DID YOU KNOW?

At Hat Life we always try to bring you bits of news that may affect your business or your life philosophy. So in the name of information we thought you might want to know about the following things in the media sphere. Because after all, what are we doing here besides learning.

Amazon Beat eBay in Holiday Traffic
During the holiday season visitors usually spend more time on eBay.com than on any of its rivals, including Amazon.com. “It made sense; eBay is a wide open forum for every kind of seller and item, while Amazon has traditionally pushed a selection of products through its network of physical warehouses,” said Brad Stone.

But all that is changing. Amazon opened its site to independent sellers, while eBay’s auction model is running into problems with fee-fatigued sellers and buyers wary of fraud and counterfeit items, said Stone.

The latest audience figures from Nielsen Online confirm that the e-commerce traffic pattern is changing. In December, for the first time, more Americans clicked on Amazon.com (59,624,000) than eBay (59,374,000).

According to the Nielsen data, the number of visitors to eBay.com dropped 10 percent from December 2006 to December 2007. EBay.com still leads Amazon.com in the number of page views it gets and the amount of time users spend on the service.

According to Nielsen, US visitors to Amazon.com jumped 18 percent from December 2006 to December 2007.

DeGeneres tops Winfrey as favorite TV personality
Ellen DeGeneres ousted Oprah Winfrey as favorite television personality. DeGeneres went from the No. 8 spot last year to push Winfrey into second place. Winfrey held the Harris Poll's favorite television stars list for five consecutive years.

DeGeneres stirred an outpouring of public support last year when she sobbed on TV over a puppy she adopted that was taken back by an animal rescue group after she gave it to her hairstylist's family without the agency's permission.

Late night TV host Jay Leno, British actor Hugh Laurie and comedian Jon Stewart were also on top of the list. DeGeneres was the favorite of women in the online poll but men opted for Leno.

"Even among women there is a difference of opinion as single women say Ellen is their favorite while married women pick Oprah," according to Harris. Winfrey also tops among baby boomers questioned in the survey.

Reuters

Luxury Loses Steam as December Comps Fall
Amid fears of a recession, the U.S. luxury market is showing signs of slowing as December same-store sales declined 5.4 percent in the department store sector, and total sales shed 6.5 percent year over year.

Nordstrom reported a 4 percent decline in same-store sales. Saks, up against difficult comparisons last year and over the last few months, reported a 0.8 percent gain. However, Saks beat expectations of a 1.5 percent decline. Macy’s fell 7.9 percent and Neiman Marcus reported a 2.9 percent increase in December same-store sales. The store had been reporting comparable-store sales between 4 and 8 percent over the last six months.

Moderate department stores also fell. J.C. Penney and Kohl’s declined 7.5 and 0.7 percent, respectively.

As anticipated, most retailers reported comps for December that declined or missed expectations. Twenty-seven of the 40 retailers tracked by WWD reported negative same-store sales for the month.

The mass merchant sector was the exception, with all but one retailer — Stein Mart — posting positive same-store sales. Overall, the sector posted a 1.1 percent increase. Wal-Mart reported a 2.6 percent boost, beating expectations.

The specialty sector dropped 3 percent. Only a handful of retailers were on the positive side. Aeropostale and Buckle reported comps growth of 12.2 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively. The department store sector took the biggest hit, declining 6.3 percent overall.

THE SCOOP ON JUNK EMAIL- WHAT DOES THE CONSUMER SAY?
A significant percentage of consumers noted a surge in promotional e-mail in their inboxes this year and considered much of it to be “junk,” according to Return Path.

Almost one in four, or 24.1%, of consumers surveyed by Return Path said they received much more than a manageable amount of e-mail each day during the 2007 holiday shopping season compared to the previous year. Another 13% said they received so much more, it was overwhelming.

At the same time, more than half of respondents, or 56.4%, said they receive a lot of “junk” from marketers, defined as “e-mail from companies I know but that is just not interesting to me.”

An alarming percentage of consumers surveyed by Return Path, or 22.3%, said they handled the increase of e-mails this holiday season by reporting the sender as a spammer to their ISPs. However, this figure is down from 26.6% in 2006 and 33.6% in 2005.

Also, 45.6% said they simply deleted the additional e-mails and 41% said the increase had no impact on their regular e-mail habits, according to Return Path.

Also, just over 20% said they’d opened e-mails because of a free-shipping offer, and 23.1% cited discounts as a reason to open, according to Return Path.

On a disappointing note, just 29.1% of respondents said they took advantage of e-mail offers this holiday season, down from 49.1% in 2006 and 50.2% in 2005, according to Return Path.

However, 92% of respondents said commercial e-mail had some sort of impact on their holiday shopping habits, including 24.1% who said they used e-mail for comparison shopping, 20.3% who said they used e-mail as a guide but already knew their favorite sites, 18.9% who said they used e-mail for gift ideas, and 15.1% said they used e-mail when visiting the sender’s store.

ARE YOU COMING TO MIAMI ANYTIME SOON – THEN CHECK OUT GRILLFISH RESTAURANT
We found a great seafood restaurant that has all the makings of a real food find. It’s also a place that rarely makes the celebrity style pages, but makes top grades for food and its authentic cozy atmosphere. You will feel like you’re on a Greek or Italian vacation while you’re there, and you’ll get to choose from a large selection of seafood, pasta and luscious desserts.

If you want to stimulate your endorphins check out their Cheesecake Brulee with butterscotch caramel crust or warm chocolate lava cake with ice cream. Let me tell you this is one place you don’t want to miss.

If you like fish (it’s one of the best ways to stay healthy and get energy) check out their mahi mahi, Wahoo, Monkfish Marsala and fried calamari.

If you want to know what good food tastes like without breaking the bank, check out this place at 1444 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach – 305-538-9908, grillfish.com.

And the best part – they’ll treat you nicely and you won’t have to cash a treasury bond to cover the cost. See you there!

VALNENTINO SAYS GOODBYE – A GREAT DESIGNER BIDS ADEIU
Italian Couture designer Valentino bid farewell to fashion after a stellar 45-year career.

“I must leave a souvenir to all of my friends of something to remember, not five seconds of show,” he said of his 75 piece couture collection, which will parade under the vaulted ceilings of a giant tent in the gardens of the Musée Rodin.

“I really enjoyed very, very much making this collection and, on purpose, I decided to make it a little bit bigger. So for my last show my guests can be seated maybe 15 minutes longer than usual.”

“Very happy, not sad at all,” he replied when asked about the mood he’s after for his final show, to be attended by Uma Thurman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler and Elizabeth Hurley. “It’s a happy collection. It’s not a collection with tears in between.”

The designer and his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, spoke about their lives after retirement. “We end a cycle in our life and a new one is starting. I am especially happy because I leave one very happy career, a career that gave me a lot.”

From WWD.