Holiday Hours Extended to 24 Hours... Is It Worth It?

Over the month of December some stores have been in "we never close" mode. Target and Wal-Mart having been staying open until midnight and Toys 'R' Us and Macy's have been keeping the lights on all night for holiday shopping procrastinators.

For the first time ever, Toys 'R' Us will stay open 24 hours a day from now until Christmas Eve, when the doors will shut at 10p.m. They retailer's five temporary Toys 'R' Us "Express" stores in the Twin Cities and its Babies 'R' Us are not included in the frenzy.

The Macy's at Rosedale Center is one of a dozen of the chain's stores across the country to go 24 hours. It's the second year the store in Roseville has offered marathon shopping. Although Macy's won't share its sales numbers for the 83 hours of selling marathon, Macy's store manager at Rosedale, said the overnight blitz attracts hundreds of customers from around the area each night.

Sure, there are a few procrastinators, but mostly these people are people who have different lifestyles and different work schedules. When you shop at 2 in the morning, there's really a need. There are a ton of individuals in their working uniforms, third-shift workers, husbands and wives who work opposite schedules and come in when someone can watch their children. And then there are groups of women who went to a late show and came shopping after wards.

So, is it worth it? Retailers say staying open the extra hours are worth it. Experts say only two costs go up with the 24-hour concept: labor and utilities. If merchants can grab extra sales on the graveyard shift, it may be worth it. However, workers say different. They are just feeling more burned out leading up the holiday.

Does the New Microsoft Store Image Work Or Are They Just a Bad Copycat?

It looks like an Apple store; employees wear bright color T-shirts just like Apple employees and there are all sorts of gadgets spread out for customers to try, just like in an Apple store. But, it's not an Apple store - it's the new breed of Microsoft stores. But, do the new Microsoft stores work as successful as Apple stores? Some say no.

I went shopping at Mall of America a few weeks ago and noticed that right across from the popular Apple store there was a store that looked just like it with a different logo - it took me a moment to realize it was a Microsoft store. I walked through and wondered how well this new image was working for them, copying their largest competitor's image. Personally, I thought it was odd.

Apparently others feel the same. People say it looks like the Apple brand, but doesn't feel the same. They say it doesn't have that same 'cool' factor that Apple's brand has. The main reason it has been decided was because the main difference between the two brands is that Apple products are exclusively sold at Apple stores. You can't find them anywhere else. And secondly, Apple stores only sell Apple products. Compare this to the Microsoft which sells a variety of product brands.

What do you think?

Want to feel sexy? It's all in the bag, study finds

With the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show airing last night, I'm feeling a little more sexy than usual... Is this true though, can a brand change the way you feel about yourself?

If you feel a little snobbier when driving a BMW, or feel a little more outdoorsy if you slip on your North Face, or feel a little more hip when you use your new MacBook Air - you're not alone. It's widely known that a product's brand image has a profound impact on your own self image. It's even been proven in a recent study by the University of Minnesota, that now we actually sometimes change our own personalities to match a brand we want to be associated with.

"For example, if you want to be conveyed as adventurous you may buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle or wear casual clothes from stores such as REI," says Deborah Roedder John, a marketing professor at the U of M and one of the authors of the study published in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. (You can find the full report here, but a subscription is required.)

Brands are like badges - For one part of the study the U of M researchers recruited about 100 volunteers at a mall, all women between the ages of 18 to 34, and asked each of them to carry around a shopping bag of their choice for an hour: Victoria's Secret, Old Navy or Limited Too. Everyone chose the Victoria's Secret bag. When they came back an hour later they were given a survey about how they felt about themselves. The survey results showed that the 'personality of Victoria's Secret' is sexy, glamorous and feminine. (No word on whether or not the bag made them feel like a 15 year old.)

The same researchers did a study with a pen with the MIT logo on it. The results came back similar saying that they felt smarter when using the MIT pen.

This idea is called "entity theory," and it means your the type of person who seeks our products to make you feel a certain way about yourself. But, if you're not a type of person who is affected by a brand you buy, you really won't feel anything at all during a study like this. The second theory is called the "incremental theory"

So, maybe this theory will help shoppers this holiday season save money. You really don't need to buy the brand you believe makes you who you are. All you really need to do is be associated with it and you'll still feel this same benefit.

What do you think of this idea? Have you experienced it or do you think it's full of crock?

Round Two: Cyber Monday!

After a great weekend for retailers, shops are rolling out big deals for 'Cyber Monday.'

The holiday that always lands on the Monday after Thanksgiving gets its name from a retail trade group that promoted the idea that people will return to work after a festive weekend of food and shopping, log on to their computers and continue to shop.

Cyber Monday has become a bigger deal than in years past. In fact, as stores promote their Black Friday ads online, it's harder to tell the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Actually, this year more stores are promoting their Cyber Monday ads all week long because more shoppers are just going online rather than coming in their stores. For example, Walmart.com is promoting 'Cyber Week,' discounts from Sunday through next Friday.

Online spending still is a very small piece of the income pie, between eight and 10 percent. However, with it's recent growth in popularity stores get excited about the enthusiasm surrounding online shopping.

2010 Consumer Shopping Trends

The holidays are upon us and for weeks I've already heard 24-7 Christmas music playing on some radio stations. Today through Thursday I'm gearing up for my Black Friday shopping-spree by paging through ads and websites to see what I should run after. The National Retail Federation/BiGresearch, comScore, Consumer Electronics Association and Consumer Reports surveyed and found out what the hot items this season are.

Top Consumer Trends:

More discretionary gifts: Longtime favorites still rule -- gift cards, books, clothes, CDs and DVDs, but the number of people who want a gift of jewelry under the tress is up 13 percent from last year.

Gift cards: After growing in popularity by double digits, gift card sales grew only slightly last years as retailed continued to offer deep discounts. This year experts predict more practical gift cards for grocery stores, restaurants and home improvement centers will be under Christmas trees.

Value over price: Even though rock-bottom prices seem to be important, it appears that consumers are considering quality more lately.

Fewer gifts for self: Almost a third of people say they'll cut back on buying themselves gifts, putting more toward charitable giving and gifts for others.

Click and buy: Many people I've been talking to say they don't want to bother with the crowds during the holidays - they'll be doing most of their shopping online. Online spending is expected to grow by nine percent, twice last year's pace. and online shopping say they'll spend almost a quarter more.

Going mobile: Practically 27 percent of those who own a smart phone will use it in their research or buying.

Gadgets: Consumers plan to spend give percent more on consumer electronics this year; nearly a third will buy nothing but consumer electronics. At the top of the gift-giving list: video game consoles, MP3 players, notebook/laptops. TVs, which had been the most popular category in recent years, fell to No. 6.

Cash is king: Slightly more than a quarter of shoppers say they'll charge their gifts, the lowest since 2002. Four in 10 people say they'll cut back on credit and debit card spending.

Is the Coupon Craze Just a Woman Thing?

As the recession continues, the redemption of coupons hits record highs last year; however men still aren't as quick to clip as women.

According to a Nielsen Media report, 311 billion coupons were distributed nationwide in 2009, but only 18 percent of grocery shoppers who used coupons at least once a year were male. This story was discussed in this morning's Star Tribune.

This doesn't mean that men don't want to save, but that they want to do it another way. Men find coupons to be a nuisance, that it's a pain to cut them, hold on to them and then remember to bring them and use them. They feel the preparation time is too cumbersome.

Does this mean that men don't like to think ahead? Some say that this theory goes back to the hunter/gatherer thing, when it was primarily women who had a vested interested in conserving. Others say that men prefer to buy in bulk than become a coupon clipper and believe they save the same amount of money.

Recently, NCH Marketing Services in Illinois released that nearly 93 percent of men who started using coupons when the recession began in 2009, say they plan to continue doing so. Do you think at least some of those coupons were clipped by women?