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Everything you need to know about Gen Z
Emma Fitzpatrick MarketingWhile millennials have dominated headlines and infatuated marketers for years, they’re a bit old hat now. The oldest millennials are well into adulthood, age 37 and proud homeowners, while even the youngest millennials, age 22, have already graduated college. Now, it’s time for them to step aside so that we can focus on the trendy, new generation — Gen Z. By 2020, in just two years, they’re predicted to become the largest generation of consumers, according to Fast Company.
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Customer satisfaction stays high for American hotels
Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementThe latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Travel Report shows that hotel guest satisfaction has remained steady, a year after a 2.7 percent jump in 2017. Hotels received an overall ACSI score of 76, which is quite a feat for hotel operators who have had a hard time competing with online hospitality brokers like Airbnb. With rent and space sharing options on the rise, hotels are revisiting their customer service and price options. Per the ACSI report, among chains, Hilton guests are the most satisfied, followed closely by Marriott, Hyatt, Starwood and InterContinental.
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Is a ‘new’ NAFTA in the cards?
Seth Sandronsky ManufacturingThe U.S. and Mexico have reached an initial agreement to change the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). What we also know is that many eyes are Canada, the third nation in NAFTA, now. "It would surprise me if Canada remained outside the agreement," Martin Hart-Landsberg, an author and economics professor at Lewis and Clark College, told MultiBriefs. While details of the new NAFTA remain largely unknown, it appears that there are some improvements.
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Management mistakes that could be creating issues at your spa
Elizabeth Donat RetailIf you are managing a spa or medical spa, then you know that it is a position that requires many skill sets. You likely wear many hats, including go-to human resources person, scheduler, client dispute handler, event coordinator, interviewer, premise supervisor, bookkeeper and the boss' go-to person, just to name a few. However, it's crucial to recognize if you are making some mistakes that could be hurting your bottom line and your staff. Read my expert tips and see if you are making any of these common spa management blunders.
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Pulse check: Are you losing business because of a bad website?
Emma Fitzpatrick MarketingHow much time do you think you spend each day driving people to your website? Contemplate all the planning, writing, editing and posting you do for your email marketing, social media posts, search engine optimization/marketing, content marketing, and…you get the point. But for the average business, nearly 70 percent of shoppers leave the website because of a basic problem with your website’s design or functionality, found a new study from Corra. In order for your marketing efforts to pay off, you need to make sure your website isn’t getting in your way.
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Apple Pay, NFC services face competitors that could disrupt payment processing
Bill Becken RetailApple reached a milestone recently when it became the world’s first trillion-dollar company. It helped that, during its more than 40-year history, it has introduced some incredible innovations and products, most cannily directed at and designed for the end user. But a somewhat recent one, Apple Pay, also took aim at the retail and commercial markets, this time through mobile phone payments. There is no doubt mobile payments will continue to find more users in a retail context. But despite all the innovation in this area, smartphone payments, it seems, remain in their infancy.
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Specialty sodas are disrupting the beverage market
Bambi Majumdar Food & BeverageConsumer habits are changing. We are more health-conscious than we have ever been before. Clean eating, ethics-driven diets, and healthier beverages are replacing our meal choices of yesteryear. The beverage industry is undergoing some significant shifts, and those changes offer an interesting picture of future meals to come. One such exciting feature is the advent of specialty sodas. They came in quietly but are growing fast, so much so that experts are calling them the next big disruptors in the field.
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How to support your spa clients in the age of synthetic beauty
Elizabeth Donat RetailIf you follow fashion industry trends, you may have heard of two new models that have huge followings on social media and pose for beauty and luxury clothing brands alike: Shudu and Lil Miquela. These models are different because they are not actually made of skin and bones — they are completely digital. Virtual models are "just the beginning of the avatar revolution," according to Cameron-James Wilson, a 29-year-old photographer based in London and the creator of Shudu.
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McDonald’s flagship: An example of newly renovated space
Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementThe advance of technology has transformed the way restaurants and hotels operate their businesses. When almost everything, from reservations, productions, and service delivery, to the collection of payments, can be performed by machines, restaurants and hotels must also reconsider how they may better utilize the space for smooth operations. McDonald’s, for example, recently revealed a flagship store that looks like an Apple Store in Chicago, roughly two months after the company opened a brand-new, $250 million headquarters in an up-and-coming Windy City neighborhood known for its trendy restaurants.
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Negotiating commercial leases: Renewal term allowances
Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield RetailFor many commercial tenants, negotiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While an entrepreneur focuses on marketing and managing, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized salespeople. Their job is to sell tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate. Whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or negotiating a lease renewal for your business, here are two money-saving tips.
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