E-commerce

E-commerce has increased significantly from the moment it emerged. In order to give better understanding of the e-commerce growth, some statistical information about retail e-commerce sales (e-tail) released by US Census Bureau is provided in this post. E-tail sales have reached 4.1% in 2010 while they were only 1% of total retail sales in 2001. The diagram below shows how the percent of e-tail trade was increasing gradually during the last ten years.

Total sales via e-commerce increased from $27.6 billion in 2000 to $143.4 in 2010. A compound annual growth rate is about 20 percent. It is impressive how fast many people have changed the way they obtain products. As it is shown in the diagram below, the rate of growth is slowing down, but e-tail sales continue to rise steadily.

Electronic commerce

Electronic commerce is becoming one of the most essential ways to sell and buy products in the contemporary world. E-commerce is represented by the mutually beneficial exchange of goods and service over the Internet and other computer networks. This type of trade started to evolve in the late 1970s and has become more popular with the increased accessibility of computers and the Internet. Electronic commerce has many advantages that attract a lot of new participants to the online market every year. It allows consumers to find necessary products easily by using such criteria as category, price-range, location, and color. Online markets are available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week and lets customers to get additional information about goods or services immediately and make a purchase at any time. Some products such as music, movies, and e-books can be downloaded at the moment of the purchase and be used instantaneously. Prices of products in online stores very often are lower than in ground ones. The delivery of purchased products is not costly. Some other advantages are explained in the video below. This video adds up to the understanding of the e-commerce evolution process, its disadvantages, and the role that electronic commerce plays in the society.

Redbox

Many years ago, people used to buy DVDs or went to a cinema in order to watch a desired movie. With time this trend has changed. Due to scientific discoveries and technological evolutions, Redbox was able to introduce a new way of commerce. It established rental-kiosks in popular locations such as fast food restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies and allowed people to rent a disc for one dollar a day. Redbox vending machines have become widespread across the USA and are still very popular nowadays. Because of the low cost, Redbox has made movies became available to more people. Thus, this helps to increase people’s knowledge about the film industry and to widen their outlooks by watching different films. The video below gives additional information about Redbox and its main competitor Netflix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjPUP1OuQvA&feature=related

Franchising business model

If a person travels across the world he or she can see many stores with the same name in different countries. For example, you can see a Subway, 7-Eleven or Dunkin Donuts not only in America but also in Europe. Franchising is the business model that allows many different owners to use one brand name. A franchiser sells entrepreneurs the rights to utilize the company’s trademark and strategy for production or offering service. In turn, a franchisee pays initial fees, and he is obligated to give a certain percent of revenue to the franchiser on regular basis. A parent company and an entrepreneur gain some benefits. A franchiser builds “chain stores” to distribute goods without investments and gets additional revenue and advertising. A franchisee obtains the well-know corporation’s name, its reputation, and well-developed strategy, and he is trained frequently. A franchisee is more likely to succeed in this type of business than open a new one.
Franchised businesses exist in many industries, but their great number is concentrated in fast food, hotel, and restaurant spheres. One of the outstanding examples of franchising is McDonald’s. Its restaurants have been opened in 127 countries, and more than 75% of McDonald’s stores are operated by franchisees.
Franchised businesses are widely extended and offer the same goods and services in every store in every part of the world. This allows people to buy products they like in different countries. If an American who likes a certain ice-cream from McDonald’s goes to Russia, he can find his favored dairy treat easily there. Thus, meals that were a part of the American culture or any other culture have become an integral part of many nations.
A mutually beneficial cooperation in the franchising business model contributes to the expansion of “chain stores” and makes them more convenient and available for people. At the same time, humans have gotten accustomed to the fact that franchised stores have wide distribution, and their favored food can be obtained by them all over the word.

Shopping malls

For decades one of very popular marketplaces has been shopping mall. It is a complex of different shops that are located in one or more buildings and are connected with walkways that allow customers to move easily from one unit to another one. Shopping centers allow to make a purchase to every person with different budgets and preferences. One of the closest shopping centers to Philadelphia is Franklin Mills Mall that contains great variety of stores such as Guess, Kenneth Cole, Macy’s and Old Navy. Malls have not just stores but also different kinds of entertainment that attracts many customers of different age range. The largest shopping center in the USA Mall of America consists of three levels of shopping and the fourth level that is dedicated for fun and food. The video below gives certain understanding about some kinds of attractions that have become available for customers of Mall of America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG-4ttb5c0c&feature=related These attractions could be built in the mall due to the scientific progress and the technological evolution.
Many shopping malls are placed in suburban areas because of a large area they occupy. For example, the biggest mall in the world is South China Mall situated in China with gross floor area of 892,000 m2 (9,600,000 sq ft). In spite of this, sometimes, shopping centers are built in cities because of their better accessibility. High land prices led to the development of a new tendency in the mall constriction. In populous cities appeared "vertical malls" that instead of taking up immense areas, they have many floors. These malls have a lot of escalators and alleviators that allow customers to move between floors easily. One of the examples of this kind of malls is “Times Square” in Hong Kong. The picture below is a good representation of a “vertical mall”.
Many shopping malls are busy across the world. For example, Mall of America receives around 40 million visitors a year. A lot of people go to malls and spend hours there enjoying shopping and great food and have fun. Thus, shopping centers have changed people’s opinions about shopping centers. Many humans stopped to believe that shopping malls exist only for make a purchase; they are also great places for entertainment.

Emissions Trading

Emissions trading, also known as cap and trade, was created as a way to control the amount of pollution a firm or production plant can emit as a way to stop climate change.  But is it really the only option we have to stop  or even control the amount of pollution big businesses are putting into the environment?  Watch this video from storyofstuff.org about the dangers of the cap and trade system:  

Organic Trade Association

Within the trade industry businesses like the OTA {Organic Trade Association} who are dedicated to protect and promote ethical consumerism throughout the world. Farmers, the economy, all cultures and our environment benefit from the OTA. This membership based business was established in 1985 in the US and Canada.

Most of their research and focus is on advocating and protecting organic standards. It deals with products from organic food, fibers and personal care. The supply chain is important for organic food and the OTA actively monitors the work of government agencies and takes positions on legislation that affects the organic environment.

Trading Items Online

Communities like eBay and Craigslist are among the top for internet trading. So many goods and services from small pieces of jewelry to boats and houses are traded through eBay and Craigslist. Below is a website that can guide you through online trading.

www.ehow.com/how_5825009_trade-items-online.html

New $100 Bill

Here is a video I found about the new $100 Federal Reserve Note.  This note was said to start circulation in February 2011.  But this has been delayed because of problems with printing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xLF5bvCBjQ

Pawn Shops

Pawn shops have been around for a long time.  A pawn shop is a place where people can go when they need a small loan or cash.  It is also a great place to shop for used items.  If you need money you can take anything that is worth something, such as jewelry, televisions, and computers, and either sell it for cash or you can pawn it and get a loan.  When you pawn something for a loan you have a certain amount of time to repay the loan plus interest to get your item back.  If the loan is not paid in time the item is then sold in the store.

Many people believe pawn shops are seedy places because they have a reputation as a place to sell stolen goods or to buy guns.  However, when you go into a pawn shop you will realize that they offer good quality items at bargain prices.  There are also pawn shops that specialize in art and antiques.  If you watch “Pawn Stars” on the History channel you will see some amazing historical items. 

Pawn shops can be found in almost every American town because they offer a great service to the community.  Because banks do not like to give out small loans pawn shops offer a way for people who are low on cash to get money quickly to pay their bills.  As long as people need fast money pawn shops will always be around.

WTO {World Trade Organization}

The World Trade Organization deals with International Trade. This organization follows the exchange of capital, goods and services across international borders or territories, which it represents a share of GDP {gross domestic product}. Liberalizing and supervising international trade is the core focus to WTO. It enforces participants to adhere to regulations of the WTO by demanding members of different governments to sign agreements. It was commenced in January of 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement and replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade which was commenced in 1948. The Marrakech Agreement was signed in 1994 being the establishment for WTO.

Trading Stocks

Let’s start off by explaining what a stock is and how it is traded. Companies at times need to raise money to grow and they can either borrow the money or issue stoc

ks to raise capital. Companies sell investors a stake/stock of the company. This makes you a

part owner in that company. You will not have the same rights as the owner however because you own a

share you have the right of claims on every asset and penny in earnings. Stockowners invest because they make money on earnings. As the economy continues to grow corporate earnings and stock prices grow.

The Stock Exchange specialize in the business of bringing together buyers and sellers to a list of stocks and securities. Entities of a corporation or mutual organization are who is interested in this list. Professionals obtain orders from stock investors and hedge funds traders; they then make their way to the stock exchange where they execute the orders. There are t

wo different types of exchanges; physical which is where stocks are traded at a facility which is known as “outcry” or virtual which is a network of computers where trades are made electronically. The largest stock exchange in the US is the New York Stock Exchange {NYSE}.

The stock market is a public entity {physical and virtual} for the trading of comp

any stocks at an agreed price. The world stock is estimated at $36.6 Trillion.

Be a Consignor and stay in fashion

The consignment shop Plato’s Closet allows people in our community to trade their clothes for other clothes or even money. Trading your clothes instead of having to buy new clothes helps with the environment by recycling plus keeps your wardrobe updated with the lasted fashions. With the new idea of consignment shopping and stores opening our society will continue to grow creating less waste but most importantly more jobs. Below is a video on how most consignment shops work.

www.platoscloset.com/how-it-works