New York SBDC Research Network

From Business Wire : One in five commercial emails worldwide fails to reach its intended target, according to the 2017 Deliverability Benchmark Report from data solutions provider Return Path. This new research reveals that just 80 percent of email is delivered to the inbox, while the remainder—a full 20 percent—is diverted to spam folders or gets blocked altogether. The report’s findings are relatively consistent with the company’s 2016 and 2015 benchmarks, which reported a 79 percent global inbox placement rate. While this rate has improved slightly in the past year, the significant percentage of filtered messages means that marketers are still missing out on a valuable opportunity to drive meaningful revenue from the email channel. "Email remains the most popular and effective channel available to marketers, so it’s more important than ever to get it right. If your emails aren’t reaching the inbox, you’re missing out on an opportunity to build relationships and generate

From eMarketing : In retailers’ fight against Amazon, it looks like there will soon be a new weapon that could help level the playing field against the online retail giant. UPS said it will introduce UPS Returns Manager, a free online tool that allows e-commerce retailers, especially less well-resourced small- and medium-sized merchants, to not only customize their own shipment rules but also manage return shipments without having to integrate their own IT systems. For consumers, who in the past had to go to a retailer’s website to print a return label or use a label retailers include in package boxes, the feature allows them to now print a return shipping label directly from UPS.com’s tracking page both on desktop and mobile devices and through email alerts. Consumers can also print return labels at The UPS Store locations at no additional cost. The service will be available in the US Aug. 14 and 43 other countries from the UK to Brazil two weeks after that. Why is this rele

Each year the New York Small Business Development Center recognizes outstanding small businesses in a variety of ways.  This Success Story from the  Baruch SBDC appears in our 2016 Annual Report .  Josh Schaffner Ninth Planet Beverage Solutions Midtown Manhattan SBDC   Ninth Planet Beverage Solutions packages beverages for small and medium-sized producers, specializing in beers for craft breweries. The company was created to provide a reliable and affordable packaging service to small growing producers who don’t want to sacrifice quality control or presentation in the growth of their product to additional sales outlets. Ninth Planet are the first counter pressure filling canner that goes to the customer!  Josh Schaffner is not new to the industry. He has been a professional advocate for craft beverage producers since he launched NY Craft Beer Week in 2008. When he saw the canning problem faced by micro-brewers he had hi

From eMarketer : Nearly half of US millennial grocery shoppers polled earlier this year said they have shopped for some groceries in an online-only store, a dramatic change from just two years ago. And they're not alone. The finding mirrors a trend of consumers across all age groups increasingly getting their groceries among internet pure plays, although at a more modest level. A February 2017 survey by food industry research firm Food Marketing Institute (FMI) found that 43% of millennial respondents shopped for groceries at online-only retailers at least occasionally, a rate almost 80% higher than in 2015. Consumers ages 39 to 52 shopped for groceries at online-only retailers at about half the rate of millennials

From Forbes : As the immigration debate continues, a new study indicates that immigrant entrepreneurial zeal and technology are fueling much of the small business growth in America. New York City is the Big Apple for small business, according to Biz2Credit’s 2017 study of the Top Small Business Cities. New York improved to the top spot after registering the highest average annual revenues, credit scores and length of time in business. The city's growth has been fueled by the booming real estate market, the construction industry, banking and finance, a thriving technology sector, and immigrant-owned service and food businesses. The annual ranking of the 25 cities is based on a weighted average of data from 30,000 companies with fewer than 250 employees and less than $10 million in annual revenues that applied for financing last year. It looks at the health of small companies in each metro area, the rate of small-business creation, and the economic ecosystem for entrepreneurs, i

From BizJournals : Subscription meal kit company Blue Apron, which has delivered more than 150 million meals since it was founded five years ago, is No. 1 on the Hot 100 Retailers list. The list appears in the August issue of the National Retail Federation's STORES magazine and was compiled by research firm Kantar Retail. It’s based on sales growth in 2016 over 2015, and ranks both public and privately-held retail companies by U.S. domestic sales, with a $300 million threshold for inclusion, according to NRF. Blue Apron saw annual sales grow 133 percent to $795.4 million in 2016, according to the list. STORES Hot 100 Retailers' annual list : There is a distinct lack of big-box general merchandise retailers on the chart this year, while there are plenty of businesses that exhibit differentiation in the marketplace, innovative merchandising and an appropriate value proposition for the intended customer base.

From Mediapost : A Wisconsin company had its planned ‘chip party’ Tuesday and 41 employees had microchips implanted into them. Those employees, all who volunteered to have an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip implanted between their thumb and forefinger, now can use their hand to unlock doors, log on to computers and pay at kiosks or terminals that take credit cards. “It went really well and was a lot simpler than I thought,” Tony Danna, vice president of international sales at Three Market Square, said. “It hurts more when pinching the skin than the syringe implanting the chip. It takes about two seconds.” There were about 20 employees in the company who did not want them and no one, either those who initially did or did not want them changed their mind, Danna said.

From MarketingProfs : Retail marketers say developing content and promotions well ahead of time is the most effective thing that can be done to prepare for the winter holiday shopping season, according to recent research from Campaigner. The report was based on data from a survey of 100 retailers who are Campaigner clients. Some 62% of respondents say early development of marketing content and promotions is the most helpful approach for preparing for the holiday season. One-third of retailers who began planning before last September say they had a successful 2016 holiday season; only 22% of retailers who began planning in September or later say they had a successful 2016 holiday season.

From the Federal Trade Commission : Some scammers call and claim to be computer techs associated with well-known companies like Microsoft or Apple. Other scammers send pop-up messages that warn about computer problems. They say they’ve detected viruses or other malware on your computer. They claim to be “tech support” and will ask you to give them remote access to your computer. Eventually, they’ll diagnose a non-existent problem and ask you to pay for unnecessary – or even harmful – services. If you get an unexpected pop-up, call, spam email, or other urgent messages about problems with your computer, stop. Don’t click on any links, don’t give control of your computer and don’t send any money. Don’t click that pop-up for a “free virus scan”. Scammers create pop-up ads, make fake websites, and call you pretending to be tech support personnel—but they’re not helping you, they’re just taking your money or stealing your information. The elderly are especially vulnerable to these tric

Each year the New York Small Business Development Center recognizes outstanding small businesses in a variety of ways.  This Success Story from the  Albany SBDC appears in our 2016 Annual Report .  Alejandro and Sonya del Peral Nine Pin Cider Albany SBDC   Nine Pin is a craft cider company based in downtown Albany. Established in 2013, Nine Pin is dedicated to creating exceptional off-dry ciders, and to the orchards that make them possible. Apple varieties are carefully selected and blended to achieve a complex, balanced flavor with a clean and pleasantly drinkable finish.  Located in the Warehouse District of downtown Albany, Nine Pin Cider is the first cider manufacturer to be awarded a NYS Farm Cidery license in the state. Nine Pin sources apples exclusively from farms in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley. Founders Alejandro and Sonya del Peral are a dynamic mother and son duo that have fostered the development a

From BusinessWire A survey* commissioned by Transaction Network Services (TNS) has found that 85% of adults in the US, UK and Australia believe the number of criminals trying to steal credit and debit card data is increasing. More than two thirds are concerned about the security of their payment card data and 38% feel their private credit or debit card data has been put at risk by a data breach, irrelevant of whether they subsequently were a victim of fraud. Also from BusinessWire : A recent study from Juniper Research predicts that worldwide spending on tools to detect and prevent online payment fraud will rise to $9.3 billion by 2022, an increase of 22% over the spend expected this year. The report says that the threat posed by insecure internet of things (IoT) devices will be a primary driver of anti-fraud investment.

From the Federal Trade Commission : The Federal Trade Commission is mailing 2,711 checks totaling more than $372,000 to  people who paid American Business Builders and related entities for a home-based business opportunity . The defendants claimed that people would earn substantial income offering payment processing services, credit card terminals, and merchant cash advances to small businesses. Under a settlement with the FTC, the defendants – which include American Business Builders, ENF, Network Market Solutions, UMS Group, United Merchant Services, Universal Marketing and Training, and Unlimited Training Services – are banned from selling business and work-at-home opportunities and related services. The average check amount is $137.42. Recipients should deposit or cash checks within 60 days. The FTC never requires consumers to pay money or provide account information to cash a refund check. If they have questions about the case, they should contact the FTC’s refund administrator,

From MarketingProfs : The appeal of some products is obvious. It's not hard to understand the attraction of an appetizing cheeseburger, a new action movie, or a revolutionary smartphone. Other products, however, have to work harder to explain the problem that they're solving. Moreover, some industries serve fundamental needs in society—but don't receive the kind of attention heaped on upstarts like Snapchat: Think Oracle, the second-highest earning software developer in the world; its name would likely draw a blank stare from the man in the street. There is hope, though. Here are 11 powerful steps for marketing products that, on the face of it, might seem totally unsexy. 1. Define the problem that you're solving Instead of telling people about the reasons that they should like your product, identify what your customers are looking for and frame your pitch around that.

From PR Newswire : Nearly one-half of Millennials (47 percent) believe CEOs have a responsibility to speak up about issues that are important to society, far outpacing the sentiments of Gen Xers and Boomers (28 percent each). An even larger six in 10 Millennials (56 percent) say that business leaders have a greater responsibility to speak out now than in years past. This is according to CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite, a report commissioned by global communications and engagement firm Weber Shandwick in partnership with KRC Research. This study follows The Dawn of CEO Activism, among one of the first reports published in 2016 that identified the risks and rewards for companies when their chief executives speak out on hot-button issues. "Over the past 12 months, the climate in the United States has changed dramatically as business and policy have intersected more deeply than ever before," said Andy Polansky, CEO of Weber Shandwick. "When dozens of CEO

From Businesss Wire : More businesses are realizing the importance of mobile apps, but are discovering deploying and managing apps in their business is not as easy as they had thought. To gauge the state of apps in the enterprise, Kony, Inc., the leading enterprise mobility and digital applications company, partnered with Wakefield Research. The global survey of more than 1,000 line-of-business executives revealed the majority of respondents are still unsatisfied with the apps they have due to challenges around user experience, cost, and ongoing maintenance. In addition, trust in IT is dismal with fewer than 1 in 5 of respondents saying they would work with their in-house IT department. “Enterprises recognize the importance of apps for their business,” said Carlos Carvajal, chief marketing officer at Kony, Inc. “Unfortunately, as this survey reveals, hurdles around app user experience, cost, and management are stifling innovation. The challenge is organizations that fail to innovate