Proficiency Post - breaking news and opinion in the office productivity market by Peter Frost

Proficiency Index
2012 Winning Webstores

3 steps to web
user-friendliness

Are resellers making progress
v best practice e.g. Shoplet

20 May’12 (Updated)

How long do users stay on webstores? Seconds unless the home page is refreshed with new information, new products or special offers…daily. This is a prelude to the 2012 Winning Webstore review...

Read more: Proficiency Index - Winning Webstore 2012 Review

New iPhone 5
big screen test

Rival Samsung’s Galaxy
S111 expected this summer

19 May’12

The new iPhone 5 that Apple is expected to unveil in September likely to have a larger display with the company ordering bigger screens from its Asian suppliers,

Read more: New Apple iPhone5 big screen test

Ecommerce
accelerating

US shoppers spend $50Bn,
up 15%; UK up 10% in April

18 May’12

US and UK consumers and business users continued their relentless shift to purchasing online and using smartphones as their preferred device..

Read more: Ecommerce accelerating in US and UK

Gale force to
drive econtent
marketing service

United VP marketing steps up to
lead group-wide shared service

18 May’12

US #1 business supplies wholesaler United Stationers has announced that Laura Gale will lead its new, shared econtent service across the group for the cross-marketing benefit of resellers. We spoke to an excited Laura…

Read more: Gale force to drive econtent marketing service

HP slashes
25,000 jobs

Whitman wields chainsaw;
where’s the growth strategy?

18 May’12

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is considering cutting as many as 25,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, to reduce costs and contend with slowing demand for computers and services…

Read more: HP to cut 25000 jobs

Staples stalled

...be bolder!

International sales drag

back gains in US delivery

17 May’12 (Complete 16:00BST; 11:00ET)

Staples, the world’s leading OP reseller, announced disappointing sales results for Q1’12 ended 28 Apr’12. With $1.2Bn in cash, when will Ron Sargent invest the treasure chest; and address its European execution problem?

Read more: Staples Q1'12 Financial Review

Wal-Mart back
to winning ways

Positive sales growth continued
in US, Sam’s Club and international

17 May’12

The world’s #1 retailer, Wal-Mart continued its recovery with US same-store sales growth and powerful International sales growth in Q1’13 ended 30 Apr’12

Read more: Wal-Mart Q1'13 Financial Review

Print-free test drive

HP’s 7 day experiment gets
ready for paperless future

16 May’12

As part of a global experiment to prove that print and consumer printer is not irrelevant, HP conducted an experiment in 3 countries: US, India and Singapore.

Read more: HP's Print-free test drive

Good, better,
Best Corp Mills

First OP reseller to achieve
Certified B Corporation status

15 May’12

Vancouver based, Mills Office Productivity, a family owned reseller, has achieved Certified B Corporation status as designated by the non-profit organization B Lab.

Read more: Good better Best Corp Mills

Is Social Media
measuring up?

Be critical. Be smart. Measure it
like other marketing campaigns

15 May’12

The death of traditional marketing methods at the expense of social media is greatly exaggerated according to Marketing Week’s Mark Ritson. He feels its effect is fuelled with exaggeration, inaccuracy and hyperbole.

Read more: Is Social Media measuring up?