Business Notes

Customer Experience Scores Took a Dive

According to Forrester’s U.S. Customer Experience Index rankings, customer service quality fell for 19 percent of brands in 2022, the highest proportion of brands to drop in one year since the inception of the survey seven years ago.

Forrester’s Customer Experience Benchmark Survey, which collects data to calculate CX Index scores, is based on more than 96,000 U.S. customers across 221 brands and 13 industries. The investment industry is the only industry to see customer-service improvement in 2022.

Emotion continues to be a key driver for delivering high levels of customer experience performance. Fifty-four percent of customers who report positive emotions (feeling happy, valued, and appreciated) are willing to forgive brands that make mistakes. Also, the quality of brand interactions is integral to building customer trust. In 2022, an average of 59 percent of customers trust the brands they interact with; 2 percentage points higher than the 57 percent of customers who trusted brands in 2020.

Congress Calls for Swipe Fee Reform

Swipe fees, a retailer’s highest cost after labor, have more than doubled over the past decade, says the National Retail Federation. They rose 24 percent last year alone to reach to an all-time high of $137.8 billion. And, since swipe fees are a percentage of the transaction, they automatically go up when prices increase, acting as a multiplier that drives inflation even higher.

Visa and Mastercard centrally price-fix the swipe fees charged by the banks that issue their cards. They have been criticized in the past year for a growing string of anticompetitive practices that allows them control of 80 percent of the credit-card market.

Seeking badly needed relief for small businesses and consumers, a bipartisan group of lawmakers this spring asked Visa and Mastercard to withdraw plans for a $1.2 billion increase scheduled for April. They refused.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin promised to continue the conversation. Potential swipe-fee solutions could include transparency to show consumers the now-hidden fees on their monthly credit card bills, he said, and noted that credit card companies should not be allowed to charge swipe fees on sales tax. Senator Durbin also called for elimination of exclusivity rules that keep Visa and Mastercard credit cards from being processed over independent networks – networks that charge less and offer better security – and said central price fixing of fees by Visa and Mastercard should end.

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Four Things Retailers Need to Know About Inflation

Members of the National Retail Federation discussed the following at a recent members-only webinar.

1. How we got here

American consumers spent $1 trillion more on retail goods in 2021 than they did in 2020. They are spending at an even higher rate so far in 2022.

During the pandemic, consumers saved money because they couldn’t spend it on services, and they also received government stimulus funds. As the economy resumed to a more normal pace, they just started spending. Retail sales grew a record 14.1 percent in 2021, the highest growth rate in more than 20 years.

2. The impact on consumers

U.S. households had $4.2 trillion more in cash in their checking and savings accounts in the fourth quarter of 2021 than the same period in 2019, reports the Federal Reserve. Lower-income households did not see the same growth in savings or earnings and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of inflation today. More than two-thirds of those earning less than $50,000 a year are having to borrow money, go into debt or use their savings to cover everyday expenses, according to an NRF survey.

3. Shoppers’ response

Those with more of a financial cushion are looking for coupons and sales, they’re buying in bulk, or switching to cheaper alternatives. Lower-income shoppers are frequenting discount stores more, cutting back in other areas to afford necessities, or buying less frequently.

4. What retailers can do

Over the past several months, NRF’s Lower Inflation Now grassroots campaign has generated hundreds of messages to the Biden administration and Congress. For more information, visit nrf.com/topics/ economy/inflation.

You Should Sell Lipstick Now

New data from global market tracking firm NPD Groups reveals that sales of lipstick and other lip makeup grew 48 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year. That’s more than twice as fast as other products in the beauty category.

The “lipstick effect,” also called the lipstick index, is considered by many to be an economic indicator, reports Forbes. “In times of a recession and other economic stresses, women will indulge in discretionary purchases that provide an emotional uplift without breaking the budget. Lipstick fits the bill,” says the article.

In 2001, the chairman of Estee Lauder reported that his company saw a spike in lipstick sales after 9/11. He doubled down on the message when the same thing occurred after the recession of 2008.

An academic study – “Boosting beauty in an economic decline: mating, spending and the lipstick effect” – lent further credence to the theory, reports Forbes. It also presented something new – that women wanted to appear more beautiful to attract a mate, particularly one with financial resources. “Although the lipstick effect has garnered some anecdotal lore, the present research suggests that women’s spending on beauty products may be the third indicator of economic recession – an indicator that may be rooted in psychology,” they concluded. FootFidget® 2.0 for Classroom Desks

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Consider fixed versus mobile

If the classroom is large enough, it can be divided into learning zones. If there is not enough room to have dedicated spaces for certain activities, mobile furniture can be used to create them as needed, and the furniture can be moved back to its original position afterward. Determine the maximum number of students expected to be in each area at any given time and plan out the learning zones to accommodate them.

Tables, and how many students make a learning cluster?

Selecting the ideal desk shape depends upon how many students will be in a learning cluster. Will the students need space for individual work? For working in pairs? For working in groups of four or more? are some of the questions to ask. Many desk and table shapes allow for all of these possibilities. Consider how each configuration and each table shape the teacher is considering will fit inside the learning space.

Use existing furniture in creative ways

Existing furniture – including the way the desks are configured – can be used to divide the classroom into zones. Mobile whiteboards, file cabinets, and easels can be arranged in between different learning areas. The back of a white laminate bookcase may be the perfect place to hang artwork. It can also be used as a whiteboard work surface for brainstorming, planning, and instruction.

Make connecting and charging easy

Teachers will want to ensure that the devices they use in their classrooms – no matter what they are – can be hooked up to charge. Think about how many outlets are needed, and where they should be placed in the room. Plenty of furniture offers built-in hookups, including HDMI and USB ports.

Making smart decisions about the location of technology workspaces helps reduce clutter and prevents trip hazards. Creating a long benching work surface along the classroom wall is an option that uses the space efficiently, provides open sight lines, and keeps computers properly connected.

Final thought

Flexible classrooms are our present and our future. Teachers will tell you that they don’t want a single fixed plan that works for the space and the students, but rather an arrangement that makes them ready for the unpredictable; a space that easily transforms to whatever the educators’ and students’ creativity calls for at the time.

To read more about Hertz Furniture, see page 38.

(continued from page 38)

The first school-furniture catalog

Founded in 1966, Hertz Furniture supplies furniture for education, business, government and religious institutions across the U.S. It was the first company to distribute a school furniture catalog, notes David. “The hard-plastic chairs featured in it are still being sold today. You should see some of the pricing. It’s incredible.”

Selling products out of a printed catalog was Hertz Furniture’s go-to business model for many years, “but in

2000, we realized that in order to thrive, we had to become more than a mailorder company. We had to understand what schools were looking for so that we could become experts at meeting those needs.”

Theoretically, to match each school’s need with an effective solution, Hertz Furniture’s sales reps had to understand all the products available from the 300 or so manufacturers the company works with. It’s a lot, David admits, and probably not realistic. “So instead, we have specialists in specific school furniture categories, like outdoor furniture, science lab furniture, and environmentally friendly furniture. We turn to them when we have specific questions and they, in turn, recommend products that fit the need.

“Knowledge like that gives us credibility in the marketplace and

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helps the school librarian, principal or business manager we are working with feel comfortable with our recommendations.” A big part of gaining expertise in the school market was understanding the future of education; really all aspects of school life, David adds. “That led us to some of the specialty spaces we furnish today, including outdoor cafeterias, maker spaces, sensory classrooms, and other classrooms in which specialized learning takes place.” What has not changed is the company’s commitment to its customers. “We pride ourselves on productivity, accountability, and integrity,” says David. “Who we are as a company can be explained in those three words.” Those words compelled David to make sure this year’s busy season would be different from last year’s. “Twelve months ago, I was absolutely petrified about how we were going to deal School Furnishings President Kevin Crump remains with the summer season. At onboard as vice president of sales at the rebranded that time, the distribution School Furnishings Powered by Hertz Furniture. channel issues were just coming into play. We weren’t aware of the enormity of the problem. We had no idea so we couldn’t prepare for it. We are in much better shape now than we were this time last Mid-Range Racks year; better, even, than six months ago.” In addition to superior customer service, the company is known for personal attention, lifetime warranties, complimentary interior design and project management, and quick-ship products. What’s next? Rack Carts Being acquisitive is a new growth strategy for Hertz Furniture. “We’ve always grown by expanding our ‘focus Heavy-Duty Racks markets’ as we call them. They include the Northeast, Florida, the Midwest, Texas, and the West Coast, specifically California and Arizona. As they expanded, we brought in more sales 773.777.7100 sales@awtworldtrade.com (continued on page 37) dryingandstorageracks.com