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MARKETING NEWS The “Multiplier Effect” on cross-platform ad sales .................................................................... 2

Product packaging loses its luster once off the shelf, say consumers ......................................... 3

Mobile devices will outnumber people by the end of the year ................................................... 4

Consumers at leisure prefer mobile devices ............................................................................... 5

PUBLISHING NEWS Hearst, NBCUniversal partner to rebrand G4 as Esquire Network ............................................ 6

Amazon wants to get into the used e-book business — or bury it .............................................. 7

Spanfeller Media lands 5 million series C round ........................................................................ 9

Time Warner in talks to part ways with Time Inc. ................................................................... 10

POSTAL NEWS US Congress talks rightsizing USPS in critical postal reforms ................................................ 11

Direct Mail for all ..................................................................................................................... 14

RETAIL NEWS Stage Stores consolidates operations to boost efficiency ......................................................... 15

Meijer investing $160 million in new stores and remodels ...................................................... 16

Ikea wins big award for small space marketing ........................................................................ 16

Williams-Sonoma scores highest in an online shopping review .............................................. 17

ECONOMIC UPDATE

GDP: 4th

quarter 2012: -0.1 percent. 3rd

quarter 2012: 3.1 percent.

Unemployment Rate: the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent in

January.

Consumer Confidence: which had declined in December, fell further in January. The Index now

stands at 58.6, down from 66.7 in December.

February 18th

, 2013

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MARKETING NEWS

The “Multiplier Effect” on Cross-Platform Ad Sales

TJ Raphael , Folio . 2/12/2013

If your audience is everywhere, should ads be too? Cross-platform media sales can work

much better than a single type of buy all on its own. At Folio:’s annual conference for

publishing professionals, the MediaNext Show, Chuck Richard, vice president and lead

analyst at research firm Outsell, shared insights and provided best practices for cross-media

campaigns.

Richard recommends a cross-media approach to draw attention and suggests the following

strategies for maximizing awareness:

1. Contribute to Cross-Media Analytics

Quantifying when, where and how to incorporate an in-person event and print into a

promotional campaign will help publishers track, analyze and use information that reflects

media and packages that are successful for specific objectives.

2. Match Cross-Media Components with Readers’ Natural Preferences

Let the market dictate your cross-media efforts. “Refute and don’t buy into—via silence—the

false assumption of an all-digital world,” says Richard.

3. Inform and Educate Your Sales Force of the Cross-Media Multiplier Effect

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“[The] cross-media multiplier effect is not yet reflected in pricing for cross-media packages,

which are being sold too cheaply and do not reflect the results they deliver,” he says. “By

demonstrating the results and higher ROI, publishers can move to higher rates based on

these higher cross-media campaign ROIs.”

4. Digital-Only Companies Gain by Incorporating Print and Events

Even if you’re a digital-only publisher, look for opportunities to incorporate other media

types. This can be done through a partnership with other media companies or brands, or

through launches of your own. Remember, few advertisers use only one type of media—fill

the gap for your clients.

5. Price Cross-Media Campaigns to Reflect the Increased Effectiveness

According to Outsell data, 91 percent of large b-to-b firms (those that have more than

1,000 employees) and 67.8 percent of small b-to-b firms (those with 100 or fewer

employees) spend on three, four, or five types of media in their marketing efforts. “Well

designed cross-media campaigns are not the same as the sum of their specific media parts

and pricing for them should be differentiated and raised to reflect the documented 2x cross

media-multiplier effect,” says Richard.

6. Build Cross-Media Solutions for Advertisers

A multiplatform package for advertising clients can be the core tenant that sets you apart

from your competitors. The proof is in the numbers. According to Outsell data, b-to-b large

advertisers’ ratings of multiplier effectiveness hits 146 percent when including print, digital

and events. When it comes to consumer large advertisers’ ratings of multiplier

effectiveness, the number is also high—139 percent for print, digital and broadcast.

Product Packaging Loses Its Luster Once Off The Shelf, Say Consumers

Staff , Marketing Charts . 2/12/2013

When it comes to overall product satisfaction, packaging matters to almost as many

consumers as the brand itself, according to a new study from MeadWestvaco. But brands

are failing to satisfy consumers in this regard, with less than 1 in 5 being highly satisfied

with product packaging in general. While the initial shelf appeal of packaging satisfies most,

it’s not as important to them as other attributes such as use, storage, and disposal. And in

those areas, consumers satisfaction drops significantly.

Creating a packaging satisfaction index, the MWV study shows that there is an increasing

gap between the importance placed on a packaging attribute and the satisfaction consumers

have with it after the store experience. For example, packaging on the shelf has a much

higher index score (65) than storage (41) or usage (38), meaning that the latter have lower

satisfaction rates relative to their importance.

So what are consumers looking for out of their packaging if it’s not shelf appeal? The study

shows that consumers most want packaging that protects from breaking or spilling (74%),

maintains product integrity (72%), and gets the entire product out of the package (66%).

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As Steve Kazanjian, vice president of Global Creative at MWV notes: “Structural features of

the packaging should be viewed as the most critical area for brands to make improvements

to drive consumer satisfaction.”

Other Findings:

Consumer satisfaction with packaging is low across all product categories, ranging from

24% satisfaction with soft drinks on the high end, to 11% satisfaction with carry-out

containers on the low end. Despite being the most satisfied age bracket with packaging, only 22% of 18-24-year-

olds are very satisfied. Middle-class consumers are the least satisfied with packaging – just 17% are very

satisfied. Shelf appeal does have some importance, considering that 64% of respondents will buy

a product off the shelf without prior knowledge of it.

About the Data: “Packaging Matters: Packaging Satisfaction Study” was commissioned by

MWV and studied the shopping habits and consumers satisfaction with packaging from store

shelf to transport, storage, use and disposal of 3,000 U.S. consumers.

Mobile devices will outnumber people by the end of the year

Samantha Murphy , Mashable . 2/11/2013

By the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices on Earth than people, a new report

suggests.

According to Cisco's Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update,

consumers' mobile appetite has grown a lot in the past year, and it shows no signs of

slowing. In fact, Cisco predicts global mobile data traffic will increase 13-fold by 2017, with

more than 10 billion mobile-connected devices by then. It also believes mobile network

speeds will grow by seven times what it is now.

In 2012, the number of mobile-connected tablets grew 2.5 times to 36 million, and each

tablet generated 2.4 times more traffic than the average smartphone. Android also beat

iPhone levels of data usage in the U.S. and Western Europe.

With connected devices on the rise, mobile data usage is skyrocketing too — mobile traffic

worldwide grew 70% in 2012, nearly double what it was the year before. It's now 12 times

what the global Internet was in 2000.

Consumers can't get enough of mobile video too. It grew 50% for the first time in 2012 and

made up nearly 51% of mobile traffic. By 2017, Cisco believes two-thirds of global mobile

data traffic will be video.

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Consumers at leisure prefer mobile devices

Amy Dusto , Internet Retailer . 2/14/2013

Mobile traffic in the fourth quarter of 2012 peaked on Christmas Day, when almost one-third

of all e-commerce traffic came from smartphones (16.05%) and tablets (15.57%),

according to Monetate, a provider of personalization, testing and analytics technology to

web retailers. The rest of the traffic came from desktop and laptop computers. That

supports other data that suggest consumers are more likely to reach for a mobile device to

browse the web when they are at leisure, usually on weekends and holidays, says Evan

LePointe, vice president of digital marketing agency Search Discovery Inc., who provided

commentary in Monetate's report.

The company’s Q4 e-commerce benchmark report analyses data from more than 100 million

online shopping sessions from Monetate clients and compares same-store data between

quarters and year over year, it says.

Although mobile traffic is growing, consumers remain most likely to buy on a computer. In

the five-day shopping period that began on Thanksgiving and lasted through Cyber Monday,

computers were the only type of device that drew more conversions each day than on the

same days last year. Cyber Monday proved to be the biggest day for conversions on all

devices in 2012. The breakdown for each type of device, with its conversion rate in 2011

and 2012 is:

Computers, 7.05%, 8.22%; Tablets, 5.78%, 6.31%; Smartphones, 1.47%, 1.83%.

In December, conversions peaked on Monday, Dec. 17, Free Shipping Day, a five-year-old

online shopping event. That day also produced the second-highest conversion rate—

5.61%—after Cyber Monday (7.42%) in 2012, Monetate says. On that day, the Monday

after Thanksgiving, computers had a 6.30% conversion rate; tablets, 5.01%; and

smartphones, 1.58%, according to the report.

However, the smaller the screen, the more online shoppers spent on average with a device

in Q4, Monetate says. In the quarter, average order values on computers were $98.72;

tablets, $104.30; and smartphones, $113.95. That ranking held for each of the top three

sales days in the holiday period: Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Cyber Monday

and Free Shipping Day, the report says.

Monetate also tallied the average order values in Q4 originating from various marketing

sources. Search took first place, with $97.54, followed by e-mail, with $89.64, and social

media, with $69.46, the report says.

Four retailers in the Top 500 Guide list Monetate as providing their personalization

technology and services. The company ranks fifth among personalization providers in

Internet Retailer’s Leading Vendors to the Top 1000 E-Retailers guide.

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PUBLISHING NEWS

Hearst, NBCUniversal Partner to Rebrand G4 as Esquire Network

Bill Mickey , Folio . 2/11/2013

NBCUniversal has partnered with Hearst's Esquire to relaunch its G4 cable channel, which

previously focused on gadgets and gaming, as a network featuring a broader menu of male-

related content.

For Hearst, the partnership resembles its branding strategy with the Scripps Networks'

HGTV and Food Network, only in reverse.

"As [Hearst Magazines president] David Carey said throughout our negotiations, Hearst has

learned a lot through HGTV and Food Network and even O, The Oprah Magazine about how

they practice their business," says Esquire editor-in-chief David Granger. "He's mostly

speaking about how the advertising and marketing teams can work together on big events

and programs."

"The NBCUniversal guys approached David Carey and David Granger about a year ago,"

says Jack Essig, Esquire's senior vice president, publishing director and chief revenue

officer. "Their interest stemmed from research they did around this great white space

around men and TV—with guys going in and out of several different networks. Why not

rebrand the G4 network to be a one-stop-shop around those needs?"

Essig and Granger declined to offer any financial details on the partnership.

Viewership is currently reaching 62 million homes.

Programming will expand from gear, gaming and tech to also include entertainment, food,

fashion, women, travel and more.

The network will re-launch in April. Esquire.com will feature a channel dedicated to the

network and the Esquire Network's website itself will be relaunched to feature original web

series and will be linked back to Esquire.com.

Essig adds that the two companies' sales teams have been working in tandem to build a

launch package—identifying each other's best advertisers and similar categories.

Sales between the two will be a collaborative effort, and Essig notes that Esquire now has

the ability to offer a third platform to the sales mix. "Often we get these RFPs for big,

never-been-done-before ideas and now we can do that," he says. "We have access for

packaging those into several bigger deals."

On the content side, Granger says regular programming meetings are held to determine

whether there are opportunities for Esquire material to be turned into TV content. "We go

over what's coming up in the magazine and brief them on what might be potential

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opportunities, as well as ideas unrelated to Esquire stories that might be of interest to

them."

Esquire's 80th anniversary this fall may be an opportunity for a dedicated special. "We're

already working on the editorial elements. We've briefed them on what we're doing and

they're taking that to a few documentary filmmakers to see if they can come up with a

concept for a special," says Granger.

For now, the network is planning Esquire-based interstitial content to be used between

shows. One is the video extension of the magazine's popular Funny Joke from a Beautiful

Woman series.

Amazon Wants to Get Into the Used E-Book Business—Or Bury It

Marcus Wohlsen , Wired . 2/11/2013

There is no such thing as a dog-eared e-book — each copy is forever perfect. But a new

Amazon patent could go a long way toward making the digital media in our lives a lot more

like the physical version.

Last week, Amazon patented a way to sell “used” e-books, music, videos, apps and other

“digital objects.” The marketplace described in the patent would let such exchanges take

place by cutting off the seller’s access to a piece of digital content once the buyer paid.

If the world’s largest online retailer opens the door to digital yard sales, the result could

upend the business models of already struggling book publishers and record companies, not

to mention thriving digital marketplaces like iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon itself. That is,

if Amazon ever really intends to make used digital sales a reality.

Here’s how Amazon has sketched out the way it would work in the patent. The proposed

used marketplace would work similarly to Amazon’s Kindle e-book lending process.

Currently if a publisher grants Amazon the rights, when a Kindle customer “buys” a book,

they have the option to loan the access rights to that digital file to friends or family that are

also Kindle users. While the book is on loan, the original owner of the book is unable to

access the e-book on any Kindle device. It’s still on those devices, but the access rights to

the book have been transferred temporarily to the person with the loaned e-book.

The proposed used digital marketplace would take that one step further. Instead of loaning

the access rights of an e-book, music file, video or application, in exchange for some cash,

the original owner of the digital file would transfer the rights to use that file to another party

permanently.

If the file were downloaded to a device, after the sale, the original owner would be unable to

access the file. the data would still be on the device until deleted by the original owner, but

access to the contents of that file would be turned off.

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Amazon’s lending feature has become popular among Kindle users, and adding sales seems

a natural next step, but financial and legal complications may still stand in the way, all

stemming from the key differences between the virtual and the physical.

First, digital content is infinitely reproducible. No technological limit exists to how many

times a single digital original can be copied and resold. Amazon’s patent doesn’t describe

any breakthrough technology. Instead, it secures Amazon’s right to a technique for what the

patent calls “maintaining scarcity.”

Second, every digital copy is a perfect copy.

“There are no dog-eared pages or scratches or nicks or cuts or highlighter marks or

whatever,” says Bill Rosenblatt, a consultant and expert witness in digital content patent

cases. “It’s the same exact product.”

In other words, a customer given the choice between a “new” e-book and a less expensive

“used” e-book will buy the used copy every time. The extra expense of “new” won’t get you

anything better. So why would Amazon want to get into a business that would seem to

undercut the business they’re already in?

Rosenblatt believes that a digital resale marketplace wouldn’t ultimately make Amazon a lot

more money on books or music, at least not at first. But he thinks it would move much

more of Amazon’s digital content business beyond the interference of publishers, just as

publishers can’t dictate the terms of, for example, the sale of used physical books on

Amazon. Just as with physical books, publishers would only have a say — or get a cut — the

first time a customer buys a copy of an e-book. The second, third and fourth sales of that

“same” e-book would be purely under Amazon’s control.

Such an arrangement could also give Amazon’s growing business as a publisher itself a

boost, Rosenblatt says.

“If Amazon is allowed to get away with doing resale transactions without compensating

publishers, then what they can do is say, ‘hey authors, sign with us and we’ll give you a

piece of the resale,’” he says. “That could attract authors who might otherwise sign with

traditional publishers.”

At the same time, Amazon’s patent leaves room to head in a different, more cooperative

direction.

Buried in the patent is language spelling out that the technology Amazon intends to use will

have the ability to limit the number of times a digital good could be resold or loaned out.

Amazon could use that constraint to strike bargains with publishers and authors to cut them

in on used digital sales, which doesn’t happen with used physical media. Here’s your take

the first time it an e-book or game sells, the second, the third, etc. Any arrangement where

authors and publishers also make money could be useful leverage for Amazon to head off

legal challenges bound to result otherwise.

As always, the question of copyright infringement comes into play whenever there’s a

transfer of digital goods. If Amazon’s reseller marketplace ever comes to fruition, we don’t

know whether Amazon will acquire the permission from rights holders to enable the loaning

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or reselling of digital goods at scale. (Amazon declined to comment for this story.) But

whether permission from rights holders is even required is another issue.

In federal court in New York, Massachusetts-based startup ReDigi is facing off against

Capitol Records, which called the young company a “clearinghouse for copyright

infringement.” ReDigi lets people buy and sell all kinds of copyrighted digital content

residing on their computers. ReDigi founder and CEO John Ossenmacher argues his

company’s technology actually preserves the copyright status quo by moving “used” digital

content bit by bit from a seller’s computer and into the cloud before the new owner can

access it.

As he reads it, Ossenmacher says Amazon’s patent skates closer to the copyright edge by

using a technique he describes as “copy and delete,” by which a copy of the seller’s cloud-

based content is made and placed into the buyer’s cloud before the first version is deleted.

That copying, he says, sets Amazon apart from what his company is doing, and he thinks

could get Amazon into more trouble with rights holders. “From the dawn of time people

have been able to buy and sell goods regardless of the form they were in,” Ossenmacher

says.

But some doubt whether Amazon really intends to uphold that commercial tradition.

Mike Shatzkin, a publishing veteran who now works as a consultant focused on the

industry’s digital future, doubts Amazon really does want to get into digital resales.

“I would not leap to the conclusion that the fact that they have this patent means that they

intend to go into this business,” Shatzkin says. “They may be patenting it to keep it off the

market.”

But some intellectual property experts don’t believe the patent is written in a way designed

to quash other digital marketplaces from getting under way. Amazon may simply be striking

first in what promises to be the inevitable battle among the expected players — Apple,

Google, eBay, Facebook — over used digital content.

“There is no way as I read this that this could be used to block somebody else,” says Robert

Aronoff, managing partner at Pluritas, a San Francisco-based investment bank that advises

companies on intellectual property transactions. “It’s just the evolution of the marketplace,”

Aronoff says. “You empower and develop a market which allows users to trade. It’s

electronic eBay.”

Spanfeller Media Lands $5 Million Series C Round

Bill Mickey , Folio . 2/13/2013

Spanfeller Media Group, publisher of The Daily Meal and The Active Times, raised another

$5 million in a series C funding round. The round was led by iNovia Capital, which joins

existing investors VantagePoint, SoftBank, Tribeca, Lerer and RRE, bringing the total VC

raised to $12.5 million since the company launched in 2010.

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SMG plans to use the money to launch new verticals, hire more staff and fund a new data

center. "We will be adding staff in the technology, sales and editorial areas and will be

building our a new data center for the company," says CEO and founder Jim Spanfeller.

The company's first site, The Daily Meal, now attracts 7 million monthly uniques. Second

site The Active Times, which launched in June 2012 and targets adventure sports and active

lifestyle enthusiasts, averages about 1 million monthly uniques.

Both sites rely on a fast and deep content strategy, with both in-house writers and a

growing group of outside contributors rapidly producing content to achieve scale.

Time Warner in talks to part ways with Time Inc.

James Bandler, Doris Burke, and Jennifer Reingold , CNN . 2/14/2013

Media giant Time Warner has begun discussions to separate itself from Time Inc., its $3.4

billion (in annual revenue) publishing division, according to three people familiar with the

matter. Meredith, the Des Moines-based publisher of Family Circle and the Ladies' Home

Journal, is in talks with the company, according to two people familiar with the matter. A

meeting of the buyer's representatives occurred today to discuss a potential deal, which is

still in a formative stage and may never come to fruition.

In this scenario, most of the company's publishing titles, such as People, InStyle, and Real

Simple, would be carved out and rolled into an independent company and sold to Meredith.

Time Warner (TWX) would maintain control of at least three titles—Time, Sports Illustrated,

and Fortune, according to the sources. A Time Warner spokesman says, "We never

comment on speculations of this nature." A spokesperson for Meredith declined to comment.

The exact mechanics of the complex transaction were not available at the time of

publication.

Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Bewkes has been actively slimming down Time

Warner, shedding Time Warner Cable (TWC) and AOL (AOL) in two separate transactions in

2009. He also recently replaced the CEO of CNN, Jim Walton, with veteran TV executive Jeff

Zucker.

The move to divest Time Inc. -- the largest magazine publisher in the U.S. -- follows a

decision by News Corporation (NWS) to split its film and television business and publishing

assets into two companies. It's something of a shift for Bewkes, who had been touting the

publishing group's gains in market share and its growing digital reach. But with its revenues

down 6.6% and operating earnings falling 25.4% in 2012, Time Inc. has become an

increasing drag on its corporate parent. Time Inc.'s revenue last year accounted for just

under 12% of Time Warner's total sales of $28.7 billion. (The publishing unit generated

$420 million in operating income in 2012.)

Last month Time Inc. announced it would lay off 6% of its work force. In a memo dated Jan.

30, 2013, Time Inc. CEO Laura Lang -- who arrived just over a year ago from Digitas -- said

"we must continue to transform our company into one that is leaner, more nimble and more

innately multi-platform." The company now boasts 50 million unique visitors to its websites

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each month and offers digital editions of all of its U.S. magazines, which it says is helping

drive new subscriptions. It is unclear what Lang's role would be in a new, separate

company. A Time Inc. spokesperson declined to comment.

Bewkes gave a subtle hint that he might have changed his thinking about the magazine

division in a Feb. 6 interview on CNBC, the same day Time Warner posted net income up

4.6%, to $3 billion. When asked if he might follow Rupert Murdoch's lead at News Corp., he

told CNBC's Carl Quintanilla, "It's always a good question … There's tremendous resilience in

the national magazine publishing business, but advertising demand is secularly not so

strong; it's down a bit. The question whether we ought to put that into a different frame is

one we've been asking." He then referred to Time Warner as "a great storytelling company,

whether in film or TV." Magazines were not mentioned.

The People magazine franchise is the top prize in the deal. It is said to be the most

profitable magazine in the world. (Time Inc. does not break out financials by title.) It is not

clear why Bewkes might want to keep Time magazine, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. Time

magazine is less profitable than it once was. Fortune has a money-making online joint

venture with Time Warner's CNN unit. And Sports Illustrated has clear value for Time

Warner's Turner Broadcasting System, although in the past the two have disagreed on

digital strategy.

Outside advisers involved in the potential deal include the Chicago merchant bank BDT

Capital Partners, run by former Goldman Sachs banker Byron D. Trott. BDT has worked for

Meredith in the past. A spokesperson for BDT declined to comment.

POSTAL NEWS

US Congress talks rightsizing USPS in critical postal reforms

Staff , Post & Parcel . 2/14/2013

At a hearing by the US Senate in Washington, the proponents of postal reform in the House

of Representatives, the Congressional chamber that failed to pass a postal reform bill last

year, said progress could even come within a few months.

Elijah Cummings, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said lawmakers

had been working on legislative proposals for the past two months, and were “90% there”.

Offering sporting analogy following the recent Superbowl win of his local NFL side, the

Baltimore Ravens, the Congressman from Maryland said: “I believe we are on the two yard

line, and we can’t afford to fumble the ball.

“We’re serious about this, and I believe that we could complete this legislation before the

end of March.”

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Saturday delivery

Coming the week after USPS announced its controversial plan to move to a five-day weekly

delivery schedule for regular mail, the Senate hearing saw heavy focus on the issue of

Saturday deliveries.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe insisted during the hearing that his lawyers had found

appropriate loopholes in the law to allow the Postal Service to drop Saturday mail deliveries.

But he also used the hearing to plead with lawmakers not to add language to legislation to

block the change in delivery schedule, which is currently due to happen from 5th August.

“It is our interpretation, based on what my attorneys have told me, that we are able to go

ahead with this,” he said. “I would implore Congress not to put any impediments in our way

to us doing this.

“Medicine mail – we’re going to do that on Saturdays. Amazon, eBay packages, we’re going

to do that. But with all the losses in the mail, we cannot prop up this service.”

Congressmen were skeptical, with particularly Democrats opposed to reducing mail service

standards, but they largely refrained from questioning the legality of the plan, other than a

few criticisms from lawmakers representing rural areas.

Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight committee and a key witness at the

Senate hearing, said he believed USPS could move to five-day delivery. He said if Americans

urgently needed a Saturday delivery for letters, they could pay a premium rate for that to

happen.

“Saturday is a light day, an excess day relative to most mail. With the Postmaster General’s

plan you can still pay a $5.60 premium for flat mail and have your letter delivered, and with

the proposal we will continue to see vital medicines delivered to every point in America,” he

said.

“Rightsizing of cost to benefit is the hallmark of what the Postmaster General is asking for

us to grant him.”

But later in the hearing, Issa did concede that postal reforms should protect vital mail

services for rural communities.

“We have to make sure rural America is guaranteed a quality of service,” he said. “The

Postal Service can remain competitive with a much lower level of service, but if rural

America doesn’t get that service it’s harder for them to compete.”

Cummings, along with a number of his fellow Democrats in the room, was “disappointed” by

the USPS announcement on five-day delivery, saying it was “an unfortunate development

and it will not solve the Postal Service’s long-term fiscal problems”.

He said the key was to reform pension and healthcare funding arrangements, saying: “This

math simply does not add up.” He also said USPS needed more capabilities to compete with

the private sector.

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Last year’s Senate bill set a two-year moratorium on abandoning Saturday deliveries, with

senior Democrat Tom Carper and Senior Republican Susan Collins both arguing for the

continuation of six-day delivery.

This year Collins has moved on to other committees, and her successor as ranking member,

Senator Tom Coburn, has a different position on Saturday deliveries.

He said yesterday: “I fully support the move to five-day, it’s hugely important. It we’re not

going to go that for two years, we’re just going to waste $4bn.”

Rightsizing and labor

“I think we all agree that we have to downsize this workforce”

Meanwhile, Issa said that along with freeing up the Postal Service to run its own business

more independently of the federal government, rightsizing the Postal Service would be a

key component of this year’s reform legislation.

USPS has already cut its staff numbers from 804,000 in the year 2000 to 495,000 full time

staff at the current count.

During yesterday’s hearing, the US Comptroller General, Eugene Dodaro, said: “Since 80%

of their costs are personnel costs, they need to continue to work to reduce the size of their

work force.”

Dodaro, whose role is to lead the US Government Accountability Office – the watchdog

established by Congress – said collective bargaining regulations needed reform, to allow

arbitrators to take the state of the USPS finances into account when deciding labor

contracts.

While Congressional Democrats have been much closer to the unions, and have been more

critical of cutting jobs and the resulting potential for impacting mail service standards, even

Cummings said yesterday: “I think we all agree that we have to downsize this workforce.”

Healthcare

But along with rightsizing, getting the USPS healthcare system right should be a big part of

reducing labor costs according to the Postmaster General, who wants to set up an

independent health insurance system, free from federal control.

“An astonishing 20 cents of every revenue dollar the Postal Service takes in must go toward

health care costs,” Donahoe said in his testimony. “The cost of this large component of our

total operating costs, second only to wages, is largely outside of our control.”

Donahoe’s proposal would see USPS putting a competitive tender out to the health

insurance industry, rather than being forced to pay into the uncompetitive federal system. It

would also see the proportion of employer contribution reduced, with employees paying a

higher proportion of the premiums, but the premiums would be lower than at present.

“By moving away from the federal system, nearly all of our employees and retirees would

reap the benefits of getting equivalent or better healthcare coverage and paying less for it,”

said the Postmaster General.

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The House Oversight Chairman said Donahoe’s plan was “not just ambitious, it’s necessary”.

“It’s very clear that if the government can transfer out its responsibility for healthcare, it’s

for everybody’s benefit.”

Cummings said he could support an independent USPS healthcare system if it means

standards of healthcare are not reduced for workers.

“I’ve heard the proposals of the Postmaster General. I’ve said to him that I don’t have a

problem with it as long as we are able to get comparable coverage,” he said.”

Direct Mail for All

Ginger Conlon , DM News . 2/15/2013

What is it? Every Door Direct Mail – Retail is a service that the U.S. Postal Service provides

to local businesses designed to help them reach prospective local customers, whose names

or addresses they lack. The USPS has added two enhancements to the service: an online

mapping tool and credit card payment.

The new online mapping tool simplifies the process for marketers to select the

neighborhoods, cities, or ZIP Codes they want to send their direct mailers to. Additionally,

marketers can now create mailings up to 30 days in advance of their preferred mail date.

The new credit card payment option allows marketers to pay the postage for their mailings

by credit cards online or at Post Office. The USPS also improved the search functionality of

its Every Door Direct Mail – Retail service.

Who's talking? “We learned a lot in the last year and a half about how to make the product

better, but most of all, we learned just how much the small-business community would use

a product that is affordable and easy to use,” said Gary Reblin, vice president, new products

and innovation. “Local businesses have seen as much as 10, 20 and in some cases, more

than 30 percent response rates on their Every Door Direct Mail – Retail campaigns.”

15

RETAIL NEWS

Stage Stores consolidates operations to boost efficiency

Press Release , Retailing Today . 2/12/2013

Stage Stores is consolidating its South Hill, Virginia regional operations into its Houston,

Texas corporate headquarters, in an effort to increase efficiency, create synergies, reduce

expenses and enhance growth.

“This action is the culmination of an initiative that we began last year,” said Michael Glazer,

president and CEO. “Given the impact on South Hill employees, the decision to consolidate

was a difficult one. However, the significant benefits from having all department store

functions and processes entirely together in one location could not be ignored. This strategic

action will strengthen collaboration, teamwork and communications, while streamlining

operations, enhancing overall operational efficiency and reducing costs. Combining all

department store functions will also create consistency in merchandising, marketing and

eCommerce, which should result in higher sales and earnings growth.”

Functions being consolidated into the company’s Houston headquarters include

merchandising, planning and allocation, human resources and other services currently

supporting 331 stores located in 24 Mid Atlantic, Southeastern, Midwestern and

Northeastern states. The consolidation and subsequent office closure is expected to be

completed by the middle of 2013 and will result in the elimination of approximately 180

South Hill-based positions. Approximately 75 new positions will be added at the company’s

Houston headquarters. The company noted that the consolidation will have no impact on the

operations of its South Hill distribution center. A number of employees will be offered the

opportunity to relocate to other company locations, including the Houston headquarters.

Those not relocating will receive severance packages, outplacement counseling services and

other benefits.

The current estimate of costs associated with the consolidation is approximately $20 million,

with approximately $4 million incurred in 2012 and the balance anticipated to be incurred in

2013. The company expects that this consolidation will result in annual cost savings of

approximately $5 million.

“The employees in South Hill have played an important role in helping grow our company

and serve our customers, and I am truly grateful for their years of dedicated service. We

are committed to treating each of them with fairness and respect throughout the

consolidation process,” Glazer concluded.

16

Meijer investing $160 million in new stores and remodels

Staff , Chain Store Age . 2/14/2013

Meijer is investing more than $160 million in new store construction and remodeling.

The investment includes the construction of six new Meijer supercenters, and five major

remodel projects. Michigan, Indiana and Illinois will each welcome two new Meijer

supercenters. The remodels planned at an additional four Michigan stores and one Meijer

location in Illinois.

"We are pleased to continue to invest in the Midwest communities that have supported us

for so long," Hank Meijer, co-chairman and co-CEO said. "By keeping prices low and

maintaining our focus on customer service, we have been able to continue to grow during a

tough economic cycle."

Ikea wins big award for small space marketing

Press Release , Retailing Today . 2/13/2013

Ikea has been named "best small space solution" by The Intelligence Group, a consumer

insights firm, publisher of the Cassandra Report, which highlights youth trends and

behavior.

Ikea was one of the winners of the group's first Cass Awards, which were awarded to

companies and brands that best reached Generation Y through their marketing efforts last

year.

Ikea showed young, broke city dwellers how to make the most of small spaces by cramming

the contents of an entire warehouse into a 10.5 x 8.8 cm web banner. Despite its small size,

the resultant banner was patently shoppable and the retailer turned the once-thought-

arbitrary sidebar web banner into a functional, useful, and even enjoyable interactive

application. Users could “browse” the banner by department, scroll over its miniscule

thumbnail images to enlarge them, and click to be redirected to a product’s page for

immediate purchase. Ikea planted the banner on the real estate sections of community

websites, targeting the host of urbanites in search of serviceable studios and converted

1BRs.

“This is an exciting time for the advertising industry as so many brands are constantly

breaking new ground in their efforts to engage elusive young consumers” said Joe Kessler,

president, The Intelligence Group. “We felt that it would be worthwhile to take a step back

and bookmark some of the cutting edge campaigns that are leading the way by putting their

understanding of young consumers into play in daring and unexpected ways. The best

activations have two important characteristics in common -- each one is true to the brand or

product it represents, and each displays an element of technology innovation or creative

expression we hadn't seen before.”

17

Williams-Sonoma scores highest in an online shopping review

Paul Demery , Internet Retailer . 2/15/2013

Cookware and home furnishings retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc. scored 83.50 out of 100

points to take the top spot in a measure of online shopping experiences, according to the

15th Annual Mystery Shopping Study released this week by research and advisory firm The

E-tailing Group Inc.

The study, which reviewed 100 e-retailers during the fourth quarter of 2012, scores

merchants for the quality of online shopping as experienced through features including

merchandising, site search, shopping carts, customer service, order confirmations, and

length of time to receive ordered products.

The study lists nine retailers that scored 80 or above. Following is a list of those retailers

with their Mystery Shopping score and their ranks in the Internet Retailer Top 500:

• Williams-Sonoma, 83.50, 24

• Nordstrom Inc., 82.50, 31

• Amazon.com Inc., 81.50, 1

• Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., 81.50, 29

• Office Depot Inc., 81.25, 6

• The Orvis Co. Inc., 81.00, 146

• REI, 81.00, 64

• Staples Inc., 80.75, 2

• Barnes & Noble Inc., 80.25, 32

The study also rated the 13 retail categories represented by the reviewed retailers, naming

office supplies as the top performing category with a score of 81.00 out of 100, up 5.5%

from its year-earlier score of 76.75.

Following is a list of the 13 categories with their number of reviewed retailers in

parentheses, followed by their current score and the year-ago score.

• Office Supplies (2), 81.00, 76.75

• Mass Merchants (8), 76.03, 81.81

• Sporting Goods (10), 73.50, 70.68

• Department Stores (7), 70.39, 70.08

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• Drugstore/Health & Beauty (7), 70.32, 72.50

• Pets (2), 69.88, 80.63

• Home/Garden (13), 69.25, 73.42

• Technology (8), 68.53, 72.25

• Baby/Toys/Games (5), 68.30, 74.30

• Food/Gifting (8), 68.19 63.56

• Books/Music/Media (4), 67.50, 68.38

• Accessories/Shoes (11), 66.11, 66.78

• Apparel (15), 64.40, 66.78

The names of all of the retailers in the study were not available, nor were specific details

about why individual retailers scored high.