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While we are on the subject of travel. I have tried many travel and incentive programs over the years to save money on my personal and business travel. The membership we recommend the most, and I personally use monthly is here: IHub Travel

The post Marketing Boost first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

Original Article from
the Hustle

There is not an entrepreneur minded person who has ever visited a Buc-cee’s and not been fascinated by the entire experience

A legendary Texas convenience store chain didn’t have an online store for its popular treats. One entrepreneur decided to change that.
BY ZACHARY CROCKETT

On a busy stretch of I-35 in Denton, Texas, the local Buc-ee’s is hard to miss.The gas station announces its presence on a giant billboard featuring a beaver mascot, and a green highway sign beckons drivers to exit at “Buc-ee’s Blvd.” Just off the road, there it is: a 50k-square-foot convenience store outfitted with a 250-foot car wash, enough gas pumps to cover the length of a football field, and a human-size beaver statue.

Founded in 1982, the Texas-based chain lives up to the state’s “everything is bigger here” mantra. The Denton store is not even its largest. The company’s 66k-square-foot location in New Braunfels has:1k parking spots120 fuel pumps 83 toilets 80 soda dispensers 64 ice freezers31 cash registersBuc-ee’s — which has 46 locations, mostly in Texas — is renowned for its massive sales (an estimated eight figures annually, per store) and sparkling-clean restrooms.

Loyal customers are willing to travel an average of 21 minutes just to go to one.But none of this is as impressive as the mammoth array of Buc-ee’s-branded snacks and merchandise inside of its stores.Buc-ee’s signature lemon crisps, beef jerky, BBQ sauce, and “Beaver Nuggets” have earned the chain a cult following.

There are dozens of groups on Facebook — some with tens of thousands of members — that are entirely devoted to Buc-ee’s snacks.There’s just one problem: If you’re a fan of these treats, getting them isn’t always easy. Buc-ee’s stores are typically in remote locations, and the chain doesn’t have an online store.So, one Buc-ee’s fan decided to take matters into his own hands

“I’m maniacally curious”Chris Koerner is the kind of guy who needs a spreadsheet to keep track of all the businesses he’s created.He first got bit by the entrepreneur bug at the age of eight.“I grew up kind of broke in Utah, but I lived across from the 18th hole of a golf course and golfers used to hit balls into our front yard,” Koerner told The Hustle. “I collected them and sold them — three for $1.

Koerner went on to get a degree in business management from the University of Alabama in 2011. Over the next decade, he launched (and sold) a number of companies, including:

• One of America’s first chains of smartphone repair shops
• A company that distributed wholesale parts to those same repair shops (and recycled broken iPhone screens)
• A real estate firm that bought and sold more than 20 mobile home parks

In late 2019, he connected with a friend who owned a bread company that exclusively sold to physical retail stores around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This friend was doing pretty well for himself, with sales of ~15k loaves per week. But Koerner saw untapped potential.

“My friend is a boomer who didn’t really care about online sales. So I suggested putting a QR code in each bag that said, ‘Buy us online,’” says Koerner.

Koerner, who calls himself “maniacally curious,” set up a website along with a logistics pipeline, and integrated his idea free of charge. Sales exploded. And when the pandemic hit a few months later, online sales ended up saving the business.

“I thought, ‘There are so many boomer-owned food businesses that don’t sell online, but could and should.’”

Koerner’s realization led him to start a venture called Send Eats — a third-party logistics company (3PL) that helps old-school businesses set up and run ecommerce stores for their products.

And it wouldn’t be long until he found a new client in a very unexpected place.

“Buc-ee’s doesn’t have an online store?!”

Like many Texas residents, Koerner had been in awe of Buc-ee’s from the first time he laid eyes on one of its massive stores.

“It is an absolutely crazy place. You drive by and see all these pumps, a weird beaver logo, and you’re like, ‘What is happening?’” he says. “You walk in, and it’s just a palace of stuff. They have a whole BBQ restaurant. A whole station making fresh fudge. A wall of jerky with dozens of flavors. A wall of candy. Then, you go to the bathroom and it’s like the Sistine Chapel in there.”

Buc-ee’s carries all of the standard gas station treats — Doritos, Skittles, Pepsi. But it’s the Buc-ee’s-branded stuff that makes the chain stand out:

• Beaver Nuggets (puffy corn with a brown-sugar caramel coating)
• Over a dozen varieties of beef jerky — garlic, mesquite, ghost pepper, Korean BBQ
• Pickled quail eggs, beets, okra, and green beans
• Jams, jellies, butters, rubs, and sauces
• Nuts and trail mix
• Buc-ee’s-branded trucker hats, T-shirts, blankets, coolers, tumblers, camping gear, and even pool noodles

Most of these products are white label, meaning they’re purchased from anonymous third-party manufacturers and branded with the Buc-ee’s logo — the same strategy employed by stores like Trader Joe’s.

And for many fans, a trip down the chain’s treat-laden aisles is a quasi-spiritual Texas experience.

“Nobody ever forgets their first Buc-ee’s experience,” says Koerner. “It’s something you tell all of your friends about.” A list of Buc-cee’s locations is here. Buc-cee’s USA.

In 2020, during the pandemic, Koerner was craving some of these Buc-ee’s treats and went to go check out their website.

What he found was… nothing.

“I was like, ‘Wait, what? Buc-ee’s doesn’t have an online store?’ It was like a lightbulb. There’s a huge opportunity here.”

By this point, Koerner already had his ecommerce logistics company set up and was helping other brands distribute products online. He emailed Buc-ee’s to ask if they’d be interested in a partnership.

“It was crickets,” he says. “So, I decided to do it myself.”

A rogue Buc-ee’s store

Koerner rounded up his wife and four kids and went to Buc-ee’s with a game plan: They’d buy one of every single Buc-ee’s item.

“The instruction was: Anything with a Buc-ee’s logo on it goes in the cart,” he recalls. “It was something like 650 items total — like six carts worth. The employees were very confused, and it took more than an hour to check out.”

His total bill: $1,470.97.

Koerner took his haul home and laid it all out in his living room. Then, he got to business:

• He hired a photographer to take a picture of every single item on a white backdrop (~$500)
• He registered the domain “BeaverSnax.com” and set up an ecommerce shop using Shopify ($10)
• He emailed a bunch of reporters to tell them about his master plan to start an online Buc-ee’s store

Almost immediately, Koerner got a call from a lawyer at Buc-ee’s.

For a moment, Koerner thought his plan was foiled before it even began. And he had reason to believe that was the case. Buc-ee’s has been known to be litigious in the past:

• In 2013, they filed a lawsuit against the convenience chain Chicks for allegedly copying its store layout.
• In 2014, they sued a competing convenience store chain for using a beaver-themed logo. It was settled out of court. A similar suit against a different chain ended in victory in 2016.
• In 2017, they sued a Nebraska-based chain called Bucky’s for attempting to expand into Texas. They won the turf war.

He also knew that similar efforts at other retailers had been thwarted in the past.

For years, a man named Mike Hallatt bought $1m+ worth of products at Trader Joe’s in Seattle and resold them at a markup in his own Canada store, called Pirate Joe’s. Trader Joe’s sued over copyright infringement. A five-year legal battle ensued, and Pirate Joe’s shut its doors for good in 2017.

But to Koerner’s surprise, the Buc-ee’s lawyer was OK with his plan.

“He said, ‘We love what you’re doing. Just two things: One, change the name. Don’t use “Beaver.” And two, put a disclaimer on your website that you’re not Buc-ee’s.’”

As it turned out, Koerner was well within his legal rights to resell Buc-ee’s products on his own website. Under the so-called first-sale doctrine, anything can be resold, so long as they don’t pretend to be the original manufacturer. (Pirate Joe’s had just flown too close to the sun with its branding.)

Koerner changed his website to TexasSnax.com. And in November of 2020, he opened for business.

The venture was successful almost immediately: The first full month in business, Texas Snax did $161k in sales. And since then, it’s only gained more steam.

The Buc-ee’s resale market

Today, Texas Snax does $250k to $300k per month in sales, according to Koerner. The business works like so:

1. Every week, he submits an order form to several Buc-ee’s stores.
2. They organize the items and pack them onto a giant pallet.
3. One of Koerner’s employees picks up the order and checks out at the register like any other customer.
4. The items are loaded onto a box truck and taken to Koerner’s air-conditioned warehouse.

Texas Snax lists ~1.2k Buc-ee’s items on its website, along with seasonal products, like Fourth of July T-shirts. As is the case in-store, Beaver Nuggets are by far the best-seller.

Running this operation is logistically complex, and Koerner says he couldn’t do it without the help of his co-founder, Kirk Salisbury. “Kirk’s created Google Sheets that would make your grandma blush,” he says. “APIs from everywhere, all the sheets talk to each other, it’s all in sync.”

Koerner pays full retail price for all the items he buys from Buc-ee’s and sells them at a markup on the website.

Customers, he says, are willing to pay more for the convenience of ordering online. Considerably more.

The Hustle visited a Buc-ee’s store in Denton, Texas (outside of Dallas) and compared the in-store prices on select items to the prices customers pay on TexasSnax. Among our sample, items appear to be marked up anywhere from 50% to 132%.

Koerner faces some competition — mainly on Amazon.

“Buc-ee’s put[s] a lot of their locations in the middle of nowhere. So you end up stopping there and never going there again,” says Koerner. “Then find yourself craving this stuff, with no way to get it. So, it creates a secondary market.”

Using data from the sales-tracking tool Jungle Scout, The Hustle determined that there are at least 15 online stores that buy Buc-ee’s products and resell them on Amazon, good for a combined $100k in monthly sales. One of the more prominent resellers charges $14.89 for Beaver Nuggets — a 199% markup.

There’s also a thriving market for Buc-ee’s products on Facebook.

In private groups, hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts — mostly elderly women — post items they want and have their orders fulfilled by personal shoppers who trawl the platform on a daily basis. Transactions are made via direct message and Venmo.

Koerner recently became the admin of one of these groups and informed its 110k+ members that there’s now a better way to buy Buc-ee’s products online.

“I was like, ‘Hey, there’s a new personal shopper in town,’” he says. “It’s called ecommerce!”

NOTE: Buc-ee’s did not respond to The Hustle’s request for comment on this story. But a blurb on the company’s contact form states the following: “There are various third-party resellers of Buc-ee’s products, but they are not affiliated with, authorized, sponsored, or endorsed by Buc-ee’s in any way. Examples of such services are texassnax.com or amazon.com. However, Buc-ee’s does not have its own online store.”

Mark Dent contributed reporting to this story

The post How one man created a multimillion-dollar resale market for Buc-ee’s snacks first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

With the lifting of pandemic restrictions, there’s been renewed interest in the power of place-based out-of-home advertising and the potential for digital media displayed in stores, gyms, restaurants, office buildings and other businesses. The thing is, while many large companies may have the resources to build their own place-based media networks, they may not have the time and/or expertise to execute an endeavor this large and complex. Similarly, smaller mom-and-pop shops might not have the necessary capital, or know-how, to implement a similar setup on their own but that’s where Loop Media comes in.

A digital media company that provides curated music videos and branded entertainment channels for businesses, Loop offers companies free digital signage solutions — as well as free access to their licensed streaming content — in exchange for premium video ad placements in their brick-and-mortar locations. Committed to offering its customers quality video content and an easy way to create and manage digital messaging in their businesses, Loop is helping small companies harness the power of digital signage to entertain and inform customers with video-centric DOOH content.

Loop Media’s roots as a company stretch back more than 30 years, originally starting off as a business that supplied background music for retail stores and hold music for telephone calls. When the current leadership took over, they were more interested in creating a dynamic audio and visual environment for their customers, and in 2016, Loop Media Inc. was born. Since then, the company has grown into a leading multi-channel streaming platform that provides curated digital video content for a range of businesses throughout the United States.

Although DOOH has historically treated audio as an afterthought, it’s a central focus for Loop Media, whose team includes a number of management staff with a background in the industry. Thanks to its “music-forward” approach, the company currently boasts the largest music video library licensed for business use, with content that dates back to the start of TV and film. In addition to music videos, Loop Media has established licensing and partnership deals to offer a wide range of non-music video content that can fit the needs of almost any vertical, from FailArmy viral videos and 4K drone footage to first-person action shots from GoPro World Surf League and branded entertainment content from “The Wiggles.”

Today, Loop Media works with customers of all sizes, but the company has retained its commitment to small- and mid-sized businesses — the brick-and-mortar locations that were most impacted by the pandemic.

“We want to help businesses that got crushed by the pandemic,” says Bob Gruters, Chief Revenue Officer at Loop Media. “Our model lets businesses leverage free content — pre-cleared, fees paid, licenses paid — and also push out promotional and informational content via an intuitive CMS, at no cost to them.”

The recent introduction of a rewards program also allows business owners to benefit from the sale of ads shown on-site — enabling them to grab a piece of the DOOH, and in some cases retail media, pie for themselves.

“So not only did we eliminate a cost,” said Gruters. “We actually helped to unlock a new revenue stream.”

Loop Media’s approach is well-positioned in the context of the current advertising landscape. As third-party cookies are being phased out, marketers are searching for new ways to meaningfully engage with consumers. Place-based out-of-home advertising — particularly in locations with a captive audience — is gaining favor as an appealing alternative to online media.

Loop Media has its eye on transforming the digital out-of-home market into another arena for digital video. Investing in technology to ensure success in both spheres has proven a smart strategy. In addition to designing its own plug-and-play hardware to complement its API-driven software, Loop embraced programmatic transactions early on.

“In the world of digital video, nine cents out of every ten cents is being transacted programmatically,” said Gruters. “That’s not been the case in out-of-home. So, we’re future-proofing our business because we know that once digital video catches up, digital out-of-home transactions are going to be led through programmatic.”

This has also meant ongoing investment in technology designed to improve the customer experience for people who are exposed to their content on an out-of-home display. Anonymized data sources built into the Loop Player provide real-time audience insights, while integration with third-party data solutions will soon enable contextual targeting capabilities for ad buyers. By adopting a programmatic-first approach and investing in future-friendly technology solutions, Loop is well-positioned to adapt and act on exciting new possibilities as they arrive moving forward.

To meet its ambitious DOOH expansion goals and bring as much potential revenue as possible to its customers, Loop Media also needed to invest in a supply-side platform (SSP) that could connect them with digital media buyers worldwide. The programmatic OOH platform Broadsign Reach was an attractive option to Loop because of Broadsign’s established relationships with many leading OOH and omnichannel demand-side platforms (DSPs), including Broadsign Ads.

“Having a partner like Broadsign who can help us understand what’s going on at that DSP level and quickly initiate a dialogue with key DSP stakeholders is paramount,” said Gruters. “We can reach the DSPs faster to better determine actions we can take or pull back on to improve.”

Broadsign Reach not only helps to automate programmatic revenue generation but also provides Loop with accurate insights into network performance and offers real-time visibility on programmatic inventory. As Loop Media continues to grow its network of digital properties inside and outside the U.S., Broadsign’s DOOH solutions will scale alongside it and ensure that, whatever the future may hold, Loop is well-equipped to succeed.

Gruters concluded, “From the beginning, we wanted to build a business that can play on trends as they surface and evolve, is technologically innovative, and can constantly adapt. With Broadsign on our side, we have all the right resources to do just that.”

Too learn more about Loop Media and how to receive free Loop Media Players for your business click here.

The post Loop Media Offers Digital Signage, DOOH Solutions to Small Companies first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the release of $83 million dollars in unobligated Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grants to 169 operators with pending applications.

The National Restaurant Association has been requesting these funds be released, and Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Sean Kennedy made the following statement in response:

“The SBA’s action represents the final chapter of our nearly three-year effort to secure dedicated federal pandemic relief dollars for local restaurants. Today’s announcement is great news for those 169 operators fortunate enough to receive an RRF grant, but hundreds of thousands more are struggling with uncertainty.

“We must continue to look forward because the enormous challenges of the industry will continue beyond today. From the recruitment of employees to the constantly rising costs for food, running a restaurant right now is a daily struggle. There are steps the government can take to support restaurants in every community, and we will continue to press for solutions at the federal, state, and local level.”

According to the SBA, the grants are being released to operators in the order their applications were received. Operators receiving funds should receive notification today and SBA will begin transmitting the grants next week. They have until March 2023 to spend the money.

The Association was first to lay out the plan(Opens in a new window) for a restaurant industry recovery fund to Congress in April 2020. Congress eventually set aside $28.6 billion dollars for the RRF in the American Rescue Plan Act. After this money was distributed, more than 177,000 applications were left in limbo at the SBA.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report(Opens in a new window) in July, noting SBA was holding unobligated RRF funds and the Association was first to send a letter(Opens in a new window) to SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman requesting that the unobligated money be released to unfunded applicants.

The restaurant industry was the hardest hit by the pandemic. In the initial shutdowns, more than eight million industry employees were laid off or furloughed. The industry still has not recreated 565,000 jobs(Opens in a new window) lost at that time, which is the largest current employment deficit caused by the pandemic among all U.S. industries. More than 90,000 restaurants closed permanently or long-term because of the pandemic. 

The post National Restaurant Association Statement on the Release of $83 Million in Restaurant Revitalization Fund Grants first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

I am shocked at the number of entrepreneurs that don’t understand what I believe are basic business concepts like Loss Leader or Advertising budget. I have spoke a lot about advertising budget over the years, and we will include and article on this concept in the future, but for now, the article below is the best education on Loss Leader, I have found.

This article originally was published in the Hustle Newsletter

The economics of Costco rotisserie chicken

Costco’s popular chickens have stayed fixed at $4.99 for more than a decade — even in the face of raging inflation. But it’s come at a cost.

Zachary Crockett

October 8, 2022

Chicken holds a special place in the carnivore’s heart.

This year, the average American will scarf down 99 lbs. of chicken, handily outranking our consumption of beef (56 lbs.), pork (52 lbs.), and fish (19 lbs.). That’s roughly 20 whole chickens per person, per year, in case you’re wondering.

About 900m of the 9B chickens we consume on an annual basis are rotisserie chickens — precooked, seasoned, ready-to-eat birds.

And of those 900m, 106m are sold by one retailer: Costco.

The chain debuted its popular rotisserie chickens around 2000, pricing them at $4.99. More than two decades later, they’re still $4.99.

Despite record-high inflation, supply chain woes, and the rising production costs of poultry, the retailer has refused to raise the price of these prepped birds.

Adjusted for inflation, Costco should be selling its chickens for $8.31. But over the past 20+ years, the retailer has only raised its prices one time — a brief, $1 increase during the 2008 financial crisis. In 2009, it knocked its rotisserie chickens back down to $4.99, where they’ve stayed ever since.

Many Costco chicken loyalists have been blissfully perplexed by this pricing strategy. How the cluck are these chickens profitable?

The short answer is: They’re probably not.

In a 2015 earnings call, Costco’s CFO, Richard Galanti, admitted that the retailer was taking a multimillion-dollar hit by not raising chicken prices.

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As is the case at most grocery chains, Costco’s rotisserie chickens are a loss leader.

“Very few people simply buy the chicken and leave,” John Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School, told The Hustle. “They probably shop for other items that provide higher profit margins.”

Costco maximizes the chances of this happening by placing the rotisserie chickens at the back of the store, next to its wines (14% margin) and side dishes. But Longo says these chickens serve other important purposes for Costco that go beyond immediate profit:

1. Value signaling: They reinforce the idea that the Costco brand is a good deal, potentially leading to more membership sign-ups ($60-$120/yr).
2. Good press: The company’s refusal to raise the $4.99 price during inflation makes it look benevolent in the public eye.

This value-forward approach isn’t limited to chickens. Costco vigorously guards its food court prices, too.

Costco’s ex-CEO, Jim Sinegal, was so impassioned about the $1.50 hot dog combo that he once famously told a colleague: “If you raise [the price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you.”

Over the past decade, tactics like this have nearly doubled Costco’s rotisserie chicken sales, to 106m units ($530m).

If you added up the pounds of chicken the company sells, it would amount to ~6x the weight of the Statue of Liberty. Lined up end to end, the chickens would almost run the entire Earth’s circumference.

In recent years, that immense volume began to pose some production challenges for Costco.

1. Industry consolidation: Five huge producers (Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, Perdue, and Koch Foods) came to control 60%+ of America’s $65B poultry market, making it harder to bargain on prices.
2. Fewer whole chickens: Sales of whole chickens declined from 50% to 15% of the total market as producers shifted to pre-cut chicken pieces.
3. Price surges: Chicken feed, which accounts for 60% of the cost of producing a chicken, shot up in price after its main ingredient, corn, saw a spike of its own.

To reduce dependence on the big suppliers, Costco decided to vertically integrate its chicken operation.

In 2019, the company opened a $450m chicken facility in Nebraska that produces 2m chickens per week — enough to fulfill 43% of its rotisserie supply, and 33% of its raw chicken supply.

Costco partners with local farmers in Nebraska (dots on this map) to raise the chickens. After 42 days, they’re moved to the main production plant for processing. With the plant, Costco controls the whole supply chain — hatching, feeding, shipping, and cooking.

The operation is expected to have a $1.2B economic impact on Nebraska’s economy — and it will reportedly save Costco up to $0.35 per rotisserie chicken.

But it comes with controversy.

1. Some experts argue that contracted farmers, who have to pay for their own labor expenses, will only earn ~$60k/yr from the partnership — far less than the $90k-$130k Costco promised.
2. A 2022 lawsuit alleges that Costco “illegally neglects and abandons its chickens,” and accuses the chain of raising chickens so big that they can’t walk.

Costco didn’t respond to The Hustle’s requests for comment. For its part, the company has committed to running the new plant for at least 15 years and has pledged to continuously improve conditions.

In the meantime, Costco rotisserie enthusiasts don’t seem to mind much.

The chicken has its own dedicated Facebook page with 19k followers. On a recent post about the lawsuit, most of them seemed to be nonplussed. 

“Who cares,” wrote one fan. “It’s 5 bucks.”

The post The Perfect Example of a Loss Leader (Costco Rotisserie Chicken) first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

The McRib without question in my opinion is the worst fast foold sandwhich ever created. I am not sure what processed soy bean concoction the so called meat is made from, but nothing about this comes close to Rib Meat. You cannot eat it no matter how they try to smoother it with onions, pickels and BBQ sause. Anyone that knows ribs, knows the McRib is anything but.

I have always lived with the motto fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me 3 times study their marketing. I have never met anyone who enjoys a McRib sandwhich. So why do people continue to buy the worlds worst BBQ product ever produced when quality BBQ joints are not near as hard to find as they once were!

(NEXSTAR) – Over the last few years, McDonald’s has brought the tasteless McRib back for limited-time stints at its restaurants. The McRib is making its annual return again this fall, but it appears this will be the sandwich’s last hurrah.

In 2019, McDonald’s sold the McRib at 10,000 of its 14,000 U.S. locations before making it available nationwide in 2020 for the first time since 2012. It made a limited-time appearance again last year.

The sandwich, which debuted on menus in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1981, has enjoyed a cult following for decades, thanks in no small part to its fleeting, sporadic appearances at restaurants. Speaking to its elusiveness, Mike Bullington, the senior archives manager for McDonald’s, said in a press release last year that the sandwich was designed to be “enjoyed during the colder seasons.” (I guess you need numb taste buds to be able to eat this terrible sandwhich}

McDonald’s had also previously revealed that the sandwich infrequently appears on its restaurants’ menus because it’s “a local option based on customer demand,” according to a 2017 tweet from the company. Yeah, who believes that crap?

According to a product description for the McRib on the McDonald’s website, the sandwich’s 2022 return is unique: it’s “the McRib Farewell Tour.” Please Never Return Tour is what they should call it.

“Order yours in the McDonald’s app for delivery or pick up before you say goodbye on 11/20/22. Enjoy our famous pork sandwich as if it’s your last!” the listing reads.

While McDonald’s doesn’t list an exact day the sandwich will be available, multiple restaurants nationwide tell Nexstar the sandwich will be on their menus early this week. Nexstar has reached out to McDonald’s for comment but hasn’t yet heard back. Before you run to your nearest location to get a McRib (or two), you may want to call ahead to check availability.

This is just the latest fan-favorite McDonald’s has brought back this year. Earlier this month, it rolled out its iconic Halloween Happy Meal pails.

The post The McRib is back. (Don’t Let them Fool You AGAIN) first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

Since Biden entered office it is undesputable that Americans are paying more and getting less.

On top of that, a friend of mine just shared with me that the new trend for restaurant owners in California is now add inflation fees to their bills… what?

How crazy is that? Oh well it is California. I love California the people and food, but the track record of their politicians speaks for itself.

But you know what, I’m not worried, for many different reasons and restaurant owners in California or anywhere else in the United States don’t need to be worried either, here’s why.

There is new, free, technology available for them that can allow them to immediately monitize an asset that they are currently not making a penny with, their TV screens.

They can even increase sales, and bring customers back again and again. If California restaraunt owners added this free tech, they could start expeiencing profits immediately and maybe they won’t need to upset their customers by adding an inflation tax on their bill. becasue it would not be necessary if they implent this free income generating technology.

THIS VIDEO EXPLAINS THE PROFIT CREATING TECH FOR RESTAURANTS

America is definitely going a little mad…is this the beginning of the last days? Many Bible prophecy scholars seem to think so, but they have thought so for years, but how many of us have seen this kind of disruption over our lifetime?

Some states are threatening to break away. The rich are fleeing. The wealth gap is soaring.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, people are driving more recklessly than ever… and drinking more alcohol than ever, too.

And that’s just the beginning…

Altercations on airplanes are now at all-time highs. So are murder rates. And violent crime is soaring across the board. Students are more disruptive than ever. Hate crimes have hit a 12-year high, according to the FBI.

The question of course is:

Where is all of this going and what is coming next? I don’t pretetend to know. I Know in John 10-10-29 the Bible says that Satan’s plan is to kill, steal, and destroy, and unfortunately we see more of that going on in the world today than at any time in history.

Personally I Iike to keep things real simple and do my best to always ask myself the bottom line, rubber hits the road questions.

Could the world be ending soon and the rapture occure? In my mind of course. It couldn’thappen before I complete this article. As previously mentioned all Bible prohecy points in that direction. For me it is not a question of if, just when, and I believe we are in the last days. I also understand my definition of last days, and that of Gods could be completely different.

I feel certain how how this disruption ends, and if I don’t complete this article, I am fine with that. I heard years ago, you cannot began to live until you are preopared to die, so for me, that was settled years ago.

Until that time comes, I choose to live everyday in a sprit of Thankfullness, ambition and possitive expectations. I do my best to control what I can control and not worry about that which I can’t.

I understand this mindset is not normal, and it has taken me years to develop and I consciously work on it daily, but for me it is worth it. I choose to understand the disruption, but not let it control me, my thoughts or steal the joy I have.

I wasn’t planning on getting off on a spiritual rant, but maybe that encourage someone, I hope so.

BACK TO RESTAURANT OWNERS IS CALIFORNIA, BEFORE YOU ADD AN INFLATION TAX …..

Listen to the radio show below, featuring my friend Allen Knight, from California talking about how he is helping many small business owners and restaurant owners in the Orange County area and throughout California turn their TV Screens into and income producing asset for their businesses.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW

Then contact Allen he is a great guy and can help you. He charges no fees for his service or the media players.

The post Some Restaurant Owners in California adding inflation fees to your bills? (Is this True?) first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

• October 4, 2022 published at Retail Bum

Retail Bum

TikTok has teamed up with multichannel streaming platform Loop Media to bring TikTok entertainment to patrons of bars, restaurants, retail shops and other venues.

“In our continual pursuit to create channels that bring value to businesses of all kinds, our new TikTok channel on Loop TV is the perfect addition to our service,” said Greg Drebin, chief content officer for Loop Media Studios. “TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video and together, we have curated a new channel that captures the diversity and popularity of this world-class platform.”

The collaboration is aimed at helping TikTok further boost its reach as it will enable the platform to increase in viewership in public spaces, reaching more than 12,500 Loop Players and devices across the United States.

“TikTok has become the platform more than a billion people turn to for entertainment throughout their day. With TikTok’s dedicated channel on Loop TV, that experience can be extended to new screens, venues, and audiences,” said Dan Page, head of global distribution, new screens at TikTok. “We are excited to collaborate with Loop to launch a channel that provides viewers with an experience that’s distinctly TikTok and offers our community more opportunities to spark joy throughout their day.”

The new TikTok channel is available now to all businesses and venues using the Loop Player. If you own a retail business and would like to learn how your company can benefit from installing free Loop Players click here.

The post TikTok Teams Up With Loop TV For Out-Of-Home Experiences first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.

Music plays a subtle yet significant impact on people’s lives. It influences everything from moods, brain responses and even physical responses through changes in activities.

The bottom line, the type of music you play in any business, especially a restaruant, bar or pub effects sales, and your bottom line profits.

The right kind of music can decrease physiological stress indicators and help your customers relax. It can lighten their mood and get them more interested in the drinks and menue items you have to offer.

Below, we have provided you with a walk-through guide to help you choose the right music to set the ambiance in your bar, and increase your profits.

What Does Music Do To Bar Patrons?

The type of music you choose can create a sense of social connection and familiarity amongst your patrons, contributing both to successful bar sales and an overall positive customer experience your customers will return for.

One study found that a wine shop could influence the type of wine sold by playing background music. When French music was played, customers were more likely to buy a French wine. In contrast, when the store played German music, patrons were more likely to select a German wine. In this way, music can subtly prime customers for certain decision-making patterns. Music can influence how long your patrons choose to stay, what they buy as they wait, and how much they spend. If you have a German wine as your special of the week, what kind of music should be playing in your shop?

Another study showed that music could actually change costumers’ perception of time. When exposed to music they regarded music as “familiar,” customers tended to report their time in retail spaces as being shorter than the amount of time they had actually spent. Want your customers to stay longer, show popular videos in your bar, restaurant or pub.

Factors To Consider When Choosing Bar Music

When selecting music, it’s important to consider what you want your customers to do. Do you want a vibrant, energetic crowd? Or do you want your environment to feel more mellow?

Creating and maintaining the ideal bar environment will require you to select the best type of music genres and playlists for your bar. Since the energy level in bars often fluctuates, the kind of playlist you played yesterday might not work well for the patrons you have today. With a loop media player you can use a scheduling tool to match these natural ebbs and flows throughout the day.

Different Generations And Their Taste In Music

Bars and pubs are open to all adult ages, with pubs accommodating minors in several locations. Sifting through your traffic will enable you to know how to better cater to them with the right music and videos.

Gen Z

If your bar or pub is often brimming with young adults between 18 and 24, your primary audience is the Gen Z age group. They are usually seniors in college or young professionals just testing out their various career paths. There are currently about 68 million Gen Z in the US.

Hip hop has quickly become Gen Z’s genre of choice: YPulse’s 2021 music report found than more than 55% of Gen Z respondents said they listened to rap and hip hop. Other genres that have seen a rise in popularity amongst Gen Z are alternative, rock and country. A glance at the Billboard charts or top Spotify lists should give you a good idea of popular songs for this demographic.

Gen Y

Generation Y adults, also fondly known as millennials, are adults between 25 and 40 years old. There are currently about 72.1 million Gen Y adults in the US. While The Ringer has made a compelling argument that young millennials and Gen Zs have similar if not identical tastes and habits, the aforementioned YPulse study did find that pop music and alternative had fallen in popularity in the last few years.

If Gen Y adults make up a large percentage of your bar, you should play a mixture of songs from the 90s, early 2000s and early 2010s – nostalgia can be helpful in setting a mood that is upbeat and familiar.

Gen X

Your Gen X patrons are between 41 to 56 years old. They make up about 65.2 million people in the U.S. Gen X adults tend to enjoy a variety of older genres like punk, disco, Eurobeat, New Wave, synthpop, rap, and glam rock.

Gen X is often called the MTV Generation, so when catering to their interests select classic music from the 70s-90s to inspire a sense of nostalgia that, in turn, creates a great customer experience.

Tempo & Time of Day

Some studies suggest that taking the tempo and volume of the music you wish to play at different times of the day is a great way to ensure the success of your business.

Tempo is measured in beats per minute (BPM). This means a song of 60 BPM is one beat per second. Tempo can have a profound effect on customer behavior; one study shows that fast music leads to fast drinking.

On the other hand, a study shows that slower tempo music might lead customers to stick around and spend up to 40 percent more on drinks and desserts. Setting a mellow ambiance will help you keep people in your space longer (and can thus result in more revenue).

When you consider the time of day, you might find out your lunch crowd prefers less intrusive and slower sounds when compared to your night crowd. You might also find your Friday crowd likes upbeat and fast-paced music to match their energy.

Regardless, it is essential to note that fast music tends to cause people to buy more drinks, while slower music drives customers to take their time over their drinks. So it is often best to play slow-tempo music during slower parts of the day and switch to a faster tempo as sales pick up.

Final Tips And Tricks

To figure out what works best for your bar or pub, we suggest making a playlist to experiment. According to Statista, the most popular genres by market share are hip hop, pop, rock, R&B and latin. Country is also popular: according to a Billboard study, 42 percent of Americans are country music fans. Try playing a list made with all of the above genres and seeing what gets a response.

You can also run polls on social media to ask your fans and customers what type of music they want to hear! Social media can be a powerful tool for gathering information on your customers.

If you are looking to set the mood in your bar or pub, consider signing up for Loop’s free service to stream music videos and other short form entertainment (including drone footage, funny fails and more) in your business. There are a number of ways to use Loop’s features to help put into practice some of the above principles – you can even use Loop’s scheduling tool to set the tempo in your space throughout your day! Start with slower songs during the afternoon to encourage patrons to stay longer, but pick up the tempo during the evening to encourage higher spend.

While it is fresh on you mind, why not head over to IHub Meta to see if your business qaulifies for a free Loop Player.

The post How to think strategically about selecting music for your bar or pub (This research data will show you) first appeared on cmgdigitalproperty.com.