Take Note

E-TAILERS GAIN IN POPULARITY The Internet is increasing in popularity for small-business owners. Slightly more than half of them made a business-related purchase last year, more than double the 21 percent of 1999. In another bit of Internet analysis, Nielsen Ratings has found that seven of 10 sites that were pure e-tailers are trouncing the Web sites of bricks-and-mortar rivals. Sites of traditional retailers, such as Walmart.com, have struggled with online customer service and still lag behind the pure e-tail competitors. DOING LUNCH OFTEN MEANS BAGGING IT Almost half of workers bring a packed lunch from home at least once a week and 20 percent do it every day, according to a study by research firm Datamonitor. Actually, "doing lunch" means doing without for 31 percent who say they skip lunch altogether and 11 percent who do so weekly. Feeling time is at a premium, lunch skippers prefer to conclude their work day earlier. Among those eating on the fly, one in four grabs takeout and one in 10 orders in. Only four percent brave the office vending machines. 'BUSINESS CASUAL' BEING Enough already with "business casual" dress. Too many employees reportedly are taking this to a sloppy extreme so, naturally, there's been a survey. Jackson Lewis, an employment law firm, found that 44 percent of survey respondents saw an increase in tardiness and absenteeism with the advent of casual dress policies, plus more flirtations among workers. As might be expected, most of the criticism about business casual comes from the retail clothing industry which profits when people buy business suits.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SACAGAWEA? Remember those gold-colored one-dollar coins featuring the Native American woman so important to the Lewis and Clark Expedition? You're excused if you don't. Supposedly, 700 million of the coins are in circulation, but the U.S. Mint estimates 600 million of those are being held as collectibles. In an effort to get Sacagawea back into circulation, the mint is distributing 1.6 million through the Safeway grocery chain. A similar deal a year ago with Wal-Mart stores failed to establish the coin as conventional pocket change. PERSONAL TASKS GET DONE ON THE JOB While on the job, 75 percent of employees take care of personal responsibilities at least once a month. The main personal chores they perform on the boss' time are: • Banking and bill paying 34 percent • Child care 16 percent • Grocery shopping 12 percent • Making appointments 7 percent A similar study of sales people ethics found 58 percent cheat on an expense report, 50 percent work a second job on company time, and 19 percent give a kickback to a customer. LOVE SELLS BETTER THAN SEX Aim for the heart and not the libido in your advertising. Yes, sex does sell in advertising, but it works only with a quarter of the consumers reading or viewing the ads. Good, old-fashioned love does much better with more than half of survey respondents saying they are more likely to buy a product shown in a love setting. The report by American Demographics magazine (Feb. 2001) showed an overwhelming 61 percent say sexual imagery in a product's ad makes them less likely to buy it.