As you've probably heard by now, Amazon purchased Zappos.com for approximately $850 million. I read a copy of the email that the CEO, Tony Hsieh, sent to his staff informing them of the acquisition in the Wall Street Journal last week. It was so well-written and inspiring that I've been thinking about it ever since.

Here are three core business principles I was reminded of when reading his letter:

1. Consistent communication is critical (especially during uncertain times)—it's very important to communicate to the team where your company is headed and how it's going to get there. By doing this you reassure them that there is a plan in place and a goal for measuring success.

2. An inspirational message goes a long way in motivating the team—the letter is so upbeat and positive that as I read it I became convinced that the merger is a huge opportunity for Zappos. Frequent, inspiring messages through staff meetings motivate a team to top performance.

3. Establishing core values and promoting them to the team gives everyone a foundation upon which to make decisions—Even as a small business owner you can create a list of three to five core values, the values upon which the attitude and character of your organization are based. After you post them on the wall, the team (including yourself) can use them as a guideline in all aspects of running the business.

Below is an excerpt from the letter…

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009
From: Tony Hsieh (CEO - Zappos.com)
To: All Zappos Employees
Subject: Zappos and Amazon

Please set aside 20 minutes to carefully read this entire email. (My apologies for the occasional use of formal-sounding language, as parts of it are written in a particular way for legal reasons.)

Today is a big day in Zappos history.

This morning, our board approved and we signed what’s known as a “definitive agreement”, in which all of the existing shareholders and investors of Zappos (there are over 100) will be exchanging their Zappos stock for Amazon stock. Once the exchange is done, Amazon will become the only shareholder of Zappos stock.

Over the next few days, you will probably read headlines that say "Amazon acquires Zappos" or "Zappos sells to Amazon". While those headlines are technically correct, they don't really properly convey the spirit of the transaction. (I personally would prefer the headline “Zappos and Amazon sitting in a tree…”)

For the complete letter, please check out the Zappos blog.

I was reading an interesting study conducted by MailChimp.com (an email marketing company) where they analyzed over 40 million emails and identified the subject lines with the highest open rates (60%-87%). Here are three interesting observations I made from the study:

1. The subject line should describe the subject of your email—don't try to disguise the message you're sending. Don't confuse enewsletters with promotions or vice versa—the best subject lines tell the readers what's inside.

2. Use your company name in the subject line—of the top 20 emails (in terms of open rates), 18 of them used the company name in the headline. People will open an email from a company they trust and/or want to receive more information from.

3. The "best" subject lines are straightforward—they aren't too "salesy" or pushy. Stay away from subject lines that read like an advertisement. Unless, your subscribers opted-in to receive "special offers and promotions" from your company. Then there would be nothing wrong with saying "A special coupon" or "offer" inside. (Be sure you watch out for those spam trigger words.)

If you're interested in learning more about best practices and what works in email marketing, I hope you can join me at the New York Gift Show on Monday, August 17th, at my session, "Create Your Own Strong Economy: Use Email Marketing to Power Your Sales." Click here to register for the session.

M. Bagwell
M. Bagwell just launched an adorable line for kids at the show. The items were created from their top selling designs in their ceramic collection and include onesies, burp pads, t-shirts and aprons. I loved the colorful, coastal-inspired images and the price points are very reasonable. (They also launched an adorable children's holiday collection.)

LayQil!
This new company, who launched at the show, is offering changeable pendant necklaces. There are three chains in sterling silver to choose from and 40 pendant styles. The pendants are magnetic and snap into place, allowing for several new looks. The wholesaler suggests you give away a free pendant with purchase of any necklace (the necklaces range in price from $17-$23 wholesale). The pendants are $8-$13 wholesale.

Mud Pie
I had the oppotunity to preview Mud Pie's new product additions when I stopped by the OneCoast showroom. Their new Santa Baby socks, which wholesale for $2.75/pair, are the perfect impulse for near the register. The adorable, monogrammable Christmas stockings caught my eye as well—monogramming is a hot trend right now.

Cloud b
Cloud b offers products that are designed to help children sleep and they just created a new, soy-based plush animal called, "Polar Cuddle Club." A free story accompanies each animal to educate children about polar bears, and each bear comes with its own adoption certificate. (Plus a percentage of the proceeds goes to Conservation International.)

Today's guest post is from Dorothy Belshaw, Director, New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®)

Luckily for the gift industry, people continue to have birthdays, graduate, get married and have kids during an economic downturn. But, increasingly there is a change in the kind of gifts consumers are buying. They’re being more prudent, but they’re not compromising on style.

We’re calling this trend "frugal chic" – embracing simplicity and making it hip – and we've devoted one of three summer ’09 newsletters at NYNow to this topic.

Designers and manufacturers have introduced new, sophisticated and stylish products to the market with low to moderate price points. Buyers who attend NYIGF (August 15-20, at NYC’s Javits Center and Pier 94) will find an incredible breadth and depth of products from over 2,900 companies, and more than enough “frugal chic” resources to please their price-conscious customers.

Here are some of my favorite “frugal chic” finds – all priced at or under $20:

Aunt Sadie's
Candles are a recession-proof gift category, and Aunt Sadie’s produces one of the least expensive U.S.-manufactured candles in the marketplace. With more than 300 label designs, they have whatever look your customers go for. They use high-grade, biodegradable paraffin, lead-free wicks and true-to-life fragrances which burn for 70+ hours. Suggested retail price: $17 each. NYIGF division: General Gift

Lothantique Inc.
Another sure sale? Upscale soap lines, because consumers are treating themselves to affordable luxuries. Lothantique just launched two brand new collections of pure vegetable, hard-milled bar soaps made in France and enriched with natural shea butter. Bouquet de Lili is a lush, feminine fragrance of white flowers; Mas de Verveines is a fresh, green scent of lemon gardens. Suggested retail price: $7/100G cube, $13/300G cube. NYIGF division: EX·TRACTS®

Two's Company
Proving it's hip to "go green,” Two's Company is offering these recycled tin cuff bracelets in four different, yet recognizable styles, in a combination of aluminum and brass. I love Two’s Company's commitment to moderate pricing on innovative products. Suggested retail price: $10 each. NYIGF division: General Gift

Wooster & Prince Papers
Anything with an “old world” aesthetic automatically boosts its "chic" rating. The Italian-inspired motifs make these paper portfolios of eight folded notecards and envelopes really stand out. These sets are nicely coordinated, with envelopes printed in a solid color exterior, and a coordinating interior pattern.  (Shown: “In Town”) Suggested retail price: $9.95/ set of 8. NYIGF division: STUDIO™

The BaSIX and Beyond™
During times like these, products which alleviate stress, reduce tension and help soothe frayed nerves do especially well. These “agoodnightkiss®” bath teas elevate the bathing experience with the calming properties of natural aromatic herbs. Each bio-degradable tub tea bag is pre-mixed and pre-measured with essential oils and certified organic botanicals. There are 11 different blends, including Passionflower, Cilantro Apple and New York City Chai. Suggested retail price: $20 each. NYIGF division: General Gift

Visit NYIGF to see these “frugal chic” products, and thousands more! Visit NYIGF.com for information and registration.

I just returned home from the AmericasMart Atlanta Gift Show, and while traffic was down (noticeably down from the January Atlanta show), many exhibitors told me that sales were going well because retailers are making quicker buying decisions. In the past, many retailers would spend the first day or two looking around, and not making buying decisions until day two or three. In our "new" economy, retailers are shortening their market days, and making their visit as effective as possible.

While there I had an interesting conversation with a retailer who serves on our advisory board, Patti Harbin of In-Courage. I asked her what her goal was during the show—to find new products, re-order best sellers or a combination of the two. She told me that her main goal was to find new products. She said she can re-order strong selling products from her store, but that the show represented an opportunity to get out and find fresh new merchandise.

Here are four fun products I found from the show:

Acacia Creations
This is a fabulous company that turns recycled paper into wearable art. The products all start with recycled magazines (or glossy color printed paper) that are hand-rolled into beads and finished with a clear varnish. The line includes necklaces, bracelets, lanyard keychains, earrings and packets of beads for your customers to make their own jewelry. The beads are hand rolled in Uganda through a women's co-op using fair trade practices and the jewelry is then assembled in a workshop in Kenya where the workers are paid five times more than Kenya's national average.

Farmhouse Fresh
Farmhouse is a wonderful new bath and body company selling eight fragrances in a range of products, including body milk, moisturizer, body scrub, heel glaze and milk baths. All of the fragrances were absolutely delicious and the packaging was very well executed.

Switch Flops
Lindsay Phillips just launched a new shoe in her line called the Lindsay Phillps Ballet Flat. The shoe is available in three different colors (bronze, silver and black) and has twelve interchangeable snaps. Similar to the interchangeable velcro ribbons she sells with her flip flop collection, your customers can easily change their look by simply "snapping" on a new accessory to match their outfit. What I like about the product is that you can easily upsell your customers on additional snaps to vary the look of the shoes. The shoes are wholesaling for $32 and suggested retail prices is $64; the snaps are wholesaling at $5.50 with an $11 suggested retail price.

Plentiful Pantry
The Plentiful Pantry is a lovely gourmet company featuring a scrumptious pie line. Designed to be the perfect gift (or a splurge for yourself), you simply add a few ingredients to create the perfect pie. There are six pies available: pumpkin, apple crisp, cherry chocolate, peach, very berry and cherry. After sampling almost all of them I have to admit it was impossible to pick a favorite (but their top seller is pumpkin).

Today's guest post is from Poornima Apte, Editor-in-Chief of GIFT SHOP Magazine and Specialty Retail Report.

Around two weeks ago, my oldest daughter and I headed out to the local mall (Natick Collection) to find a precise shade of eye shadow for her dinner dance dress. Once she was done with that, we wandered over to her favorite store, American Eagle. We were just checking things out—not really planning on buying anything—but we ended up spending quite a bit. Why? The store's customer service was excellent.

First case in point: When my daughter went into the fitting room to try on a couple of shirts, the attendant told us he could get her the same shirts in other sizes if she needed them. All she had to do was press a bell on the wall. The message American Eagle was sending? “Don't abandon the shirt because looking for other sizes might be a chore. We'll do the legwork for you.” He also told “mom” to relax and enjoy five minutes to herself. Second case in point: The attendant noticed which shirts she picked up, and about five minutes later, he tossed my daughter a couple of lace tank tops that would match her shirts. We ended up buying those as well.

Here's what American Eagle did really well: They looked at things from the customer's point of view and designed a simple solution that worked. They probably found that many who tried on clothes abandoned them because they were too overwhelmed to go back out on the shop floor, find the right size and retry them on. Solution? “We’ll do that work for you—you, the customer, just stay right there and keep trying on new clothes (and buying them all).” As a mom I also appreciated not having to do that legwork myself.

Two days later, we decided to buy a last-minute gift for my younger daughter for her birthday. We bought her a video game online from Best Buy and decided to try out their “Pick up at Store” option. This was supposed to be a quick in-and-out. It wasn't. There was to be a separate line for the “Pick up at Store” option—there wasn’t. What’s worse, we were assigned to the returns line—which took forever. So while Best Buy's idea might be a good one, the follow-through fell short of expectations.

When it comes to customer service every detail counts, as these experiences demonstrate! There are lessons in here for every retailer.

How are you anticipating your customer's needs? Are you implementing ideas, making sure you have staff on hand for follow up and execution from top to bottom? Because if you do, you too might have customers wandering into your store and walking away with more purchases than they planned on.

Last weekend I went shopping with my six-year-old daughter, and she asked me why a store was selling lollipops near the cash register. I explained the concept of impulse buying and that got me thinking about how frustrated I get when retailers don't change out their cash register displays regularly. Every penny counts, especially if your store sales are down, so here are three suggestions for increasing impulse buys near the register:

1. Change your display every 30 days!
2. Add a small sign to suggestively sell the product (perhaps indicating where it was made, or by whom).
3. Test, test, test! Test different products and different price points to keep your customers interested.

The hiring process can be very daunting, and as I mentioned before, we're in the process of filling two positions and it's time consuming. But make sure you make the time, because if you don't, you won't be sure to hire the right person.

Here are five of the most common mistakes I see retailers make during the hiring process:

Mistake #1: The average store owner spends far too little time during the actual interview process. I'd recommend spending between two-three hours interviewing, because you need to hire the best possible employees for your store. Hiring mediocre employees can cost you thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Mistake #2: Asking potential candidates "leading" questions. There are many underlying reasons why employers ask leading questions ("We're looking for a great sales person. Do you think you excel in that area?"), but I suggest that retailers use behavioral interview questions. In this style of interviewing you're asking open-ended questions where job candidates give you specific examples of previous experience. This methodology is successful because past performance is usually the best indicator of future performance. When interviewees don't have previous experience in an area, or skills for a certain task, they are unable to give specific examples, signaling they may not be as strong as another candidate.

Mistake #3: Only using one source to find potential leads. I post our job openings in various newspapers (online and off), on Craigslist and on our website—then I conduct a paid search of resumes on Monster.com, ask our current employees for referrals of people they know who might be interested and sometimes even ask customers for suggestions. Through this multi-prong approach, I'm able to find a wide variety of candidates.

Mistake #4: Always check references and do a background check. When you're hiring for your store you should always run a background check and check references.

Mistake #5: Spending too much time talking and not enough enough time listening. As an enthusiastic store owner, it's easy to spend a lot of time talking about the position, why your store is unique and why you offer such a great work environment. While it "breaks the ice" for the employer to spend the first five to ten minutes giving a brief overview of the store, I'd suggest getting into the behavioral interviewing process very quickly. During that time, it's critical to really listen to what your candidates are saying and try to minimize "jumping in" while they are answering the question.

One last thing… I record most of the interviews we do on my iPhone (research has shown that interviewers only retain about 30% of what they hear)—it makes it helpful to go back and listen again, especially when you're trying to narrow the field of candidates.