ASR Blog

How To: Use Online Reviews to Boost Your Sales

From InternetRetailer.com:

Retailer Cabela’s Inc. has realized a sales lift in the area of 5% to 10% from marketing e-mail featuring top-rated products as reviewed by customers on its web site. Director of e-commerce Mark Thompson says the company, which still is gathering data on exactly how online reviews are affecting key metrics, also has seen returns on reviewed products drop by as much as 3/10 of a percentage point in the first nine months of implementation. He did not disclose what Cabela’s return rate is.

But Cabela’s, which uses Bazaarvoice technology, hasn’t stopped at e-mail in exploring how customer reviews gathered online might affect the performance of other channels. Thompson says the retailer has a long tradition of customer testimonials because customers buying outdoor sports and adventure gear have a strong sense of identity with the brand; for instance, sending snapshots of how they’ve used equipment purchased at Cabela’s on vacation. As a result, Cabela’s in June started flagging in its catalog some top-rated products as reviewed by customers on its web site.

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How To: Recession-Proof Your Small Business

From BusinessWeek:

Small Biz experts tell you how to prepare for the worst—stay lean, talk to your customers, and don't stop hiring and marketing.

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New Bisphenol-A Study Results Say Temperature is Key

From ScienceDaily.com:

"Inspired by questions from the climbing community, we went directly to tests based on how consumers use these plastic water bottles [that contain Bisphenol-A] and showed that the only big difference in exposure levels revolved around liquid temperature: Bottles used for up to nine years released the same amount of BPA as new bottles." [-U.C. Cincinnati study author]

BPA is one of many man-made chemicals classified as endocrine disruptors, which alter the function of the endocrine system by mimicking the role of the body's natural hormones. Hormones are secreted through endocrine glands and serve different functions throughout the body.

The chemical--which is widely used in products such as reusable water bottles, food can linings, water pipes and dental sealants--has been shown to affect reproduction and brain development in animal studies.

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How To: Grow Beyond Your Niche

From 4Hoteliers.com:

Many niche brands have a lexicon spawned from their particular product arena. For example, in the active outdoor category, “tech talk” is part of a common language used by many brands in the attempt to differentiate.

This is due, in part, to the fact that “tech talk” is the language of the product inventor or designer, and that same person is often the driving force behind brand communications at the early stages.

While using “tech talk” can convince an internal audience into thinking they have successfully differentiated their brand, the consumer will not buy into it if competitors match the brand’s “tech talk” with theirs. “Will I stay drier with this brand’s BETTER THAN GORTEX® MEGA-MEMBRANE WATERPROOF SYSTEM™ or that brand’s FUSED-ON GORTEX®-LIKE RAINPROOF PROTECTION LAYER™?” Neither brand has communicated what makes it distinctive and upmarket, nor given a clear reason why the consumer should make a purchase.

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How To: Create a Marketing Plan for an Outdoor Designer

Here's a sample (but comprehensive) marketing plan for a fictional outdoor gear designer from the Small Business Resource Center:

1.0 Executive Summary
Simplistic Labyrinth Design Studio is a designer/prototyper for a wide range of outdoor gear. Simplistic Labyrinth will create a prototype from a list of specifications from the customer, or from Simplistic's technical background. Once the protype is made the customer can then license the product and sell it as their own. This service is useful for companies that do not have an in-house design studio, as well as those that do but for whatever reason cannot produce some "one-off" models. It is also useful for entrepreneurs that would like a product designed so they can take it to market.

In addition to designs that are requested by manufacturers, Simplistic Labyrinth has several products that they have already designed and will try to find the right company to market and manufacture the product. Simplistic Labyrinth Design Studio will leverage their competitive advantages of imagination and expertise to gain market share. Profitability will be reached by the fourth month (although profitable months might be surrounded by unprofitable months, a function of the revenue cycle for this type of business) and year three is projected to bring $11,000 of profit.

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How To: Be a More Productive Trade Show Traveler

From Small Business Resource Center:

Don't exhaust yourself wandering the convention center floor. If you're an attendee, arm yourself with goals, targets and plans in order to turn your trade show trip into a truly productive excursion. ...

Jacqueline Church Simonds is a self-described trade show veteran. The co-owner of Beagle Bay Inc., her Reno, Nev.-based book publishing and distribution company, she's been to dozens of trade shows in the last seven years, both as an exhibitor and as an attendee. For her, the biggest is the book industry's annual gathering, BookExpo America, which she describes as "the Super Bowl of shows" for people in her business.

Indeed, just like football, Simonds suggests, trade shows are games that require strength, speed and endurance. "Trade shows are very exhausting," she says. "You're overwhelmed from the get-go. You walk in and it's this giant room filled with people. They're all talking and it's loud and there's all this stuff going on; you have no idea what to do."

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Yes, we know you could have used this article last week... Don't worry though, there's always Summer Market!

Winter Market Redux

Whew! Huge thanks to everyone who attended, exhibited, covered, partied and survived the Winter Market last week.
What were this year's highlights for you? Do you have any suggestions for next year's show?
Let us know in the comments.

'Into the Wild' Nominated for Two Oscars

Sean Penn's Alaskan adventure tale "Into the Wild" got two Oscar nods yesterday. It is now in the running for Best Film Editing and Best Supporting Actor for Hal Holbrook.

Was Jon Krakauer's book better? Think the film deserves to win?

What's Your Club DV8 Story?

The building that once was Club DV8, a popular OR party venue for in past years, burned down yesterday... Everyone's got a DV8 story, what's yours? Share your tale in the comments, anonymously if you'd like!

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

A fire Wednesday -- one Salt Lake City's largest in recent history -- has forced authorities to demolish the building that housed the defunct Club DV8.

City building service employees using a back hoe were scheduled to knock down the building at 115 S. West Temple on Thursday.

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Rural Gentrification

From the Wall Street Journal:

The word "gentrification" conjures up images of once-poor urban neighborhoods invaded by cappuccino bars and million-dollar condos. Now, broad swaths of rural America -- from New England to the Rocky Mountain West -- are being gussied up, too.
...
Jeff Bowlby, a Seattle cabinet manufacturer, has purchased three properties here over the past six years. Along the way, he's noticed an explosion of new services and goods for sale. One local fly-fishing store, for instance, now sells rubber waders for $750 a pair. Spa del Sol offers a $125 Salmon River stone massage, using heated local stones that have been carefully selected "for their shape and energy."

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What do rural trends like this mean for the outdoor industry? Post your thoughts in the comments.