the ongoing globalization
of the RetailVision brand, as well as the dynamic business
relationships being formed in China, Japan, Korea and
other Asian nations by our dedicated General Sales Agents.
Stay tuned for the announcement of Asian Vendors that
will be part of RetailVision Spring.
- Vendors
at RetailVision Spring will benefit from a whole new technology
category at the Event - Digital Home. We're bringing in
approximately 30 Retailers from the Digital Home space,
with two boardroom groups focused on LCD, Plasma and DLP
Projectors and Monitors. These products represent some
of the hottest technology trends and growth areas of the
retail marketplace. The Digital Home category will certainly
bring a lot of great new business relationships into focus!
While we're giving updates...
- Over
140 top Retailers are already confirmed for the Spring
Event.
- There's
lots of great buzz related to our enhanced online Self-Scheduling
System that allows Vendors and Retailers to set up their
own meetings, and now enables Vendors to identify buyers
by product. The new scheduling system will be going live
soon which will give participants an early start at building
their personal schedules.
- All
participants should get ready for what may be the most
spectacular venue in RetailVision history -- The Hyatt
Grand Champions Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, California.
Retailers
interested in qualifying for an invitation to RetailVision
Spring 2004 should contact Melissa Park at 603-471-4226 or
e-mail melissa.park@gartner.com.
Vendors interested in participating in RetailVision
Spring 2004 should contact:
RESEARCH
The LCD TV Market
A US-based research group published a survey result on LCD
TVs in the "6th DisplaySearch Japan Forum" on December 12,
2003, predicting how LCD TVs made by PC makers will affect
the entire LCD TV market. The group, DisplaySearch, predicts
the shipments of LCD TVs from PC makers, such as Dell, Inc.
and Gateway, Inc., to increase to 1.5 million units in 2004,
3 million units in 2005, 6 million units in 2006, and 10 million
units in 2007.
LCD TVs from PC makers will account for 18% of the LCD TV
market in 2004, and the share will increase rapidly to nearly
30% in 2007. It is likely that the share will exceed 30% in
the US and European markets. According to Yoshio Tamura, Vice
President and Director for the Japan Branch of DisplaySearch,
the PC makers' entry will accelerate the growth of the LCD
TV market after 2004 in the US and Europe. In the Japanese
market, however, the share of PC makers' LCD TVs will be well
below the average.
LCD TVs from manufacturers of PC have a low price appeal,
which comes from low profit margins. LCD TVs from home appliances
makers usually give retailers a profit margin of 25-35%, while
those from makers of PCs give them a maximum profit margin
of 15%. In case of online marketing, the profit margin is
as small as 5%. These low-priced LCD TVs will affect the average
price of an LCD TV in 2004. For example, the average price
of 28-32 inch LCD TVs will be US $2,554 in 2004, which is
as much as US $733 lower than that in 2003. The low prices
presented by companies that make PCs will affect home appliance
makers, causing a further drop in the average price of LCD
TVs, the research group said. It is expected that 28-32 inch
LCD TVs will be priced at US $1,241 and 40-inch or larger-sized
LCD TVs will be marketed at US $1,929 -- about half the current
price -- in 2004.
Bigger is Better: 17-inch Notebooks
Take Retail By Storm
By Matt Sargent, ARS Research
I'm not a truck guy. I just don't get it. I have a warped
belief that my four door sedan has all the room I need to
make it through my daily life. But, living in Southern California,
it is impossible to deny the popularity of SUVs. Everyone,
from construction workers to soccer moms, swears by the SUV
-- and over the last few years the car industry has jumped
to fill this highly profitable niche. Everyone from Ford to
Porsche now offers an SUV with a huge degree of variation
within the segment. The term SUV now applies to vehicles ranging
from the high end Cadillac Escalade aimed at 60-something
retirees and celebrity athletes to the X-generation inspired
Nissan Xterra.
While I don't get the SUV phenomenon, I do grasp a somewhat
similar movement within the PC market place. While I am most
certainly not a truck guy (the auto mechanic who took me to
the cleaners for my last "scheduled" check up will testify
to my lack of overall automotive knowledge), I am a tech guy,
and the one cool tech toy I have an insatiable appetite for
this holiday season is the 17-inch notebook.
When I first heard that Apple was offering a notebook with
a 17-inch display I was suspect. I had worked with 16" notebooks
and considered the display to be too tall for easy usage.
I am not exactly sure what it was about the height of a 16"
display that bothered me, but it simply looked disproportionately
tall. Perhaps it was a feeling that this was a disaster waiting
to happen - envisioning the system tipping over under the
weight of its own display. It just didn't seem right. A 17-inch
display I reasoned would be even worse. Apple, however, took
a new twist on large displays by increasing the width, and
not the height of the display, the result being a "wide screen"
display not much taller than a 14" notebook. I was immediately
struck by how inviting the form factor was and how positively
it would resonate within the home market. The biggest problem
with the Apple system was price. At $3,299, the original 17-inch
Apple PowerBook would not make it beyond the small, but fiercely
loyal Apple installed base. While the PowerBook certainly
scored well among this group, broad market acceptance was
not going to happen at $3,000.
Acceptance within the market came with Toshiba's version of
the 17-inch form factor. The Toshiba Satellite P25-Series
was born, and with it a whole new market was created. No longer
did all notebooks within retail look identical with non-descript
15-inch displays. The P25 was the first SUV of the notebook
market, and similar to the acceptance of the SUV, the P25
found immediate success.
Not wanting to miss out on this new market, HP followed Toshiba
with the Pavilion zd7000-series. Like the Satellite P25, the
Pavilion zd7000 did extremely well in retail becoming one
of the top selling notebooks for HP within a few short weeks
of its release. Additionally, HP was able to grab interest
for the 17-inch form factor in the mid-tier market with a
$1,699 zd7000 that performed very well. In just a few months,
the Toshiba Satellite P25 and the HP Pavilion zd7000 drove
the 17-inch notebook market from virtually no retail unit
sales to almost ten percent of sales. The HP Pavilion zd7020US
currently ranks in the top ten models currently sold in retail.
Interestingly, the P25 is everything that a notebook shouldn't
be, according to the stereotype of portable PCs. It is VERY
heavy, weighing in at nearly ten pounds. It is bulky and thick.
If "thin and light" are the watch words for notebook design,
why has the P25 done so well? The reason is because the definition
of the notebook PC is changing now that the consumer market
has become more interested in the segment. Weight isn't important
if you are simply moving from one room to another and never
plan on taking the system beyond the four walls of your home.
Another aspect not necessarily important to the home user
is battery life. Who cares if a notebook only gets one and
half hours of battery life if I am within ten feet of a power
source at all times?
These differing needs have created a new opportunity for notebook
manufacturers, much like car owner's preferences created the
SUV. Does a home computer user necessarily "need" a 17-inch
notebook? Definitely not -- standard 15-inch or even older
14-inch systems will get the job done. However, a 17-inch
widescreen provides a level of differentiation for users looking
for more than the standard "vanilla" PC. This differentiation
has been a missing component of the PC industry for some time,
and like the rush car manufacturers made to the SUV, ARS expects
that the computer industry will rush to supply the need created
by the 17" form factor. Now if only my SUV friends wouldn't
laugh at my car.
Aiirnet's Hot Spot in a Box
Hot Spots for the common business - By Craig Settles,
The Wireless Way
 Much
attention has gone to the large businesses such as Starbucks
that are deploying hot spots all over hill and dale. But what
about smaller businesses that would love to draw folks in
with the lure of wireless Web wandering? Well, every canine
will have its day, and Aiirnet
is bringin' home the Kibbles 'n Bits for the little dawgs
that want to play in the big dawg's yard. You must provide
a high speed Net connection, but Aiirnet's HotSpot Controller
is a hot spot in a box delivers everything else needed to
get a hot spot up and running within the hour. This includes
the technology and personnel needed to collect credit card
payments, provide 24/7 tech support and create a customized
opening Web page customers see when they access the hot spot.
To get started, you send Aiirnet a completed two-page form,
a digital file of your logo and the content you want on the
login page. Then plug the pre-configured Aiirnet HotSpot Controller
into an Ethernet, DSL or cable modem connection and plug the
power cord into an outlet. Organizations can offer visitors
one of several service plans (hourly, daily and monthly rates)
in a revenue-sharing arrangement with Aiirnet, or it can offer
the connection for free as a traffic-building tool and pay
Aiirnet a fixed monthly fee. Anyone with a mobile device within
300 feet that supports 802.11b/a or Bluetooth can access the
hot spot.
A built-in firewall authenticates users in several ways. Boingo
and other roaming users can log in, you can allocate different
amounts of bandwidth to customers and two USB ports on the
controller allow you to add printers, all of which are avenues
for generating additional revenues.
HotSpot Controller can strengthen ties with existing customers
and generate new ones. Starbucks has institutionalized the
value proposition for providing wireless Net access to customers:
research shows that customers stay longer and spend more money
because of their hot spots, and undoubtedly new people give
Starbucks a try because of WiFi access. Some businesses may
want to offer free WiFi access to draw people into their location,
Aiirnet's product makes more sense for those who want the
double bonus of pulling in people who spend more with the
business and also create new revenue streams. For either group,
Aiirnet provides the benefit of turning the login page into
a portal to deliver special offers, or content that keeps
people around longer.
Some creative souls may use the opening page to promote chat
groups of patrons so they can supplement their Web surfing
with activities such as playing games, reviewing books and
swapping ideas. Some government agencies and business service
outfits such as quick copy stores may see this as another
service they can launch with minimal effort and expense. At
a tactical level, the obvious benefit of being able to throw
up a hot spot and have all of the admin responsibilities carried
by someone else is that you have a great branding tool. Now
your establishment has the hip image that comes with being
the place where tech-aware people hang out, as well as practical
people who add your place to their list of digital pit stops
for when they need convenient, quick WiFi access.
Once you have a regular crowd of people who use your location
regularly for WiFi access, you can use the "login-page-as-portal"
to push out coupons and special offers for slow-moving items
in inventory. Or you can conduct short research surveys to
gather feedback to help improve your business. Once you have
a portal, even a small one, you have all the marketing options
of a basic Web site.
www.wirelessinconline.com
Top-Selling
Software
Week of December 21 - December 27, 2003 |
| All
Categories |
| 1 |
Norton
Antivirus 2004 |
Symantec |
$40 |
| 2 |
TurboTax
2003 Deluxe |
Intuit |
$40 |
| 3 |
The
Sims: Makin' Magic Expansion Pack |
Electronic
Arts |
$32 |
| 4 |
Call
Of Duty |
Activision |
$46 |
| 5 |
MS
Windows XP Home Ed Upgr |
Microsoft |
$98 |
| 6 |
Taxcut
2003 Deluxe |
Block
Financial |
$24 |
| 7 |
MS
Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection |
Microsoft |
$28 |
| 8 |
The
Sims Deluxe |
Electronic
Arts |
$20 |
| 9 |
The
Sims Double Deluxe |
Electronic
Arts |
$40 |
| 10 |
Norton
Internet Security 2004 |
Symantec |
$65 |
| |
| Games |
| 1 |
The
Sims: Makin' Magic Expansion Pack |
Electronic
Arts |
$32 |
| 2 |
Call
Of Duty |
Activision |
$46 |
| 3 |
MS
Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection |
Microsoft |
$28 |
| 4 |
The
Sims Deluxe |
Electronic
Arts |
$20 |
| 5 |
The
Sims Double Deluxe |
Electronic
Arts |
$40 |
| 6 |
The
Sims: Superstar Expansion Pack |
Electronic
Arts |
$28 |
| 7 |
MS
Age Of Mythology |
Microsoft |
$33 |
| 8 |
MS
Flight Simulator 2004: Century Of Flight |
Microsoft |
$51 |
| 9 |
Halo:
Combat Evolved |
Microsoft |
$42 |
| 10 |
The
Sims: Vacation Expansion Pack |
Electronic
Arts |
$18 |
| |
| Business |
| 1 |
MS
Office 2003 Student/Teacher Ed |
Microsoft |
$149 |
| 2 |
QuickBooks
2004 Pro |
Intuit |
$278 |
| 3 |
MS
Office XP Student & Teacher Ed Acad |
Microsoft |
$131 |
| 4 |
QuickBooks
2004 |
Intuit |
$198 |
| 5 |
Norton
AntiSpam 2004 |
Symantec |
$39 |
| 6 |
Pop-up
Stopper Companion 3.0 |
Panicware |
$30 |
| 7 |
McAfee
SpamKiller 5.0 |
Network
Associates |
$36 |
| 8 |
MS
Office 2003 Pro Upgr |
Microsoft |
$326 |
| 9 |
MS
Office X Student/Teacher Ed |
Microsoft |
$148 |
| 10 |
Mac
Internet Services Suite |
Apple |
$98 |
| |
| Home
Education |
| 1 |
Adventure
Workshop 1st-3rd Grade |
Riverdeep
Interactive |
$19 |
| 2 |
Dora
The Explorer Animal Adventures |
Atari |
$20 |
| 3 |
Jumpstart
Advanced Kindergarten 2003 |
Vivendi
Universal Publishing |
$20 |
| 4 |
Adventure
Workshop 4th-6th Grade |
Riverdeep
Interactive |
$19 |
| 5 |
Jumpstart
Advanced Preschool 2003 |
Vivendi
Universal Publishing |
$20 |
| 6 |
Jumpstart
Advanced First Grade 2003 |
Vivendi
Universal Publishing |
$20 |
| 7 |
Mavis
Beacon Teaches Typing 15.0 |
Riverdeep
Interactive |
$20 |
| 8 |
Jumpstart
Advanced Second Grade 2003 |
Vivendi
Universal Publishing |
$20 |
| 9 |
Jumpstart
Advanced Third Grade 2003 |
Vivendi
Universal Publishing |
$20 |
| 10 |
Blue's
Blue Takes You To School |
Atari |
$20 |
| |
| List
is based on units sold by twenty-three channel partners.
For more information, please contact The NPD Group at
(703) 376-6226. |
COMMUNITY
Q&A with Macromedia's Michael
K. Menegay, Senior VP of Worldwide Channels
Q: What is Macromedia Breeze?
A: Breeze is the Macromedia software platform for rapid
learning and training that enables you to simplify and accelerate
online meetings, presentations, and training with one revolutionary
integrated solution. Breeze has three modules: Breeze Presentation,
Breeze Training, and Breeze Live.
Breeze Presentation allows you to personalize Microsoft PowerPoint
presentations with your own narration and easily deliver them
on demand through any standard web browser in Macromedia Flash
format. Content experts and instructional designers can now
develop and publish materials with ease by creating new or
pre-existing PowerPoint presentations that integrate digital
video, Flash simulations, and other types of media and provide
a rich experience for the viewer.
Breeze Training allows you to build a complete online training
system with PowerPoint presentations that includes surveys,
tracking, analysis, course administration/management, and
content management. Now you can schedule courses, invite and
register participants, and track attendee statistics. Test
the effectiveness of your courses by building quizzes and
surveys into your PowerPoint presentations. Generate detailed
reports on courses, students, and test results and set up
automated certification criteria. Manage users, set permissions,
and run reports to log the number of viewers and gauge the
effectiveness of your Breeze presentations and courses.
Breeze Live provides an unequaled experience in online meetings,
allowing you to meet instantly with colleagues anywhere at
any time. Imagine online meetings that actually work! Because
Breeze Live works with Macromedia Flash, setup is quick and
intuitive. No software downloads or plug-ins are required.
Now you can bring PowerPoint slides, digital video, Flash
simulations, and other types of media into your live meetings.
Chat with a few people or broadcast to many. Web cast applications
on your PC through screen sharing. Schedule meetings in advance,
preload content before meetings, and use preset or custom
meeting room layouts. You can even save rooms for recurring
meetings and record it all easily for future viewings.
Macromedia offers Breeze hosted packages, or you can host
it on your own company's servers.
Question #2
Q: How has the use of Breeze technology impacted your channel
organization at Macromedia?
A: Breeze has helped our smaller account management,
programs, marketing, operations, and technical teams to scale,
covering more partners and partner types across larger territories.
With Breeze we are communicating more efficiently and executing
our training and enablement activities more often and with
much greater consistency. Overall we are sharing information
with partners and their teams far more cost-effectively than
ever before. Our savings on travel expenses alone in one quarter
was enough to pay for the software. Breeze is keeping us on
time and on budget.
Question #3
Q: In what phases of the channel partner lifecycle is Breeze
technology and its individual modules most helpful?
Recruiting: Breeze helps us make every meeting a face-to-face
one. Connecting with every prospect in a Breeze Live meeting
has helped increase our channel partner recruitment and retention
rate. Meetings are not only more effective and productive
but they happen more often and with limited costs. We are
building strong channel loyalty through frequent and meaningful
interactions with channel partners through Breeze.
Enablement and Training: Breeze Presentation and Breeze
Live make rapid learning possible and highly effective. Together
they help us ensure competency throughout the channel. Breeze
helps channel partners cut through the clutter, delivering
the latest information wherever and whenever it's needed.
We deliver timely and relevant information on process and
product from Macromedia SMEs in an organized fashion. All
content can be recorded and saved in a repository, to be reviewed
later on demand or for reference purposes. By making effective
use of the Internet, Breeze keeps channel partners informed
and trained with less cost, less travel, and less time away
from their desk and territory. It is quickly becoming our
partners' preferred way of learning and exchanging information
with us as a vendor.
Marketing: Breeze Presentation, Breeze Training, and
Breeze Live increase the effectiveness and tracking of marketing
programs. Breeze gets our message out quickly to a worldwide
channel partner and customer audience in one-to-many events
by using the web to reduce logistics costs. Breeze reduces
event management staffing and allows us to sponsor more events
more often. Offering recorded events from our website helps
capture new partners and customer prospects who could not
otherwise attend an event.
Sales: Breeze impacts revenue today! We spend less
time traveling and more time meeting with more prospects.
Breeze Presentation and Breeze Live turn sales calls into
interactive online demonstrations. In minutes we can bring
remote key decision-makers together. By recording meetings
for those who are not in attendance, we can help shorten long,
complex sales cycles.
Feedback: Breeze gives Macromedia insight into who
is understanding our message and who is not. Understanding
the effectiveness of process and programs is critical to any
channel organization. With Breeze Presentation and Breeze
Training we can deploy content to channel partners, register
participants, and track attendee statistics and competency
level with great detail. We can also survey quickly on specific
topics, processes, and programs to understand perceptions
and make necessary adjustments quickly. We have found over
time that channel partners are loyal to vendors who listen
and respond. There is a lot of competition out there for a
limited amount of mind share. In the channel, change is inevitable
and making the right change at the right time is critical.
Breeze has put us far ahead of the game and will keep us there.
Question #4
Q: How long does it take to learn Breeze technology
and integrate it efficiently and effectively into your daily
process in the channel?
A: Our internal channel team was installed, up and
running, and being trained within one hour. Within one week
we had a strong working knowledge of all three Breeze modules
and had begun integrating them into our daily process. We
found Breeze to be very approachable and intuitive. Not only
was it easy for us to learn, but it was simple to use. Our
channel partners enjoy Breeze and the flexibility it provides
them to receive information from Macromedia. We see the use
of Breeze to communicate, educate, train, and enable our channel
partners as a big competitive advantage over other vendors
competing for mind share.
Question #5
Q: How can I learn more about the Macromedia Breeze
product platform?
A: Just click here:
Macromedia Breeze for Channel Management
http://www.macromedia.com/software/breeze/solutions/sales/channel_readiness/
Macromedia Breeze product home page
http://www.macromedia.com/software/breeze/
Macromedia Breeze FAQ
http://www.macromedia.com/software/breeze/productinfo/faq/
or contact Macromedia directly at 888-649-2990 or sales@macromedia.com.
Changing Channels
What's Important These Days
By ChannelMedia Staff
Obviously revenue is #1 on the hit parade this year. However,
during the recent downturn, companies were so focused on revenue
that they forgot to do all sorts of important things. Here's
what's important all the time:
Figure out who your customers are. The more detail the better.
Marketers and customer outreach people need to pin up a picture
and a description of their target customer over their desks.
Everything you write, every ad placement, every outbound e-mail,
the script your telesales people use, your web site, and your
product placements in the channel all need to support acquisition
and support of the target customer.
Continue to spend, but spend appropriately. A consultant friend
had a client that placed multiple end caps in retail every
month of the year, across their entire retail channel. Until
my friend did an ROI analysis, that is. He found that about
1/3 of the end caps were losing money! Just because an item
is budgeted does not make it right, or an appropriate level
of spending. Then spend the right amount on reaching the right
customer (see above). Take caps off your commissions, if your
company has caps. This is one really cheap way to stimulate
additional and incremental sales. If capped commissions are
a religious issue with the company, even the Pope grants exemptions.
If your company is not doing direct marketing; start. Whether
you plan on sending e-mails for outreach, a newsletter for
communication and informing, or a postcard announcing an update/upgrade,
start communicating and keep communicating. If you don't take
care of your customers, somebody else would love to do it
for you!
Revenue is always going to be #1. But if you think it's the only
important thing; you're mistaken.
|
