HMV distributors denied credit insurance. Who carries the can?

pic: Albany

News that credit insurance has been withdrawn on some supplies to HMV is not just ‘something for the Finance Department’.

Whilst their colleagues in finance track the historical reports on customers in Companies House, the salesforce continue to be the essential ‘eyes and ears’ of the company on the ground, and have the potential to gain a current perspective.

Finance-focused NAMs realise that if a customer goes bust owing £150k, a supplier making 5% net profit has to sell £3m in incremental sales to recover the loss. Furthermore, in the case of the home entertainment sector, such sales would have to be made to the major multiples, both on and off-line, adding further to trade concentration. This would tend to increase home entertainment's share of mind for such retailers, possibly diluting their interest in other categories.

To minimise such risk in the future, it is crucial that NAMs heighten their sensitivity to the warning signs: loss of market share, profit-warnings, possible breaches of loan-covenants, and a falling share price.

To this a NAM can add their knowledge and understanding of key people in the decision-making-process, together with their pan-trade insight on how other retailers of the category compare. Finally, constant monitoring of the cost of the credit they give to the troubled customer and insistence on 100% compliance can help to reduce the risk of trade exposure.

After all, it is your money, at the moment…

(See 'Spotting the Signs of a Customer Going Bust')

Ringleader of Bogus Global Home-delivery Scam Exposed

Pic: Charles Wroe

Operating in collusion with parents for many years, with late-night access to homes everywhere, this year’s travel-issues proved to be the final straw, and the culprit finally surrendered to police in Brighton.

Have a snow-free Christmas, from the Namnews Team!

Finnish KAMtravel:How Helsinki airport deals with snow and ice

Helsinki airport had 188cm (six feet) of snow last winter but the last time it was forced to close because of the weather was in 2003.That closure lasted for half an hour.This winter planes have been taking off and landing as normal despite an unusually heavy snowfall in December - 65cm (more than two feet).

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High-end whisky unveiled in China - for $2,700

Those NAMs seeking something extra for that special buyer who ‘only wants a bottle of whisky for Christmas’ now have the answer:

Nip over to Beijing and pick up a hand-crafted decanter made by Dartington Crystal, featuring a Royal Salute crest painted in liquid 24-carat gold, along with a 24-carat gold plated collar and a crystal stopper set with a 24-carat gold plated crown.

Only problem is what you give the following Christmas…..

Have an unreal weekend, from the Namnews Team!

Can you see me in this? Mobiles in the changing room:

Shoppers sending pictures of prospective purchases by Smartphones are altering habits on the high street

Phone companies on the lookout for trends in the millions of texts, calls and internet searches made every hour have identified hotspots around store changing rooms as shoppers photograph themselves trying on new outfits then beam the images to friends for an instant verdict.

Young fashion shoppers "spend longer and longer in changing rooms . . . They go in and put on two or three outfits, take pictures, send them to friends and wait to get their opinions back"

However the real money quote: "We know they are doing it because we can see messages going out from a particular corner of a store." Vodafone............

Wild Boar selects the wrong butcher…

A small-town German butcher said on Monday he faces steep bills after a wild boar tore through his shop in an hour-long rampage but will at least recover some of his losses by selling slices of the slain beast. The boar wandered out of a nearby forest and into the shop and caused about 5,000 euros ($6,600) in damage before being shot by a local hunter, butcher Rainer Kraemer told Reuters.

The 130-kg (290 lbs) boar will only fetch about 400 euros in ham and wurst sales after Kraemer finishes carving it up.

Moral: He who tries to steal lunch, can sometimes end up as lunch…

Have a fair-share weekend, from the Namnews Team!

Extending the BOGTF into product innovation…?

Pic: Andrew Sullivan
With Buy-One-Get-Two-Free rapidly gaining traction on the sales side, it was only a matter of time before marketing found a way of catering for niche-appetites and reducing packaging via the "cherpumple", a three-layer cake (yellow, spice and white) with a pie baked inside each layer (cherry, apple, pumpkin)... Full details including slideshow & Recipe on Wall Street Journal site
Have a multilevel weekend-fest, from the Namnews Team!

Poundland plans to go online?

With a 29% increase in turnover to £509m via 320 stores, Poundland have moved into mainstream retailing.

Appealing to two groups of savvy consumers who seldom forget lessons learned in austerity, their regular shoppers are those who need to save money, and those who choose to do so…

Going online will simply remove some costs and broaden Poundland’s appeal.

No longer an outlet for ad hoc ‘special packs’, or ends-of-lines, the pound shops now sell regular lines and brands, albeit forecasting ‘overages’ on a transaction basis that has somehow become essential…

Their ability to grab headlines will increase the competitive threat they represent to the multiples and discounts, probably resulting in retaliatory pricing moves?

Perhaps it is time to scope out the options, run the numbers, reassess their competitive appeal and factor poundshops into your trading strategies, before the multiples do it for you?