York Daily Record/Sunday News - Money & More
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& MONEY MORE 7B YORK DAILY RECORD • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2010 Smart phones A new spin on holiday shopping Technology and social media go mainstream, to make the experience more interactive. By ELAINE WALKER and BRIDGET CAREY McClatchy Newspapers At Toys R Us, you can forget the ol’-fash- ioned, paper and pencil holiday wish list — go high-tech with the toy retailer’s app designed for the iPad. Spot a good deal on Black Friday, and use the Black Flyday app on an Android phone to send it out immediately to all your Facebook friends. This year’s holiday season is when technol- ogy and social media join the mainstream, aiming to make the shopping experience more interactive and, hopefully, more produc- tive. For bargain hunters, it’s a way to become a more savvy shopper. Any variety of downloadable apps can help you find the best bargains. Use FastMall to pull up maps of your local malls. Stay on top of the best deals by signing up for text message alerts from retailers like Kmart, Vic- toria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. Retailers have definitely taken notice and there’s hardly a major national chain that shoppers won’t find on Facebook or Twitter. JCPenney has nearly 1.3 million Facebook fans, and Toys R Us is pushing the 1 million mark. Those fans get everything from special discounts to sneak peeks on merchandise. At Macy’s, social media and mobile mar- keting have been growing by double digits, making it just as important — or maybe more so — than traditional marketing. Four out of 10 retailers will use Facebook to promote deals this holiday season, accord- ing to the National Retail Federation. More than one-fourth of Americans who have a smart phone will use their mobile device to shop for gifts, compare prices and research products, according to an NRF survey by BIGresearch. That number reaches 45 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds and 43.5 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds. It’s all about creating a more interactive experience. That’s also the focus behind apps like CheckPoints and Shopkick. Shopkick has partnerships nationally with Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Sports Authority, Wet Seal, American Eagle and Simon Prop- erty Group’s malls. Customers score kickbucks by simply walking into a mall or store and checking in on their iPhone or Android phone. They also get more kickbucks by scan- ning barcodes on select items. “It makes it fun for the shopper,” said Lyn- ette Lauria, Florida regional vice president of marketing with Simon Property Group. Rack up a total of 875 kickbucks and shop- pers can earn a $25 restaurant gift certificate. Reach higher totals and you can earn free movie tickets or a Coach gift card. DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL Joe Bartolo, right, talks with customer Bryan Taylor of Hanover on Tuesday at JJ Cards N Toys at the York Galleria in Springettsbury Township. The store planned to open at 4:30 a.m. today. It’s not called the BIGGEST SHOPPING DAY OF THE YEAR for nothing DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL JJ Cards N Toys will offer a helmet signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Troy Polamalu, at left, on special between 4:30 and 9 a.m. today. Retailers brace for holiday season By KEVIN HORAN Daily Record/Sunday News Joe Bartolo, owner of JJ Cards N Toys, a sports memorabilia store in the York Galleria in Springettsbury Township, planned to get a jump on his competition this Black Friday, opening his doors at 4:30 a.m. The mall doesn’t officially open until 6 a.m., he said, but shoppers tend to make their way in beforehand, thanks to some of its anchor stores opening earlier. “Everybody’s trying to get that advan- tage,” Bartolo said. This will probably be a big weekend for Bartolo and his fellow retailers, ac- cording to the National Retail Federation. Up to 138 million people plan to hit the stores Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the federation said, up from 134 million who planned to shop last year. Stores around the area are bracing themselves. One of Bartolo’s competitors in the Galleria, Bleacher Bums, planned to rear- range itself Wednesday, putting racks con- taining its special deals up front for customers to see right away, said Steve Dwyer, the store’s owner. People have been hesitant to spend money the past two years, Dwyer said, a trend he expects to see reversed this year. In the West Manchester Mall, Artesian Pools & Spas’ Black Friday traffic will probably benefit from the addition of a new neighbor, Kohl’s, which opened in September, said Jeff Tarashik, Artesian’s manager. Kids shopping in Kohl’s with their parents tend to see Arte- sian’s big display of Christmas trees and decorations and go run- ning into the store, bringing their parents with them, Tarashik said. The store started carrying Christ- mas items last year, Tarashik said, and expanded its offerings this year. Big-box retailers in the area are get- ting ready, as well. Ultimate Electronics in Springettsbury Township plans to have its managers arrive at 2 a.m. and its staff arrive at 3 a.m. for its 4 a.m. opening, said Jason Donham, the store’s specialty goods manager. Staff members will start handing out vouchers to customers waiting outside for items in limited quantities at 2:30, Donham said. This is Ultimate Electronics’ first Black Friday locally since opening its store here earlier this year. The impor- tance of the day is not lost on the store’s staff, Donham said. “This will be an opportunity to talk to more people than we ever have before at one time,” he said. “...Every guest we have is an opportunity.” At Best Buy in Springettsbury Town- ship, keeping order is crucial, manager Cindy Kemmerly said. The store plans to have all 130 of its employees working at some point in the day, Kemmerly said, most of them working 12-hour shifts. Best Buy plans to open at 5 a.m. People waiting outside before the store opens will get tickets for the items they want, Kemmerly said, and then be able to pick the items up at designated places within the store. “It’s very well thought out,” Kemmerly said. Bartolo, the owner of JJ Cards N Toys, also hopes his preparations leading up to Black Friday will work out well. His store has been building up its inventory and hiring and training new em- ployees recently, he said. On Friday morn- ing, he’ll see how well it pays off. “This is a busy time for us,” he said. [email protected]; 771-2029 Free shopping apps Black Flyday — Post a good Black Friday deal or see a map of where others have buzzed about sales (Android) CheckPoints — Earn points toward gift cards and airline miles by scanning barcodes of products and checking into stores (iPhone) Coupon Sherpa — Scan through list of major retailers to see what mobile coupons they offer (iPhone) FastMall — Search a directory map of stores in a mall, and shake phone to find nearest restroom (iPhone) Giftmeister — Helps give tech gift sugges- tions for different personalities and find who is selling it for cheapest (iPhone, Android) Point Inside — Pull up a map of a mall or airport and search for customer service and man- agement offices (iPhone, Android) PriceGrabber — Scan barcodes and com- pare online prices, or share your wish list with friends (iPhone, Android) Shopkick — Earn rewards like gift certifi- cates for checking into stores and scanning bar- codes TheFind — Scan barcodes to see who is selling it for cheaper in another store or online (iPhone, Android) Yowza!! — Find stores that have mobile cou- pons (iPhone) Where — Find stores that have mobile cou- pons and check into locations (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, HP Palm) Black Friday tips The National Retail Federation provides the following tips for shoppers on Black Friday: c When gift shopping, remember you are buying for someone else’s wants and needs, not your own. The question is not whether you like a certain item; rather, it’s whether your recipient will like it. c Buy gift cards to save yourself the guesswork, “especially for babysitters, newspaper carriers, doormen (and) teachers.” c Wear comfortable shoes. “You’ll be walking on a lot of marble, concrete and tile.” Bartolo, left, helps Taylor match a frame to a Christmas present at JJ Cards N Toys. The store recently has been building up its inventory and hiring and training new employees in preparation for Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season. DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL Toy extravaganza Buy, sell, trade at expo The 29th annual Greater York Toy Extrava- ganza will run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Me- morial Hall at the York Expo Center. The show will include more than 800 tables of antique toys, trains, dolls, action figures, Hot Wheels and super heroes, among other items. Visitors can buy, sell and trade toys. Ad- mission is $5 and children under 12 get in free. Feed-A-Friend Marathon helps Red Cross Radio station WHVR-AM at Hanover will host the 25th annual Hanover Foods Feed-A- Friend Marathon, a 50-hour live broadcast to collect food for the hungry. The marathon will be noon Dec. 8 to 2 p.m. Dec. 10 and is supported in part by Cooper Motors Lincoln-Mercury, Members First Fed- eral Credit Union, McDonald’s and The Eve- ning Sun in Hanover. The goal is to collect 128,000 cans. In con- junction with its “Hope for the Holidays” pro- gram, the pledges are used by the Greater Hanover Red Cross to provide meals. For more information about the Feed-A- Friend Marathon and how you can help, call WHVR at 637-3831 or visit the Hanover Red Cross hanoverredcross.org. Low-income heating funds Senator supports program U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. joined a group of bi- partisan senators in sending a letter calling for funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to be maintained. The letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee calls for funding to be maintained at $5.1 billion rather than being cut to $3.3 bil- lion. The program, which opened Nov. 1, pro- vides money to help low-income residents, the elderly and people with disabilities pay their heating bills. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Pro- gram applications are available through the York County Assistance Office at 800-991-0929. Overdraft programs FDIC gives banks final rules Among the new guidelines, the FDIC ex- pects the state-chartered banks to: c Review marketing and disclosure for the programs “to minimize potential customer confusion and promote responsible use.” c Train staff to explain the program. c Monitor the programs for excessive use and offer alternatives to customers who over- draw their account more than six times in any 12-month period. c Set “appropriate daily limits” on the number of overdraft fees. c Consider eliminating overdraft fees for transactions that overdraw a small amount. c Consider using text messages, e-mail or other options to alert customers when their account balance gets low.
Transcript of York Daily Record/Sunday News - Money & More
&MONEY MORE 7BYORK DAILY RECORD • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2010
Smart phones
A newspin onholidayshoppingTechnology and social mediago mainstream, to make theexperience more interactive.By ELAINE WALKERand BRIDGET CAREYMcClatchy Newspapers
At Toys R Us, you can forget the ol’-fash-ioned, paper and pencil holiday wish list — gohigh-tech with the toy retailer’s app designedfor the iPad.
Spot a good deal on Black Friday, and usethe Black Flyday app on an Android phone tosend it out immediately to all your Facebookfriends.
This year’s holiday season is when technol-ogy and social media join the mainstream,aiming to make the shopping experiencemore interactive and, hopefully, more produc-tive. For bargain hunters, it’s a way to becomea more savvy shopper.
Any variety of downloadable apps canhelp you find the best bargains. Use FastMallto pull up maps of your local malls. Stay ontop of the best deals by signing up for textmessage alerts from retailers like Kmart, Vic-toria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
Retailers have definitely taken notice andthere’s hardly a major national chain thatshoppers won’t find on Facebook or Twitter.JCPenney has nearly 1.3 million Facebookfans, and Toys R Us is pushing the 1 millionmark. Those fans get everything from specialdiscounts to sneak peeks on merchandise.
At Macy’s, social media and mobile mar-keting have been growing by double digits,making it just as important — or maybe moreso — than traditional marketing.
Four out of 10 retailers will use Facebookto promote deals this holiday season, accord-ing to the National Retail Federation.
More than one-fourth of Americans whohave a smart phone will use their mobiledevice to shop for gifts, compare prices andresearch products, according to an NRFsurvey by BIGresearch. That number reaches45 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds and43.5 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds.
It’s all about creating a more interactiveexperience. That’s also the focus behind appslike CheckPoints and Shopkick.
Shopkick has partnerships nationally withTarget, Best Buy, Macy’s, Sports Authority,Wet Seal, American Eagle and Simon Prop-erty Group’s malls. Customers score kickbucksby simply walking into a mall or store andchecking in on their iPhone or Androidphone. They also get more kickbucks by scan-ning barcodes on select items.
“It makes it fun for the shopper,” said Lyn-ette Lauria, Florida regional vice president ofmarketing with Simon Property Group.
Rack up a total of 875 kickbucks and shop-pers can earn a $25 restaurant gift certificate.Reach higher totals and you can earn freemovie tickets or a Coach gift card.
DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL
Joe Bartolo, right, talks with customer Bryan Taylor of Hanover on Tuesday at JJ Cards N Toys at the York Galleria in SpringettsburyTownship. The store planned to open at 4:30 a.m. today.
It’s not called the
BIGGEST SHOPPING DAYOF THE YEAR for nothing
DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL
JJ Cards N Toys will offer a helmet signed bythe Pittsburgh Steelers’ Troy Polamalu, at left,on special between 4:30 and 9 a.m. today.
Retailers brace for holiday seasonBy KEVIN HORANDaily Record/Sunday News
Joe Bartolo, owner of JJ Cards N Toys,a sports memorabilia store in the YorkGalleria in Springettsbury Township,planned to get a jump on his competitionthis Black Friday, opening his doors at4:30 a.m.
The mall doesn’t officially open until 6a.m., he said, but shoppers tend to maketheir way in beforehand, thanks to someof its anchor stores opening earlier.
“Everybody’s trying to get that advan-tage,” Bartolo said.
This will probably be a big weekendfor Bartolo and his fellow retailers, ac-cording to the National Retail Federation.Up to 138 million people plan to hit thestores Friday, Saturday and Sunday, thefederation said, up from 134 million whoplanned to shop last year.
Stores around the area are bracingthemselves.
One of Bartolo’s competitors in theGalleria, Bleacher Bums, planned to rear-range itself Wednesday, putting racks con-taining its special deals up front forcustomers to see right away, said SteveDwyer, the store’s owner.
People have been hesitant to spendmoney the past two years, Dwyer said, atrend he expects to see reversed this year.
In the West Manchester Mall, ArtesianPools & Spas’ Black Friday traffic willprobably benefit from the addition of anew neighbor, Kohl’s, which opened in
September, said Jeff Tarashik,Artesian’s manager.
Kids shopping in Kohl’s withtheir parents tend to see Arte-sian’s big display of Christmastrees and decorations and go run-ning into the store, bringing theirparents with them, Tarashik said.The store started carrying Christ-mas items last year, Tarashik said,and expanded its offerings thisyear.
Big-box retailers in the area are get-ting ready, as well.
Ultimate Electronics in SpringettsburyTownship plans to have its managersarrive at 2 a.m. and its staff arrive at 3 a.m.for its 4 a.m. opening, said Jason Donham,the store’s specialty goods manager. Staffmembers will start handing out vouchersto customers waiting outside for items inlimited quantities at 2:30, Donham said.
This is Ultimate Electronics’ firstBlack Friday locally since opening itsstore here earlier this year. The impor-tance of the day is not lost on the store’sstaff, Donham said.
“This will be an opportunity to talk tomore people than we ever have before atone time,” he said. “...Every guest we haveis an opportunity.”
At Best Buy in Springettsbury Town-ship, keeping order is crucial, managerCindy Kemmerly said. The store plans to
have all 130 of its employees working atsome point in the day, Kemmerly said,most of them working 12-hour shifts. BestBuy plans to open at 5 a.m.
People waiting outside before the storeopens will get tickets for the items theywant, Kemmerly said, and then be able topick the items up at designated placeswithin the store.
“It’s very well thought out,” Kemmerlysaid.
Bartolo, the owner of JJ Cards N Toys,also hopes his preparations leading up toBlack Friday will work out well.
His store has been building up itsinventory and hiring and training new em-ployees recently, he said. On Friday morn-ing, he’ll see how well it pays off.
“This is a busy time for us,” he said.
[email protected]; 771-2029
Free shopping appsBlack Flyday — Post a good Black Friday
deal or see a map of where others have buzzedabout sales (Android)
CheckPoints — Earn points toward giftcards and airline miles by scanning barcodes ofproducts and checking into stores (iPhone)
Coupon Sherpa — Scan through list ofmajor retailers to see what mobile coupons theyoffer (iPhone)
FastMall — Search a directory map ofstores in a mall, and shake phone to find nearestrestroom (iPhone)
Giftmeister — Helps give tech gift sugges-tions for different personalities and find who isselling it for cheapest (iPhone, Android)
Point Inside — Pull up a map of a mall orairport and search for customer service and man-agement offices (iPhone, Android)
PriceGrabber — Scan barcodes and com-pare online prices, or share your wish list withfriends (iPhone, Android)
Shopkick — Earn rewards like gift certifi-cates for checking into stores and scanning bar-codes
TheFind — Scan barcodes to see who isselling it for cheaper in another store or online(iPhone, Android)
Yowza!! — Find stores that have mobile cou-pons (iPhone)
Where — Find stores that have mobile cou-pons and check into locations (iPhone, Android,BlackBerry, HP Palm)
Black Friday tipsThe National Retail Federation provides the following tips for
shoppers on Black Friday:
c When gift shopping, remember you are buying for someoneelse’s wants and needs, not your own. The question is not whetheryou like a certain item; rather, it’s whether your recipient will like it.
c Buy gift cards to save yourself the guesswork, “especially forbabysitters, newspaper carriers, doormen (and) teachers.”
c Wear comfortable shoes. “You’ll be walking on a lot ofmarble, concrete and tile.”
Bartolo, left, helps Taylor match a frame to a Christmaspresent at JJ Cards N Toys. The store recently has been
building up its inventory and hiring and training newemployees in preparation for Black Friday and the rest of
the holiday shopping season. DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL
Toy extravaganza
Buy, sell, trade at expoThe 29th annual Greater York Toy Extrava-
ganza will run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Me-morial Hall at the York Expo Center.
The show will include more than800 tables of antique toys, trains, dolls, actionfigures, Hot Wheels and super heroes, amongother items.
Visitors can buy, sell and trade toys. Ad-mission is $5 and children under 12 get infree.
Feed-A-Friend
Marathon helps Red CrossRadio station WHVR-AM at Hanover will
host the 25th annual Hanover Foods Feed-A-Friend Marathon, a 50-hour live broadcast tocollect food for the hungry.
The marathon will be noon Dec. 8 to 2 p.m.Dec. 10 and is supported in part by CooperMotors Lincoln-Mercury, Members First Fed-eral Credit Union, McDonald’s and The Eve-ning Sun in Hanover.
The goal is to collect 128,000 cans. In con-junction with its “Hope for the Holidays” pro-gram, the pledges are used by the GreaterHanover Red Cross to provide meals.
For more information about the Feed-A-Friend Marathon and how you can help, callWHVR at 637-3831 or visit the Hanover RedCross hanoverredcross.org.
Low-income heating funds
Senator supports programU.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. joined a group of bi-partisan senators in sending a letter callingfor funding for the Low-Income Home EnergyAssistance Program to be maintained.
The letter to the Senate AppropriationsCommittee calls for funding to be maintainedat $5.1 billion rather than being cut to $3.3 bil-lion.
The program, which opened Nov. 1, pro-vides money to help low-income residents, theelderly and people with disabilities pay theirheating bills.
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Pro-gram applications are available through theYork County Assistance Office at 800-991-0929.
Overdraft programs
FDIC gives banks final rulesAmong the new guidelines, the FDIC ex-
pects the state-chartered banks to:c Review marketing and disclosure for the
programs “to minimize potential customerconfusion and promote responsible use.”
c Train staff to explain the program.c Monitor the programs for excessive use
and offer alternatives to customers who over-draw their account more than six times in any12-month period.
c Set “appropriate daily limits” on thenumber of overdraft fees.
c Consider eliminating overdraft fees fortransactions that overdraw a small amount.
c Consider using text messages, e-mail orother options to alert customers when theiraccount balance gets low.
