How to Negotiate Software Agreements

| Curt Barry

Let’s face it: Getting to the point of signing an agreement for a new order management, warehouse management or website system requires a massive amount

Two Tips for Staffing the Warehouse for the Holidays

| Ian MacDonald

To hire the correct amount of order pickers, packers, and shippers you need to understand two things: Product demand/sales forecast, and how many orders your warehouse can ship per labor hour. Using these metrics, you can determine how many people you need to get all the orders out the door on time. Then you just need to hire those quality applicants.

Video: Shoring-up Paid Search and Syndication for the Holidays

| MCM staff

Bright Cloud Marketing president Karen Crist talks about why merchants need to get their paid search and comparison shopping engines ready for the holiday season, and how to use analytics to make the holiday a happy one. If you are a merchant, you need to clearly and constantly communicate with your outsourced providers.

Video: Measuring and Managing During Holiday 2011

| MCM staff

Ken Lane of Hathaway & Lane and J. Schmid & Associates talks about key metrics and forecasting for the holiday season. This year more than ever, you need to have a measure and manage on steroids mentality. A Sunday Christmas, ecommerce, express shipping and daily deal sites will change your curve.

Video: Merchandising Your Catalog for Holiday 2011

| MCM staff

Sarah Fletcher, president of Catalog Design Studios, talks with Multichannel Merchant senior writer Tim Parry about tips to increase holiday sales in 2011. Look at your catalog like you’ve never seen it before, take the Top 10 items, and make sure you are actively selling them.

Video: How to Manage Holiday Inventory Levels

| MCM staff

Here’s a holiday preparedness tip from Carolina Rustica owner Richard Sexton. Don’t just keep an eye on your inventory levels. Make sure that if you’re participating in a promotion like Free Shipping Day, you’ve allocated inventory to go towards that promotion. The last thing you want to do during the holidays is make a customer mad!

Video: How to Use Catalogs as Web Traffic Drivers

| MCM staff

Bill LaPierre, vice president of business analytics at Datamann, talks about what merchants need to do with their holiday catalogs this season. The biggest deficiency in 2011 holiday books so far: Merchants are not using them as drivers to the Web.