Technology - February 2006
Masterpiece Lighting launches Web site
Wal-Mart’s Web site draws different consumer
ADT’s debuts new wireless service for retailers
Should you blog for business?
PicassoMio.com reports sales growth of 62% for 2005
Decorating Country Home.com marks second year
Masterpiece Lighting launches Web site
Atlanta-based Masterpiece Lighting, founded by Dana Hunt, has launched its Web site, www.masterpiecelighting.com. The site is a resource for designers, homeowners, builders, architects and anyone looking for unique, upscale lighting and architectural hardware. The company provides information about everything from products and services to the personal biographies of its design consultants. It also allows visitors to contact Masterpiece Lighting representatives directly online.
“Masterpiece Lighting takes great pride in the wide array of products and specialty services we’re providing,” Hunt said. “Our clients benefit from an experience filled with 16,000 square feet of unprecedented personalized service.”
Masterpiece Lighting opened its brick and mortar store in June; the company offers products from more than 160 manufacturers worldwide. Masterpiece Lighting also has the largest number of certified lighting consultants on staff in the southeastern United States.
Wal-Mart’s Web site draws different consumer
There are closet Wal-Mart shoppers out there. The largest retailer in the world is attracting more affluent shoppers to its Web site. It recently sold out of its supply of $10,000 certified yellow diamonds. High-end, high-tech flat-screen TVs, cashmere, fine jewelry and more can be found online but not in stores. The site offers more than one million products exclusively online.
There are many reasons for the disparity in online and in-store merchandise. Walmart.com’s vice president of marketing, Raul Vazquez, says the company uses the Web site as a testing ground of sorts for products that might one day find themselves in stores. Analysts say it’s also a way to compete with Target who lures more affluent shoppers to its stores and to entice a market segment that would never think of shopping in the bricks and mortar version.
In a TechWeb News report, Vazquez said Walmart.com’s users earn as much as 30% more than its in-store shoppers, have more college and graduate degrees and are younger.
Walmart.com is the faster growing segment of the Wal-Mart empire. The retailer expects to greet 160 million visitors to its site, up from 100 million in 2004, between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31.
ADT’s new wireless service for retailers
ADT Security Services, a part of Tyco Fire & Security, is introducing a wireless data transmission service to help retailers share anti-theft data across stores by eliminating the need to use a company’s information technology network.
Using the technology found in cell phones that transmit data, ADT’s wireless option enables retail companies to securely transfer anti-theft data collected from multiple stores to a central corporate location. Service is available in the United States, Canada, Singapore and parts of Western Europe. ADT’s new wireless option is designed to work with ADT’s Sensormatic SmartEAS family of solutions, which provide data on anti-theft alarm events for easy analysis.
Retailers without in-store networks also can use the wireless option to move data from individual stores to a central location where it can be stored and analyzed to help fight losses from both internal and external theft. The wireless option works for both large retailers without available IT resources and smaller operations without a chain-wide network.
“It gives retailers the ability to use the data globally from the wide-range of Sensormatic SmartEAS anti-theft tools without requiring additional infrastructure or taking up valuable corporate IT resources,” said Lee Pernice, national accounts marketing manager for ADT. “The SmartEAS solutions allow retailers to link and use data from article surveillance, video and point-of-sale systems. This gives retailers a powerful information tool helping to identify theft trends and patterns that can be acted upon quickly.”
Should you blog for business? Christopher Carter of ArmsteadsPorch.com says it is a must and an easy way to communicate with your customers. “We sell gifts and unique home products, but so do many other sites. We offer the difference of excellent service and the outlet for our customer to communicate with us on how we are doing,” said Carter, Webmaster and co-founder of ArmsteadsPorch.com. “I use our company’s blog to do more than just sell our gift items, but also to entertain and offer a forum for our customers to respond and voice their own opinions.”
Armstead’s Blog (www.armsteadsporch.com/armsteadsblog.html) is the name of the blog site for ArmsteadsPorch.com and has resulted in many sales over its two-year history. “I offer blog-only specials with coupon codes as well as sneak peaks to upcoming product offerings. Alongside, I will also offer my opinion on any number of current events, as well as exciting topics such as where my underwear is made,” Carter said. “I enjoy the creative outlet the blog allows and the chance to connect on a more personal level in an industry that is not known its personal touch.”
The blog is a two-way communication as well. “I have had some interesting replies to some of my blogs, some that have been negative, but regardless it gives a chance for the reader and sometimes customer to have an open forum as well,” he said. “This is also another reason why we must give the highest quality service since they have a forum to talk back.”
Blogging for business seems to be catching on, but those that began early are already saying that blogging is a not only a revenue source, but more importantly a public relations opportunity.
PicassoMio.com reports sales growth of 62% for 2005
PicassoMio.com announced its preliminary 2005 results. In its fifth year of operations, the company had sales growth of 62% over 2004. Works by nearly 700 artists were sold during the year vs. 400 artists in 2004, an increase of 75%.
During 2005, the Web site PicassoMio.com and its galleries sold fine art to clients in over 50 countries, by 700 different well-known and emerging artists. Clients purchased artworks in all mediums, including paintings, graphic prints, photographs and sculptures, ranging from $100 to approximately $100,000. Primary markets included the U.S, UK, and other EU countries, but the company also sold in countries as diverse as Australia, Egypt, Israel, Russia, Turkey and Mexico. During 2005, PicassoMio.com also received approximately ten million visitors, making it the most visited art destination in the world.
In its fifth full year of operations, the Gallery credited its revenue growth to an increase in visitors, successful advertising campaigns, higher visibility, and improved sales to business and interiors sectors.
“PicassoMio has become the principal dealer of art, not only in the U.S. and the EU, but around the world”, said Allan Majotra, managing director. “We continue to sell pieces by masters like Picasso, Warhol, Helmut Newton, and Hirst to hundreds of emerging talents. While in the past five years we have sold artworks by over 1,000 artists from all continents, our main focus remains on promoting the contemporary art scene around the world. Nearly half of the artists we work with are emerging and as a result of PicassoMio.com, their works can now be found in collections, around the world.”
In 2005, El Pais called PicassoMio Gallery, “the world’s biggest gallery”, Emprendedores magazine selected PicassoMio.com as one of the “100 Best Companies”, Smart Money magazine of the Wall Street Journal selected PicassoMio.com as the only recommended art web site and Financial Times called PicassoMio.com the “Amazon.com” of the contemporary art scene.
“During 2006, PicassoMio galleries and PicassoMio.com will continue to dedicate itself to promoting contemporary art around the world, and we are confident of further consolidating our position as the leading art seller.” added Allan Majotra.
In addition to offices and galleries, in Barcelona, Madrid and Miami, PicassoMio plans to open two more galleries, in California and the United Kingdom, in 2006.
DecoratingCountryHome.com marks second year
Lisa French, freelance writer, marks the second year anniversary of her web site, DecoratingCountryHome.com. Her site offers expert advice on home decorating, yard and garden advice, recipes, art and crafts and home projects. Decorating Country Home features articles and tips for stylish makeovers for each room of the house.
The most sought after home decorating ideas are for country decor. Whether you are planning to redecorate or remodel your home, guidelines are always invaluable.
To begin this process, first develop a written plan whereby each room embodies an individual theme.
The impression any room makes upon entering it depends on three things:
* harmonious coloring, using colors that do not clash
* balance, the result of properly distributing your large or permanent pieces of furniture
* careful placement of each piece of furniture so that it can fulfill the purpose for which it was made.
Decorating Country home offers a wealth of homemaking ideas that will inspire you to create a fresh, new atmosphere. You can adapt these tips to suit your specific needs, including home decorating ideas for the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room, flooring, windows, lighting, deck and patio, as well as an extensive garden planting guide.
Decorating Country Home.com accepts articles from design professionals and novice decorators for inclusion on the site. Along with this, visitors are encouraged to submit recipes to be included in their country cooking recipe section.
The uniqueness of Decorating Country Home is its content. Decorating Country Home prides itself in offering valuable home decorating advice and ideas that are practical and easy to follow. The entire site is easy to navigate and designed to make home decorating easy and fun.