Merchandise buyers know their basic commodity lines — product inventory demanded by loyal customers. Savvy buyers also hawk latest trends, to supplement the basics and pad profit margins.

Here are tips and tactics for wholesale sellers and retail buyers to put to work in the new year’s marketing plans. All are based on the latest stats, trends and Best Practices.

The number one reason potential customers bail out of online purchase transactions is concern over use of their personal information, according to recent study results from Jupiter Research.

According to new study results from ad spending tracker eMarketer, (1) spending for online advertising is slowing; (2) online advertising still pulls budget away from offline ad campaigns; and (3) search advertising continues to be a bright spot in the economic gloom.

“Once seen as immune to economic slowdowns, the online advertising sector has now become the downturn’s latest victim,” noted Jeff Meisner in Online Ad Sector Showing Signs of Strain in E-Commerce Times.

However, such a “down” statement was only on first glance. Advertising’s budget pulse is weaker, stronger or holding steady … depending on where you measure it.

·  Slower Growth: After predicting 2009 online advertising growth of 14.5% in August, eMarketer recently revised its projections down to 8.9%, following collapse of real estate, financial and domestic auto markets. Pushing into the next two years, eMarketer is still projects growth, but at slower rates: 10.9% increase in online ad spend for 2010; 13.5% growth in ad spend for 2013.

Gain visibility in Buyer and Seller markets by tapping the power of search engine optimized (SEO) web pages. Here are three SEO Marketing tips: Use Site Search as a customer service tool; Use Buyer/Seller Key Words from web logs and analytics; and Tap Profit Power of the Long-Tail.

1.         Use Site Search as a Service

A Site Search Box is a must-have for your corporate web site. You never know how potential customers land at your site: Some click deep into a seller’s site from a listing on a SERP (search engine results page); some land on the Home Page after typing your web address into a browser; other prized visitors jump into ANY page on your site from a link at their favorite blog or recommendation from a trusted users site.

With three weeks left to count up November-December holiday totals, and after passing the online sales gate marked by Cyber-Monday, previous holiday spending expectations from comScore, Forrester Research and eCommerce Times are being lowered a bit. And that’s in spite of the surge in sales, incentives and discount specials across the marketplace.

Holiday Spending Pulse Check To Date:

·        Ditto 2007? Online retail sales trackers are revising their predictions for November-December 2008, now seeing “same level of overall holiday sales as 2007.” Flat-line predictors include comScore’s holiday season estimate of $29.2 Billion (same as last year), and Forrester Research’s downward revision of web sales growth of 12% (October 2008) to 7 or 8% (Cyber Monday December 1, 2008).

·        Cyber-Monday – online equivalent of offline retailing’s Black Friday – is the first Monday after Thanksgiving. Considered the biggest online shopping day of the year, early results from online totals Monday December 1 hint it may not increase overall holiday sales compared to 2007.

Here are five tips for tapping into Buyer and Seller markets. Includes: Get listed in Product and Local Directories; Scan new prospects from Trade Show Calendar sites; Get free guidance from Import/Export sites assisting small business. Also, see a mini-case study from the Toy Industry on regaining markets with the right Crisis Management.

1.         Put New Business Development into the Plan and Budget

You have business health trackers in place – Marketing Plans; metrics and measures of return on investment, pricing strategies, revenue/cost margins; P & L statement pulse checks.

Ensure that developing new business, accounts and product lines is an item in the budget, too. Instead of assuming that all marketing and advertising expenses are the sum total of your New Business Development strategy, earmark resources and time towards the goal of finding and building new product lines or customer segments.

The buying and spending habits of tweens and teenagers across the globe would be valuable market research for sellers of online games, brand-name clothing, personal electronics, music CDs and other youth market lifestyle products.

Gathering a reasonable cross-section of international respondents in the targeted youth group would also be a massive research effort that would probably take months to plan and implement.

Yet, a Finnish company, Sulake, did all the above in only two weeks. Sulake had already created a virtual world for teens in the late 1990s called Habbo. It is a trusted site among teenaged users worldwide. So, Sulake had no difficulties getting responses from youth in 22 countries.

In fact, the virtual world developer from Helsinki found 42,000 teens were eager to participate; and they felt comfortable revealing spending habits and preferences to Habbo virtual world avatars.

The University of Michigan tracks customer satisfaction levels with nondurable household goods: apparel, athletic shoes, breweries, cigarettes, food manufacturing, pet food, personal care and cleaning products and soft drinks.

Of interest in the latest satisfaction pulse check: Even in the current “tough economy,” the customer satisfaction index dipped only 0.1% (one-tenth of one percent) during 3Q 2008. Overall, it currently pegs at 75 on a 100-point scale.

Founder of the American Customer Service Satisfaction Index, Claes Fornell, noted:

·   Customer satisfaction appears to be flattening; no surprise in “rocky” economy

·   Customer Service is key to customer retention, especially in a tough economy

·   Companies with higher satisfaction levels also have better sales and profits

·   The 0.1% drop from July through September this year is actually modest, given the overall climate

 See Customer Satisfaction: Ante Goes Up When Economy Is Down in CRM Buyer.

1. Recharge Marketing Plans
2. Stalk Hot Merchandise Trends and Brands Before Buying
3. Take This Tax Break Before December 31
4. Take a Break: It’s Not All Doom & Gloom. Niche and Segmented Markets Still Live.

1. Recharge the Marketing Plan

Still searching for uni-size undies and SmartPhone batteries that never fail? Why would your Marketing Plan – however glitzy the charts or humble the Action Lists – still be chugging along on the same old assumptions from three financial quarters back?? Stuff happens.

Every wholesale apparel source or retail chain store buyer … every mid-sized jewelry reseller or no-warehouse eCommerce dropshipper of fashion accessories … every buyer/seller in the merchandise chain needs a marketing plan. No Worries: Writing a good marketing blueprint is not like thrashing out that intimidating Business Plan Thesis due at the end of M.B.A. courses.

Tough times call for smart marketing solutions. Remember the Good Old Days? Commodity gold prices pegged at “only” $500 an ounce back in August 2007. Then gold jumped to $850 on world markets in a short three months. (See Gold Jewelry Keywords at 850 Per Ounce.) These days, barely one year later, gold prices flirt with $1,000 per ounce.Here’s a handful of smart marketing solutions from successful Jewelry Wholesalers who found alternatives to the Golden Rule, which measures jewelry sales only by its weight in gold.

1. Composite Jewelry
2. Feed the Bling
3. Re-peg to Silver Standard
4. Franchise
5. Stalk the Auctions

1.   Composite Jewelry Collections: Lower the precious metals content in rings, bracelets and necklaces. In demand now: Enamel Fashion Rings in jewel-toned colors …

and highly polished stainless steel …

What’s a Trend-Typed Gift? Here is a short list, plus wholesaler, reseller and merchandise search sites to source and stock these Very Now Gift ideas.

Fashionista: Those who absolutely must have the Latest-and-Greatest or One-of-a-Kind gifts.The premier trade show for leather apparel rocks Milan every Spring. (See Winter Style Preview: Boho Biker Look from our Newsroom last June, which sifted through Fall 2008/Winter 2009 collections for leather trends.) Some show-goers squinted at Gucci’s Gypsy-Rocker Collection – grommeted boots and bags; oh-so-retro fringe. Well, look at the hottest-selling Biker Wear right now. Hippies are baaaack. Right on, man!

Consumer broadcast media is already warning Holiday 2008 shoppers: Black Friday starts three weeks early this year.

Are you the wholesale seller or retail buyer who ordered this Holiday Gift Marketing Tips Kit? Please sign here for tips to: Optimize Your eCommerce Store, Increase Sales During Holidays 2008, Source and Stock Hot Gifts That Actually Sell This Year.And, you over there? Take that economic gloom-and-doom paper bag off your head. Scan these tips to boost holiday sales … from wholesale supplier to retail seller; from online e-commerce shop to offline brick-and-mortar stores. Grinches may leave the room. Now.