HS Brands International exhibited at the National Retail Federation (NRF) tradeshow at the Jacob Javitz Center in NYC. The show is bustling with vendors and retailers. Much to our delight, a hot topic at the show was loss prevention!
Mike Mershimer, COO of HS Brands International talking about loss prevention with a retailer at the NRF tradeshow.
HS Brands International volunteered at the Greater Boston Food Bank on Thursday, January 10th 2013. Team members sorted through donated food ensuring its quality and freshness. Food was placed on a long conveyer belt that team members were lined up next to ensure that it was properly categorized and packed. Mike Mershimer, COO of HS Brands International said “We loved volunteering at the Greater Boston Food Bank. It’s great when we can help out a client of ours through community service. Our team had a great time and it was definitely a good bonding experience for us all.”
What is a hero mystery shopper?
People have been asking us about hero shops lately and we just want to clarify what this actually means in the mystery shopping world. Sometimes we have hard to fill or last minute shops that we need help with. Simply put, we find ourselves in a pinch from time to time. When a shopper does us a favor and takes a last minute shop, drives out of their way to get to a shop or does something extraordinary that we ask of them, we offer them “Hero” status in SASSIE.
Hero status is a designation on their account that tells our schedulers and editors “this shopper is awesome and has helped us out big time.” Sometimes this gives the shopper preferential treatment when shops are assigned that they have applied for. Similarly to gold and silver MSPA certified status, our most important and crucial shops go to our certified shoppers, having a hero status bumps you to another level of mystery shopping. Hero status will also boost your shopper rating rating as well.
So anytime you see us posting hero shops, put on your cape and go shop! If you have questions about hero status, please feel free to comment below.
Black Friday is like a national US holiday for us mystery shoppers and avid fans of the best doorbuster deals. We are pretty big fans of Black Friday in the HS Brands International home office, so we thought we would compile a list of our best tips for Black Friday success.
1. Start with the ads. The ads in the newspapers on Thanksgiving are the “holy grail.” This is your preliminary research, which is integral for a Black Friday aficionado.
2. Make a plan and stick to it! Choose which stores you want to go to first. Always rank the stores in order of importance and according to what items are at the top of your list to get. Take into account opening times. Some open at 9PM, midnight, 1AM etc. To get the best doorbusters, prepare to stand in line. Hint: Some stores even hand out maps to where the big doorbusters are located in the store. Let’s just say not all electronics are found in the electronics section.
3. Scope out the territory tonight. Some stores set up their displays tonight. This will help you scope out where the products you want to buy are. Pre-planning is smart planning.
4. Go with a partner. Partners are always a good thing to have. They keep you company in line. They get the carriage while you get the doorbuster item. They drive while you navigate.
5. When the doors open…focus. Tunnel vision. Do not run (believe me you will get yelled at), but walk swiftly. Grab the item and go. Do NOT fight over the last one. You won’t win.
6. Have payment ready. It makes for a quick exit and then it’s off to the car.
7. Park near the exit for a quick getaway to the next store and more deals.
Here are some of our favorite Black Friday commercials:
