Barclaycard Reveals Two Minute Limit For Britain’s Impatient Shoppers

Barclays’ and Barclaycard‘s latest research reveals that far from the stereotype as a nation that loves to wait in line, two fifths of Brits refuse to queue for longer than two minutes and 68% regularly abandon purchases.

According to the poll of 2,000 shoppers*, women will queue only 12 seconds longer than men, but the biggest surprise is the willingness of younger shoppers (18-24) to wait a full two minutes longer in line than those aged 55-64.

Impatient shoppers seem hungry for change, with food or drink outlets found to have the most frustrating queues. In contrast, supermarkets are seen to be the best at managing queues. 51% of shoppers refuse to even enter a store if they spy a queue and some retailers are taking extreme measures to cope with customers’ impatience with 30% of shops shifting till positions to hide long queues**. In contrast 12% of retailers, including supermarket chain Co-operative, have begun to deploy contactless payment systems which, by doing away with the need to enter a pin code, reduce transaction times by over a third (source Smart Card Alliance).

Stuart Neal, head of UK Payment Acceptance at Barclaycard, commented:

“While retailers appear to be aware that even their most loyal customers are not prepared to wait in line any more, hiding the evidence of queues is not the way to fix the problem. Consumers have increasingly busy lives and retailers must be prepared to fit in with them by offering innovative solutions to speed up transactions. By embracing technology and installing new payments systems, such as contactless, retailers will stay ahead of the curve and limit the amount of time that people are waiting in shop queues.”

The top frustrations of queuing shoppers were not enough staff serving customers, sales assistants spending too long chatting to customers and people fumbling in their pockets for change. Half of shoppers (46%) favour stores with express lanes.

Via EPR Network
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MidCountry Financial Corp. Website And Newsletter Named Finalist For National Awards

PR News has named MidCountry Financial Corp. a finalist for its “2010 PR Digital Awards” in two separate categories: Best Newsletter, and Best Website Redesign. Directed by PR News, a leading communications and public relations news source, these awards for digital communications expertise are nationally recognized and highly competitive.

“MidCountry Financial is proud to have its Vantage Point employee newsletter and website, as well as those employees who develop and maintain these critical communications vehicles, recognized as best in the nation,” said Julie Schaller , senior vice president, human resources, for MidCountry Financial Corp. “Our corporate culture is centered heavily on open communication and transparency with our employees, our customers, and our investors, which makes such national recognition even more important to the MidCountry family.”

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in New York City Oct. 6, 2010. Finalists in other categories include Coca Cola, General Motors, Barilla Pasta, Cisco Systems, Hilton Hotels, and Boeing, among others.

Via EPR Network
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Saxo Bank Announces Half Year Results

Saxo Bank has announced its half year results, with the trading specialist reporting pre-tax profits of DKK 729 million and a net profit of DKK 551 million. The results for the first half of 2010 also revealed the company’s operating income reached DKK 1,992 million and an EBITDA of DKK 881 million. The solvency ratio for Saxo Bank Group was 19.2% (18.9%).

The results achieved in the first six months of 2010 are rooted in increased market activity as well as decisions and actions taken since shortly before the onset of the financial crisis in the autumn of 2008. Since then The Bank has:
– increased efficiency through IT investments, work process rationalisation, outsourcing and business focus;
– reduced its headcount by approximately 40% from the peak level in September 2008
– completed 10 acquisitions, all of which have lived up to expectations
– launched significant new products within FX, Equities and Commodities
– expanded the business to include asset management
– increased its geographical footprint with new offices in nine countries
– increased its deposits and funds under management significantly
– established IT development centres in India and Ukraine in addition to its Danish IT centre.

During the first six months of 2010, Saxo Bank saw positive developments in key drivers such as the number of clients, number of trades and trading volumes.

The Bank’s clients’ collateral deposits increased by approximately DKK 11 billion to DKK 26.6 billion including clients’ collateral deposits from the Nordic activities of E*Trade, which Saxo Bank acquired in April 2010. Saxo Asset Management, Saxo Bank’s legally segregated asset management division increased its assets under management from DKK 21 billion to 28.8 billion including DKK 4.2 billion from Saxo Bank A/S during the first six months of 2010.

Via EPR Network
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