5 Advantages to an Online Shopping Mall

Experts agree that shoppers will spend an unprecedented amount of money buying gifts online this holiday season. Just as "big box" stores draw an inordinate number of shoppers, so does the online shopping mall. Here are five reasons why an online shopping mall is so appealing to many:

1. No More Driving
With gas prices in some areas of California inching toward five dollars a gallon, it's no wonder that people are thinking twice about getting into their SUVs and heading to the stores. An online shopping mall allows you to get all of the gifts you need with a few clicks of your mouse - without ever starting up the engine.

2. Ultimate Convenience
With an online shopping mall, you never have to worry about the crowds on a Saturday morning, gunning for a parking spot, or where you're going to leave the kids so you can buy their holiday gifts. By definition, an online store is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can shop after the kids have gone to bed, you can shop in your pajamas and bunny slippers, or you can shop at peak times with the knowledge that you're not standing in line at a checkout counter. It can't get more convenient than that!

3. Freedom to Browse
Perhaps you know precisely what you need, or maybe you're looking for inspiration. Either way, an online shopping mall fits the bill. If you know that Aunt Mary loves certain fragrances, for example, you can easily hone in on the perfect gift. On the other hand, if you're unsure what toys would appeal to your nephew, an online shopping mall lets you browse to your heart's content until you find the toy that will delight him.

4. Endless Selection
A great online shopping mall mirrors the best brick-and-mortar mall in that it has a virtually limitless selection - without having to traipse from store to store with armloads of packages. Apparel, auto parts, cell phones, computers, personal electronics, home and garden gifts, jewelry, sports, and toys are all available at a good online mall. Tens of thousands of items are all at your fingertips.

5. Great Prices
An online shopping mall has many advantages over a traditional mall, but perhaps none is more compelling than the pricing. After all, online stores don't have the overhead expenses of brick-and-mortar stores - like rent, utilities, display, sales clerks, and so forth - so they can pass along the savings to you. For that reason, they can offer products at or sometimes below wholesale prices.
If you're an avid online shopper, you'll undoubtedly do much of your holiday shopping online. Rather than shop from several online sources, you'll find it much easier to track your purchases when you make them at one online shopping mall. So put the kids to bed, put on your bunny slippers, and let your fingers do the clicking!

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.

With dollar low, US is one big outlet

Europeans arriving in droves for bargains

By Jenn Abelson Globe Staff / November 24, 2007

WRENTHAM - Hours after her flight from Dublin landed in Boston on Thanksgiving, Alice Kinsella headed in a white van with a dozen relatives and friends to Wrentham Village Premium Outlets. The 36-year-old has never visited Boston, but she is bypassing the sights for an extended weekend of binge shopping that started at midnight yesterday.

For Kinsella and other Europeans, America is one big discount bin, thanks to a weak dollar that slid this week to another record low against the euro. As a result, tourists are spending thousands to travel to the United States to snag blockbuster bargains on everything from iPods to designer clothes and handbags.

By 4 a.m. yesterday, Kinsella had rung up nearly $2,000 in Christmas presents and winter clothes, including a $79 black leather jacket at Guess that she estimated would cost more than $250 in Ireland.

"The bargains for us are so great," said Kinsella, who paid $1,000 for a flight and hotel but expects to save even more on purchases here.

Kinsella is one of a record 1,000 international tourists who scheduled organized shopping trips yesterday to Wrentham Village Premium Outlets - more than double the number last year. Hundreds more were expected to come on their own, according to Beth Winbourne, the outlet's general manager.

Foreign travelers have long visited the United States to get their holiday shopping fix. After all, many design er brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Guess are cheaper here because sales taxes are lower and because the bigger market here allows goods to be priced more competitively.

But now American wares are even more of a bargain as the slowing US economy has weakened the dollar. Further, as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to boost the economy, the dollar has lost even more value, and global investors have realized they won't earn as much when they park their cash in greenbacks. As a result, the euro has shot up by 33 percent compared with the dollar since 2002, so Europeans who exchange 1,000 euros now get close to 1,500 US dollars. And the Canadian dollar is worth as much as the US dollar for the first time in three decades.

While some US shoppers are tightening their purse strings this holiday season amid rising gasoline prices, the slumping housing market, and the current credit crunch, the one silver lining for some merchants is the tidal wave of foreign dollars pouring into US stores.

"With Americans looking to cut back and conserve because of economic uncertainties, the holy grail this holiday-season year for retailers are the international travelers who are coming here in record numbers," said Patrick Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Online Shopping Brokers: GAP

Online Shopping Brokers: GAP

It was the summer of 1969: Man took his first walk on the moon. Nearly 450,000 people gathered in upstate New York to witness the historic Woodstock concert. And Doris and Don Fisher opened the first Gap store in San Francisco. Today, Gap Inc. is one of the world's largest specialty retailers, with more than 3,100 stores and fiscal 2006 revenues of $15.9 billion. We operate four of the most recognized apparel brands in the world — Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperlime. Every day, we look for new ways to connect with customers around the world, provide value to our shareholders and make a positive contribution in the communities where we do business.

Gap Inc. is a brand-builder. We create emotional connections with customers around the world through inspiring product design, unique store experiences and compelling marketing. Our purpose? Simply, to make it easy for you to express your personal style throughout your life. We have more than 150,000 passionate, talented people around the world who help bring this purpose to life for our customers. Across our company and embedded in our culture are key values that guide our success: integrity, respect, open-mindedness, quality and balance. Every day, we honor these values and exemplify our belief in doing business in a socially responsible way.

How Our Clothes Are Made From a design concept born in New York by our product designers to an in-store display in one of our more than 3,100 stores around the world, each Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy product goes through a multi-stage process before reaching our customers. At any given time, our teams are working on our merchandise assortments, whether that's designing for the holiday season, creating production samples of the summer collection, or merchandising and marketing for the spring assortment. This work generally consists of five phases:

Phase I: Design and Merchandising

Great clothes often begin with a feeling, a vision, a memory ... perhaps a song lyric or a scene from a classic movie. Always looking for fresh ideas, our designers and merchants visit the world's fashion and cultural capitals — New York, Paris, London, Milan and Tokyo, for example — taking in the fashion shows, shopping new stores and observing the everyday fashion of people on the street. Then they translate their ideas into drawings, patterns, swatches and color palettes. Once concepts have been developed, it's time to turn them into real clothes. Our merchants and designers work closely together to translate inspiration into product assortments we believe our customers will want to wear. Working from designers' drawings, our patternmakers create rough sample garments. Samples are then carefully edited into focused product assortments for our brands and our customers

Phase 2: Planning and Sourcing

Once designs are set and an assortment has been chosen, planning and distribution specialists help merchandisers decide how many units of each new style to order and to which stores those units should be sent. A plan is created for each style. Buying plans in hand, it's now time to select the manufacturing facilities that can fulfill our production needs — and comply with our Code of Vendor Conduct. (Learn more about our process for selecting and approving factories.) Buyers work with factory owners to understand every detail of production, from materials, quantity and price to packaging and delivery.

Phase 3: Production and Marketing

The factory makes product samples and, using mannequins and models, we confirm the fit. Once approved, the factory begins production. Now our Marketing team steps in to meet with the merchants and look at factory samples. Based on this preview, the team develops an appropriate marketing plan to communicate the assortment and key products to our customers. Meanwhile, the factory puts the finishing touches on the merchandise, it's tested to ensure it meets regulatory standards and we conduct final quality assurance.

Phase 4: Distribution

All merchandise, samples, plans, fixtures, props and in-store displays are packed, inspected and readied for shipment to our distribution centers. Once the product arrives at the distribution centers, every single box gets checked in. Cartons are counted, quantities are confirmed and random audits are performed. As merchandise is added to inventory, it's designated for delivery to a specific store according to size, color and quantity. The distribution centers then move the merchandise to the appropriate stores.

Phase 5: Sales and Analysis

Every major seasonal delivery requires a brand new floor setup in the stores. Merchandise is placed following the guidelines of our Visual Merchandising team. Finally, our sales associates sell the merchandise to our customers. As each unit is sold, the transaction is registered for analysis by our planners and distribution analysts. These analysts monitor weekly sales trend reports and determine which stores need to be replenished with which products. Replenishment shipments typically occur one to three times per week. At the end of each season, we assess our performance, gather customer feedback, look for improvements and begin the cycle all over again.