Statistics from the voucher codes website MyVoucherCodes found that online grocery shopping now accounts for 31% of all sales on this channel, while electronic items make up 25% of sales.

On average, the company said, those buying products such as bread and milk are spending £53 a week online.

Tesco is the most popular online shopping site, visited by 44.2% of respondents, putting Asda in second place with 23.2%. Sainsbury's was third with 11.7% market share.

Consumers in the north-west use the internet to shop for groceries more than people in any other region.

Mark Pearson, managing director, said: “We were amazed at the fact that supermarket sales are now beating PCs and TVs when it comes to online shopping and this is surely down to the fact that people are looking to find the best bargains to get them through everyday life in these tough economic times.

“We wanted to try and get a better understanding of what types of discounts and vouchers people are looking for and it is clear that supermarkets lead the way.”

Verdict research said last week that online orders are likely to hit an all-time high in the run-up to Christmas this year.

via Online grocery sales ‘most popular’.

The head office is now located at 100 Wood Street in London. The registered office is at Pixham End, Dorking in Surrey. It is a member of the Association of British Insurers and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until being acquired by buyout firm Resolution in November 2009. F&C Asset Management demerged from Friends Provident in 2009.[1]

via Friends Provident – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Posted May 14, 2009 in Productivity, Tools/Resources 107 Comments »

Over the years the appeal of freelancing has grown tremendously. Some are drawn to freelancing to enjoy the freedom of choosing their own work hours, some as a way to stay ahead during times of recession. Today, there are many individuals on the web pursuing their career as a freelancer. Bloggers, web designers, social media strategists and many others have found that freelancing is a great way to utilize their skills and sell their services through the wonderful medium we call the internet.

Although freelancing appeals to many, the stakes are quite high. I am sure most of you agree with me when I say there are a few sleepless nights, and work often seems to follow us wherever we go since most of us work from home. Like everything else, freelancing has it’s ups and downs.

The benefits of freelancing, however, certainly outweigh the pitfalls — and using the right online tools can help tip the scales even further. Gadgets and online apps are a freelancer’s best friend when it comes to being effective.

35 Tools That Make Your Freelance Career Easier

Here are 35 online tools that can help make your freelancing career even easier:

1. Bubble.us : A brainstorming tool that lets you put your ideas into bubbles and save your mindmap as an image.
2. Relenta : Helps you manage your contacts, emails, documents and other activities.
3. Wridea : Idea management service and collection of brainstorming tools for writers.
4. Slideshare : Create and share slide shows online.
5. Toodledo : A web based to-do-list to help you organize.
6. Mint : A very simple easy to use finance tool for personal use and to manage your freelance finances as well.
7. eFax : Although you might think Fax is outdated we are pretty sure most of your clients still use it, especially the corporate ones. Use this site to make your life easier when it comes to faxes.
8. Webnote : Allows you to quickly take notes using a web browser. You can save the notes using any computer and visit the site later to retrieve notes. Useful when using public computers.
9. Box : Share files online with your clients and friends using this simple tool.
10. ReadBag : A bookmarking service that lets you save links that you can read later in your browser, email, phone and even in an offline mode.
11. Stock.xchng : Free stock photography for your blog, site or any other use that you might have for images.
12. YouSendIt : Allows you to send files and folder that are upto 2GB without clogging your or your client’s inbox.
13. WordFast : A translation tool that is compatible with any language supported by word.
14. FaxZero : Lets you send free faxes to US and Canada.
15. Copyright : Find everything you need to know about US copyright.
16. RSS2PDF : Turn your RSS feeds into PDFs and read them even when you are offline.
17. CentralDesktop : Helps freelancers collaborate, communicate and share files with clients and coworkers.
18. FlightStats : Get up-to-date information on your flight so you can let your clients know about delays and know when exactly they are arriving if you have to pick them up.
19. SiteKreator : Helps you create sites instantly, all you need to do is add content.
20. InstaCalc : A web based calculator that includes spreadsheet capabilities, unit conversions and programming commands.
21. BlinkSale : Lets you send invoices online, recurring templates and keep track of your invoices and purchases.
22. Skim : Helps you take notes directly on a PDF file as you read.
23. Icebrrg : Lets you easily build online embeddable forms.
24. ConceptShare : Allows you to invite clients to take a look at your design work and get real time feedback while you work on the project.
25. GoToMeeting : Setup online meetings with clients and colleagues using this popular meeting tool
26. Wufoo : Another tool to help you build forms.
27. Escrow : Use this service to protect yourself and clients when the stakes are high.
28. XE : Most freelancers work with international clients and a currency converter is a must to determine the payment. This tool takes care of giving you up-to-date information on currency rates.
29. ProjectStat.us : This tool allows your clients to view the status of a project using a token.
30. CreativeCommons : This site provides free tools that lets freelancers easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry.
31. ProofHQ : Lets you annotate a variety of document types – PDFs, PSDs, JPGs, Word, Powerpoint – and webpages.
32. ProposalKit : An online tool that helps freelancers with proposal and contract management.
33. SlimTimer : An online timer that helps you track time spent on a particular project and bill your clients accordingly.
34. SpotRunner : Use this website if you are planning to build a TV advertising campaign.
35. MonkeyOn : Allows you to create a to-do-list that you want other people to do.

Bonus — 5 Blogs You Should Subscribe To

If you are a freelancer or are planning to become one, here are five blogs you should subscribe to for tips and inspiration

1. Freelance Folder : The blog that you are currently reading. Launched back in 2007, Freelance Folder is one of the best blogs on the web dedicated to helping freelancers.
2. Skelliewag : Written and managed by Skellie, Skelliewag is a blog that you don’t want to miss. In Skellie’s own words “If you want to make a living from your passion, not AdSense, this is written for you.”
3. Freelance Switch : A blog that is often referred to as the mother of all freelancing blogs. If you are looking for insightful tips and helpful advice from the veterans, FSW is for you.
4. 43 Folders : Launched by owner and writer Merlin Mann in 2004, 43 Folders talks about finding time and ways to do your best creative work. A must read blog to keep your creative juices flowing.
5. MenWithPens : Ranked no.2 among the best blogs for writers, MenWithPens offers tips and advice to take your freelance writing to the next level.



PayPal is used by a majority of Indian freelancers and blogger who make money from their clients and advertising firms to receive and withdraw payments from anywhere into their bank accounts. I had recently withdrawn money from my PayPal account. So far everything seems to be normal. I believe the current issue effects only personal payments residing in PayPal accounts for Indian users.

In case your payments were related to a business transaction or an eBay purchase then I’d suggest you contact PayPal right now. Also the current outage seems to be for only personal payments made to PayPal India users. PayPal suggests you ask senders to send your payments again.

Update : It has now been confirmed that PayPal is indeed blocking personal payments for Indian PayPal users. There seems to be an issue between PayPal India and it’s business partners. However commercial payments are still working for all PayPal India users. In case any of your commercial payment has been reversed or blocked then please contact PayPal and also ask the sender to send the payment all over again including the shipping address this time.

Paypal has to say : Your payment of xxx USD has been sent back to the sender of the payment. We reversed this payment because we have stopped allowing personal payments to be sent to or from India.

If this was a payment for a purchase of goods or services, and not a personal payment, then you may contact the buyer and have him or her resend the payment as follows: (a) click the Send Money tab, (b) select “Goods,” and (c) provide a shipping address.

If this payment was a personal payment such as a gift, then we have requested that the sender find another payment method until we restore personal payments to and from India. We are trying to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and we’re sorry for any inconvenience.

via PayPal India Payments Reversed – No Payments to or from India | Today’s Khabor.

These innovations have allowed the industry to keep food prices so low that Americans spend significantly less of their disposable income on food than anyone else and much less than they did 25 years ago. Technology has helped the industry add new products and services, and provide additional information to consumers.

This backgrounder focuses on innovative beginnings and current and emerging technologies in the supermarket industry.

Innovative Beginnings

• Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) — Bar Code Scanning — This far-reaching technology, which was introduced in1974, is now global in scope and has substantial implications beyond retail Although initial estimates put savings to the food industry at $1.43 billion, the net benefits realized are 5.65 percent of sales within the grocery channel — with $293 billion in scanned value or $17 billion annually — according to a study by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers. This is 50 times greater than the original estimate. Scanning provides a variety of benefits to customers and retailers:

• Reduces checkout times.
• Provides consumers detailed information about their purchase — including type and price.
• Helps control costs by eliminating the labor needed to individually mark items.
• Generates electronic coupons for the products that customers purchase.
• Provides a means to restrict the sale of alcohol and tobacco products.
• Provides a way to enhance and monitor price accuracy at the shelf.

Current Technologies

The Internet has spurred a variety of technology and e-commerce applications that bring greater efficiency among business partners in the supermarket industry.

• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) — Improvements in accounts payable and receiving, and purchase order management are the benefits of EDI. According to FMI’s Electronic Marketing Survey, 36 percent use EDI with some of their suppliers. Of the larger companies, 71 percent use EDI, compared with 51 percent of mid-size and smaller companies.

• Electronic Payment Systems at the Point of Sale

• EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) — Quicker access to funds, reduced fraud, better inventory planning and more efficient processing are some of the benefits expected with electronic benefits transfer (EBT). The supermarket industry and FMI scored a significant victory for consumers with the EBT Interoperability and Portability Act of 1999. This measures allow benefits recipients to use the same electronic card to buy groceries in any store across state lines.

As of December 1999, 41 states, including the District of Columbia, use EBT in some form for food stamps and 36 states are providing all of their food stamp benefits with this technology.

According to FMI’s In-Store Systems Study 1999, 82 percent of respondents use these systems in at least three-quarters of their stores.

• Other Federal Payments — FMI is helping the federal government move other benefit payments, such as those for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, to an electronic platform.

• Electronic Check Conversion — Electronic check processing speeds up the processing of checks at the checkout and lowers the cost to retailers, compared with the paper-check process. Since checks account for the second most frequent type of supermarket transaction and the highest value of transactions, the cost savings could be considerable.

According to FMI’s In-Store Systems Study, 1999, 14 percent of companies with 11 or more stores use electronic check conversion. Of those that do not have it, 18 percent plan to implement the technology.

In 1998, FMI launched a major initiative focused on reducing unnecessary costs in electronic payment system areas for retailers. The Institute formed a strategic alliance with Concord EFS, Inc., with the goal of reducing the costs of accepting electronic payments at the point of sale.

• ACH Card (Concord) — Preauthorized debit cards gives customers a convenient way to pay for their purchases. This PIN-secured card allows retailers to debit the customer’s account at the point of sale. Funds flow automatically from the cardholder’s checking account to the retailer’s account. It is usually tied to a loyalty program.

• Smart Cards — These cards — with embedded chip technology for memory storage and information processing — can be used for a variety of purposes in the retail environment, including electronic payments, frequent shopper programs and gift cards.

• Checkstand Technology

• Self-Scanning — Hand-held scanners allow customers to scan their purchases as they take them from the shelves. The information from the scanner is downloaded at the point of sale by a cashier, and the customer then pays the cashier for the order.

• Self-Scanning Checkout Lanes — Allow customers to scan the items they purchased at the end of their shopping trip. They receive a receipt from the self-checkout unit, usually without interacting with a cashier.

• Biometrics — Provides faster checkout times, more accurate identification of customers cashing checks, and a substantial reduction in fraud. Applications such as iris, retina and fingerprint scanning, hand and face geometry, and signature verification to authenticate identification are already being used in the supermarket industry.

• Internet-Driven Technology

• Online Grocery Shopping — A growing strategy for grocery retailers, this channel for grocery shopping shows the industry’s willingness to cater to the time-pressed consumer. Through supermarket company Web sites, traditional and online supermarket alliances or online supermarkets only, the industry simplifies and satisfies consumer shopping needs.

Although online grocery sales represent less than 1 percent of the total supermarket sales, that number is expected to reach 2 percent by 2003. This represents an increase from $513 million in 1999 to $10.8 billion, according to Forrester Research.

• Internet/Intranet Use — Grocery retailers continue to take advantage of electronic communication technologies. The use of e-mail, especially with outside businesses, continues to grow, according to FMI’s In-Store Systems Study, 1999. Internet access at the store can be found at 51 percent of respondents, and 35 percent have intranets, which connect different business units and facilitate communication within companies. Over half of the respondents (56 percent) of respondents in the study have a Web site.

• Wireless/RF Communication — This technology improves price accuracy and consistency. It lowers the cost of changing shelf price tags. It can provide consumers more product information, such as nutrient data.

• Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) — Allows prices and other information to be displayed electronically.

• Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) — Tags are attached to individual products to prevent and detect shoplifting. Wireless communication also connects personnel with each other and to the store phone system.

• POS (Point-of-Sale) Price Verification — Employees responsible for price accuracy use hand-held units to ensure that the prices on shelf tags are consistent with those in the store’s POS database.

• Remote Checkstands — These can communicate with store databases without being physically attached to the local area network. These usually are located at the front end of the store.

• Remote Payment Terminals — Enable stores to accept electronic payments, credit and debit anywhere within a store.

Emerging Technologies

• Auto ID (Electronic Product Code or ePC) — Product packages will be fixed with a tag or chip that emits a signal, either a by radio frequency or electromagnetic charge. A computer picks up the signal, registers the price and tallies up a bill. This technology would allow customers to check out more quickly, even eliminating the need for checkout lines

The chips could communicate with microprocessors throughout the grocery supply chain — from the manufacturing plant to the store shelf to the shopping cart to the checkout to the customer’s kitchen.

Within the kitchen, such products carry such tags can offer consumers a wide variety of benefits, which are under development at MIT labs. For example, such smart products can:

• Tell a microwave oven equipped with the appropriate technology how to cook them, including when, how long and at what level.
• Communicate when freshness dates have expired.
• Notify the consumer when they need to be reordered — even automatically signal the supermarket to replenish the supply during the shopper’s next visit or online-based delivery.

Procter and Gamble and other consumer products companies are working together to devise standard for such smart tags through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s new Auto-ID Center. In January 2000, MIT announced the development of the ePC, which would serve as a common standard, superseding the U.P.C.

• UCCnet — Created by the Uniform Code Council, UCCnet hopes to harness the power of the Internet by providing a trading platform with synchronized product information for business-to-business communications and commerce. The UCCnet trading community consists of consumers, retailers, wholesalers, logistics companies, manufacturers, trade associations, third-party networks, third-party solution partners and data.

• Smart Shelves — These shelves would read and transmit data through the Internet to store managers and manufacturers, notifying them when products run low. The manager would not have to take inventory, and the manufacturer could produce and replenish products based on automatically generated electronic orders.

via FMI | Food Marketing Institute | Food Marketing Institute – FMI – Media – Backgrounders – Supermarket Technology Firsts.

via Article: Online Grocery Retailing: Success Factors and Potential Pitfalls. | AccessMyLibrary – Promoting library advocacy.

1. One can save time in terms of travelling to a grocery shop or supermarket, circling the parking lot looking for parking, standing in queue at the billing counter, loading the groceries in your car, and traveling back home.

2. One can spend less time if they buy grocery online rather than visiting a nearby grocery store because they are less likely to be side tracked and end up buying more than what they planned.

3. If one lives on the top floor of building, he/she needs to carry the grocery bags up and down a flight of stairs or elevators. Door-to-door grocery delivery and online grocery delivery would be better and it will take care of this problem for you.

4. One can do this event in short time. So whether he/she has a busy day due to the regular schedule, job, school, kids, etc. that prohibits from visiting the grocery shop you can also choose to purchase grocery online.

5. You can shop anytime and anything you want, at your own convenience, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Even anyone can easily search any items using properly defined categories for each grocer on site. There are many online grocery shopping sites offers recipes as per cooking ingredients.

6. There are many sites that offer grocery as per geographical categories. Online grocery stores can afford to have a large collection for Wholesale grocery buying where you can buy monthly groceries easily.

7. You can keep away from the stress and hassle of having to drive to grocery store, dragging your screaming and restless kids with you to the store, indirect through the crowded lands while trying to avoid a accident or traffic jam with shopping carts, standing in a long line at the checkout or billing counters, loading your car trunk with the groceries when you leave the store and arrive at home.

8. You can make routine your grocery deliveries, so that frequently purchased grocery items are shipped to you on a regular basis.

via Why Do People Prefer Online Grocery Shopping?.

With shoppers seeking greater diversity in where they buy their food and groceries, retailers and suppliers will need to understand the evolving demands of shoppers and adapt their strategies accordingly.

With an increasingly competitive online market place, how can retailers increase loyalty levels and appeal to a new breed of online shopper? How can suppliers adapt point-of-purchase marketing to this format to encourage a greater degree of impulse purchasing?

via Online Shopping 2009 report – The online grocery retailing guide – IGD.com.

Don’t get me wrong: The Madison Avenue approach that built many Fortune-1000 companies worked well when there was less competition, fewer marketing channels, and goods and services were somewhat scarcer. Now, it’s beginning to fall on deaf ears. That makes it tough in the financial services sector, where the mass media is constantly shouting at consumers about where they can get the best deal on home financing or to save for the kids’ education. How do you cut through the chatter to make sure what you have to say is heard above the din?

Click and Connect

The answer is right at your keyboard. With 147 million American adults now using the Internet, why not meet your members online? Using the right digital technology, you can connect with them at the moment they’re in the market for your products and services. That makes moving a portion of your marketing resources to online applications not only a smart relationship-builder, but it also saves you time and money:

Cost savings. E-marketing eliminates printing and postage costs. You can take the best of traditional newsletters, ads, or direct-mail offers and customize them, sending them electronically at a fraction of the cost of other methods.

Targeted. Instead of the usual shotgun approach, e-marketing gives you the opportunity to customize the right messages for the right audiences. Have a member who wants to know when you’re planning a car-loan sale but doesn’t want to refinance his house? A well-planned e-marketing program provides the tools to specifically target that need.

Measurable. With interactive tools, such as online surveys, you can immediately track and assess members’ responses to your e-marketing program. Not getting the results you want? You can easily rework your message for greater effectiveness.

Top of mind. E-marketing allows you to create niche e-mail lists. That means you can remind specific members of what you have to offer when they are most ready to act.

Pack Your Virtual Toolbox

By creating a comprehensive, integrated e-marketing strategy, you can conserve precious marketing dollars while improving the frequency, reach, and impact of your promotional messages. A variety of digital tools are available that that can drive members to your website or provide opportunities for member interaction, which ensures multiple entry points for members along the technology path:

Online banking allows members 24/7 access to their accounts, not just during typical banking hours. And every transaction takes your member to your website, providing you with more cross-selling opportunities.

E-statements offer a logical first e-communication tool, especially for your online-banking members. You can provide account statements and notices online, strengthening member connections while reducing postage and printing costs.

Bill payment offers another way to draw members to your website, while allowing them to safely and efficiently pay bills at their own convenience.

E-mail alerts that are preference-based bring out the best in e-marketing, reaching members who want to receive specific types of promotions and information – a ready, receptive target.

E-surveys are fast-becoming the new walkie-talkie. A two-way communication tool, e-surveys deliver a high-value, low-cost means to obtain member feedback.

Thanks to digital technology – and consumers’ growing comfort with it – getting the right message to the right member at the right time is an easier connection than ever before.

via The Advantages of E-Marketing.

This is how you can always tell if your reading something truthful , or just another affiliate trying to make a sell . In case you don’t know an affiliate is basically an online salesman they put links out all over the internet and try to sell you a product, or service. Take your curser and hold it over this link Drop shipping reviews now if your using firefox you should be able to look in the bottom left hand corner of your screen and you will see it is a direct link to this website . If it is a direct link it will almost always appear that away . If it is an affiliate link it will have a series of numbers after the url .

This is basically the same with every type of online affiliate link not just the drop shipping ones . Their are many other ways to tell but these are the basics . Please don’t get me wrong though I have nothing against affiliates as their are a ton of honest good people that I am friends with who are affiliates , but I do not like the ones who trick unsuspecting good people into signing up for something bogus .

Oh and by the way . If your not using firefox you should be .

via Drop shipping Reviews.