GET CONNECTED TRAINING
Know-how you need to succeed


Start Up For $10,000

It doesn’t take big bucks to start your own business. A Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index from August 2006 found that on average, an entrepreneur needs $10,000 to launch an enterprise. A nationwide sampling of 600 business owners found that 73 percent of respondents used their own money to start their first business; 37 percent got loans or lines of credit.

Returns Boost Sales?

The number of from-home shoppers continues to grow as consumers turn to the Web and catalogs for purchases. If you want to snare more of those buyers, focus on merchandise returns as well as sales. A recent survey conducted by market research firm Harris Interactive showed that given the option to return purchases directly from home with a pre-paid label, home shoppers are nearly five times as likely to shop with the retailer again as those who are restricted to a return process that requires travel to a mail center or drop box. The survey was commissioned by Newgistics, a company that specializes in return management.

“Most retailers have only gone halfway in providing consumers what they need to shop from home, focusing on delivery but not returns,” says Jonathan Dampier, vice president of marketing and corporate strategy at Newgistics. “According to the survey, 96 percent of home shoppers confirmed that the ability to return merchandise from home is an important factor in deciding where to make a purchase; therefore, the time is now for retailers who want to foster customer loyalty through convenient returns.”

 

Return To Contents