NOTE TO SELF: USE GIFT CARD
There used to be a time when store clerks and shoppers dreaded the day after Christmas in anticipation of the post-holiday return madness. The endless line-ups to bring back items that were the wrong size, bad color selection, vile scent or mis-guessed sizes appear to be on the wane with the growing popularity of gift cards.
Surveys according to America's Research Group, which polls shoppers for retailers, indicate that significantly fewer shoppers would be returning gifts this year. Ten years ago, the group found, 38 percent of consumers said they had an unwanted gift to return after Christmas. Five years ago, that number was 33 percent; this year, it is 14 percent.
The National Retail Federation surveyed shoppers and found that 64.3 percent didn’t return anything last holiday season, up from 62.4 percent in 2005.
When you think about it a gift card makes a lot of sense since it allows the recipient a good span of time to reflect upon what they really want or need. However, the trick is to remember that you received one and to check on the expiry date. Also, you can't re-gift a gift card!
Read the rest of the story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/27/business/27returns.html
What gifts did you return this year?
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
SHOPPING FOR TOYS A DIFFICULT CHOICE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
NOTE TO SELF: Watch out for the bad toys!
Chances are consumers are heavy into shopping in search of those perfect gifts for family and friends bit there's trouble in toyland this holiday season. In as far as the kids are concerned, toys are always welcome but it's getting more and more difficult to differentiate between the bad and the safe one's.
More toys tainted with extremely high levels of lead were found on the shelves at major U.S. retailers, according to an advocacy group's survey released Tuesday.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which released the "2007 Trouble in Toyland" report, highlighted hazards that included lead, dangerous small magnets, and toys that pose choking and strangulation hazards.
"While we have seen progress after more than two decades of advocacy on behalf of America's littlest consumers, U.S. PIRG's researchers still found trouble in toyland on store shelves this fall," said Ed Mierzwinski, the consumer program director at the U.S. PIRG.
Toys tested by the Consumer Product Safety Commission [CPSC] are banned if they contain lead at 600 parts per million - the legal lead standard. The U.S. PIRG went to different retailers and tested a number of different toys which had high amounts of lead.
Read the full story here:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/20/news/companies/toys_lead/index.htm
It would be interesting to know if consumers have changed their shopping habits due to all the reports of toys containing lead and what, if any, impact it will have on the holiday Christmas sale. Perhaps the only solution is to bring along the lists of safe toys to ensure that those selected are tested and acceptable.
Isn't it sad that shopping for toys has come down to this? It also leaves one to wonder about all those toys purchased over the years. The lead content must have been present and there must have been some exposure to lead. Or perhaps the current lead in toys is a recent occurence? Go know!
Ho-ho-ho and Happy Chanukah to you, too!
Chances are consumers are heavy into shopping in search of those perfect gifts for family and friends bit there's trouble in toyland this holiday season. In as far as the kids are concerned, toys are always welcome but it's getting more and more difficult to differentiate between the bad and the safe one's.
More toys tainted with extremely high levels of lead were found on the shelves at major U.S. retailers, according to an advocacy group's survey released Tuesday.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which released the "2007 Trouble in Toyland" report, highlighted hazards that included lead, dangerous small magnets, and toys that pose choking and strangulation hazards.
"While we have seen progress after more than two decades of advocacy on behalf of America's littlest consumers, U.S. PIRG's researchers still found trouble in toyland on store shelves this fall," said Ed Mierzwinski, the consumer program director at the U.S. PIRG.
Toys tested by the Consumer Product Safety Commission [CPSC] are banned if they contain lead at 600 parts per million - the legal lead standard. The U.S. PIRG went to different retailers and tested a number of different toys which had high amounts of lead.
Read the full story here:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/20/news/companies/toys_lead/index.htm
It would be interesting to know if consumers have changed their shopping habits due to all the reports of toys containing lead and what, if any, impact it will have on the holiday Christmas sale. Perhaps the only solution is to bring along the lists of safe toys to ensure that those selected are tested and acceptable.
Isn't it sad that shopping for toys has come down to this? It also leaves one to wonder about all those toys purchased over the years. The lead content must have been present and there must have been some exposure to lead. Or perhaps the current lead in toys is a recent occurence? Go know!
Ho-ho-ho and Happy Chanukah to you, too!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
NEXT STEP TO ELIMINATING THE HUMAN TOUCH?
NOTE TO SELF: another move to replace people?
Perhaps as many people do, you might have complained about the long wait at the supermarket to pay the cashier. Then again there's always the do-it-yourself scanning system that in theory but not necessarily in practice, makes the check-out faster. Yet another move afoot or at hand in this case has been created to improve on the self checkout system with the use of a high-tech hand-held personal scanner.
Just what we need in life: another "tool" to schlep along while shopping.
The way it works is shoppers remove an item off the shelf, scan it and bag it all on their own without any human intervention. Although more commonly used in Europe, North American supermarkets are beginning to introduce it slowly to consumers. Once they finished shopping customers head to the front of the store and have their credit cards scanned.
So how about customers who try to "forget" about paying for an item?
To avoid this occurence some shoppers are randomly picked for audits - as a reminder of course for those "oh my - who me?" occasions.
There is no information provided as to whether stores using this "service" make items available at a lower cost since customers do all the work. But then don't we always?
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/06/21/scan.as.you.shop.ap/index.html?eref=yahoo
Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum
Perhaps as many people do, you might have complained about the long wait at the supermarket to pay the cashier. Then again there's always the do-it-yourself scanning system that in theory but not necessarily in practice, makes the check-out faster. Yet another move afoot or at hand in this case has been created to improve on the self checkout system with the use of a high-tech hand-held personal scanner.
Just what we need in life: another "tool" to schlep along while shopping.
The way it works is shoppers remove an item off the shelf, scan it and bag it all on their own without any human intervention. Although more commonly used in Europe, North American supermarkets are beginning to introduce it slowly to consumers. Once they finished shopping customers head to the front of the store and have their credit cards scanned.
So how about customers who try to "forget" about paying for an item?
To avoid this occurence some shoppers are randomly picked for audits - as a reminder of course for those "oh my - who me?" occasions.
There is no information provided as to whether stores using this "service" make items available at a lower cost since customers do all the work. But then don't we always?
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/06/21/scan.as.you.shop.ap/index.html?eref=yahoo
Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum
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