TIDBITS

Fulfilling growth Executives in the fulfillment business have reason to feel fulfilled: The Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association reports that its members' revenues were up an average of 12.5% in 2004 from the previous year. Firms in the North Central region of the U.S. enjoyed the highest sales growth, 16.3%. Gross and net profit as a percentage of sales both climbed last year, while return on net worth rose to 19.7%, and return on assets increased to 7.4%. Other aspects of the fulfillment business that posted strong growth include per-production-employee measures of sales, gross profit, and assets. — RR

NLRA confidential

Chances are you haven't taken a close look at your company's confidential information policies and agreements recently. The sooner you do so the better, advises Dallas-based law firm Jackson Lewis LLP. In a recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the case of Cintas Corp. (344 NLRB No. 118), the board found that the company's policy relating to employees' nondisclosure of confidential information violated the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB's reasoning was that the wording of the policy could be interpreted as prohibiting employees from discussing the terms of their employment with co-workers or others. — RR

Surf's down

Is your Website easy to use? It had better be if you want shoppers to stay long enough to make a purchase, according to a survey by Chicago-based Web hosting provider Hostway Corp. More than 70% of the respondents said they're unlikely to purchase from, or even return to, a Website after encountering a “pet peeve.” And you're unlikely to ever find out what that peeve is, since only 25% of shoppers take the trouble to tell merchants what annoys them. But common irritants include pop-up ads, the need to install extra software, dead links, confusing navigation, and slow-loading pages. You're also better off avoiding cutesy touches: Moving text, for instance, was a pet peeve of 59% of the survey respondents. — MW