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Shopping Centers Today -> December 2003
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IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ’EM ...
The music industry has a new remedy for illegal downloading, but beleaguered mall music retailers won’t like it. Record companies are signing deals with an increasing array of online services that charge customers for each song download, including Apple Computer’s iTunes, MusicMatch, Napster and RealOne. Customers can buy individual tracks from albums for 99 cents each. A study done last spring by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that 35 million people were downloading music illegally. Sales of singles last year fell 61.2 percent from the year before, says Nielsen SoundScan.
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THE SOFTER SIDE OF SMITH & WESSON
Where to go for casual apparel, home decor, jewelry and gifts? Smith & Wesson, perhaps. In October the storied U.S. gun maker launched Crossings, a catalog and Web site (www.crossingsbysw.com) that offers $155 shantung blouses, elegant tableware and more — but no guns. With a reputation for quality plus 89 percent name recognition, it makes sense to harness your brand, Amy Armstrong, S&W’s senior vice president of corporate communications, told SCT. “It’s what all the great brands do.” No plans yet for stores, though, she says. |
WAGGING THE DOG
J.C. Penney has its ups and downs, as do its subsidiaries, but it’s just up, up, up as far as its Internet sales go (www.jcpenney.com). The retailer says it expects to achieve online sales in excess of $500 million this year, more than double the 20 percent increase it posted in 2002. “It’s nice to see,” a spokesman told SCT.
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NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY — NOT FOR YOU!
U.K. supermarket chain Iceland is working on a plan to help online customers stick to their diets. The service, called Diet Police, allows dieters to block their own access to certain high-fat or high-calorie items, instead getting alternatives recommended to them on the Web site (www.iceland.co.uk).
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WEB’S FINEST
As tourists to New York City know, there are hundreds of purveyors of merchandise bearing the logos of the city’s police and fire departments, but their sale doesn’t benefit either. Now the Police Department has its own storefront — www.shop4nypd.com — selling T-shirts, tote bags, patches and other gear. Revenues will go to the New York City Police Foundation to raise funds for equipment such as bulletproof vests, computer software and other crime-busting materials.
E-HOLIDAY CHEER
Consumer confidence might be down and unemployment up, but fourth-quarter online sales (excluding travel) will rise 29 percent to $17.8 billion this year over the same quarter in 2002, according to Internet research firm eMarketer. Online retail sales other than travel will reach $55 billion by year-end and $72.6 billion by the end of 2004, eMarketer predicts. |
REPORT CARD
Web sites operated by Lowe’s, Gap, Target and Circuit City top a ranking of online retailers by the Customer Respect Group, a research and consulting firm that tested the sites for ease of use, responsiveness to queries and honesty, among other attributes. Borders, Saks and Family Dollar were among the bottom five. A quarter of the 50 sites listed do not respond to online inquiries, the survey found. The listing can be viewed at the firm’s Web site, www.customerrespect.com.Shopping Centers Today
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