Management

Haband plans to close its distribution center in Eatonton, Ga., putting 89 people out of work, reports the Macon Telegraph. Notice of the closure was posted on the Georgia Department of Labor’s business layoff/closure list, the newspaper reported. New Jersey-based Haband is a family-owned business that has offered men’s and women’s apparel and accessories by direct mail since 1925, according to a statement on the company’s website. 

The Kronos Retail Labor Index rose to 4.1 percent in May from an April level that was revised two-tenths lower. The May reading reflected a moderate decline in hiring outpaced by a sharp drop in applications. The level of applications in May was more than 250,000 below its level one year ago, reflecting the uneven downward trend that began in the second half of last year. The number of applications received in May was at the lowest level since September 2007.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced a deal Wednesday that will have Amazon.com build two warehouses in New Jersey that will employ a total of 1,500 workers, as well as collect sales tax on online purchases made by state residents, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The state is providing tax incentives to Amazon, which didn't say exactly where the warehouses will go. Earlier reports said that one will go in the northern part of the state and the other will go in South Jersey. 

Bazaarvoice, a company that works on branding and marketing information for clients by tapping social media sites for direct responses, is spending $151.9 million in cash and stock to purchase competitor PowerReviews Inc.

You'd think on the heels of Tesco's decision to cut performance bonuses for its store managers there really wasn't anything else the chain's CEO could do but turn down his own. But the relative rarity of top executives doing the right thing has made Philip Clarke's decision to pass on $587,000 a big news item. "I decided at the beginning of the year that I would decline my annual bonus for 2012," Clarke said in a statement. "I wasn't satisfied with the performance in the U.K. and I won't take the bonus. I'm confident that we're tackling the right issues."

A group of nine business leaders, including representatives from Amazon.com and Nordstrom, are backing California hedge fund manager Chris Hansen’s plan to bring a new sports arena to Seattle’s Sodo district. They announced Tuesday the formation of the Seattle/King County Arena Business Advisory Committee, established to demonstrate support for the arena and to try and draw more support for the proposal from the Seattle business community. 

Giving potential customers the information they actually want is one of the most effective ways to grab their attention in today's fragmented media landscape. With the right tools in place, once you have a visitor's interest, it becomes easier to guide individual website experiences, with conversion as the ultimate goal.

What you will learn:

- The importance of making a great first impression through relevant website content
- How PODS employed a relevancy strategy to double its percentage of business that is booked online
- How to use customer segmentation strategies to drive more relevant content
- How triggered marketing campaigns can help improve the online retail experience

Brookstone, the innovative product development company and multichannel specialty retailer, announced the appointment of Stephen Bebis as the company's new president and CEO and as a member of the company's board of directors, effective immediately. Prior to joining Brookstone, Bebis spent 14 years as founder, president and CEO of Golf Town, the largest specialty golf retailer in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. Starting the business from scratch, Bebis grew Golf Town to 57 locations across Canada and led the expansion of the company into the Boston market last year with seven stores.

Workers at a Cambodian garment factory that makes clothes for Levi's, Gap and other well-known international brands are striking for more pay and better working conditions. More than 5,000 workers from the Singaporean-owned SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd. failed to reach an agreement with their employers Tuesday to end an 11-day strike. Ath Thon, director of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers, said workers are demanding an increase in their base pay of $61 a month for 8-hour days, six days a week. He said they want a $5 salary hike and an extra $25 a month for transportation and housing.

Marketers have developed quite a bag of promotion and coupon tricks to get consumers to spend more at the checkout counter or when mailing in the order form. The good news for online retailers is that modern e-commerce software lets them easily adapt these proven promotional techniques to an online environment to lift average order sizes, revenues and profits.

You Will Learn About:

- Free Shipping
- Premiums
- Discounts
- Coupons
- and more!