Mediaboss Marketing

More retail franchises are closing stores across Canada - from Zellers to Payless to Rona, and the list goes on.

Martin Qiu is an Associate Professor of Marketing with Wilfrid Laurier University and appeared on Kitchener Today with Brian Bourke on 570 NEWS.

He said the biggest threat comes from internet retailers - although it affects stores differently.

"If you look at business - department stores and their parent stores take the biggest hit. But we've seen some low-end, bargain stores are actually thriving. But for those middle-range, middle-priced level stores .. they are suffering and that's not surprising."

Qiu added it's not all about price, it also depends on the category.

You may still notice foot traffic in a lot of stores, but that doesn't mean people are buying things.

"They're treating it more like 'showrooms'. People go to brick and mortar stores to try on things - but will then buy it online at a lower price."

While service retailers are unlikely to feel the pinch, this culture of convenience is having a big impact on mom-and-pop shops.

However, Qiu said there are things small businesses can do.

"Make sure you have your own online store. Drive customers in-store to try on things, and then direct them online to buy it. Merchandise retailers need to find their niche and they need to have relationship marketing with their customers. They have to work harder to create a bond with their target customers."

Qiu said the technological age could actually benefit malls.

"Traditional retailers could benefit from this widespread usage of smartphones. If customers are encouraged to download an app and hear about promotions or receive coupons. It makes this strategy of marketing more interesting and more complicated."

Unless you have a time machine, Qiu said there's no way to shift back to the old retail template.

"In the U.S., a lot of shopping centres are being abandoned or converted into something else. The business models of shopping centres doesn't really work these days."

Looking to the future, Qiu said he believes we'll see more and more traditional stores disappear, and there will continue to be an increase in online shopping and marketing through smartphones.

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Local expert weighs in on changing retail landscape - KitchenerToday.com

Trivera InteractiveN88 W16447 Main St., Suite 200Neighborhood: Downtown Menomonee FallsFounded: 1996Owners: Tom SnyderEmployees: 13Service: Digital marketing

Whats the history of Trivera and this office location?

Snyder: We have been a website development firm since 1996, back in the days when people didnt really know what the internet was. And weve been in various locations in Menomonee Falls and Germantown, but in this location for 10 years this January. Its a 125-year-old mill building and it has a lot of character. When we had the opportunity to consider this location, I didnt need to be convinced.

Who are your clients?

Mitchell Airport has been a client of ours for 20 of our 23 years. MMSD (Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District), Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, Rogers Behavioral Health, Strattec Security Corp. We also do some work for nonprofits.

What is it like to work in your office?

People can pick their own start and end times and work from home. Most still prefer to come here because the office is cool and to collaborate with other team members Honestly, its helped stunt our growth but weve always wanted to focus on a great work-life balance, so we try to make sure our team isnt putting in more than 40 hours a week.

How has the neighborhood changed?

Downtown Menomonee Falls has experienced a kind of rebirth. We have a really strong downtown business improvement district board. They made the decision to redo the streets downtown and added bump-outs so restaurants could get outside seating, huge planters, hanging baskets and they do live music events now Its become a real vibrant community.

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In the Neighborhood: Trivera Interactive - BizTimes - Milwaukee Business News

The enterprise software industry is a river of constant change. New development methodologies, changing approaches to platform mechanics and the continual enhancement of existing toolsets and functions mean that were always looking to better the innovations of the last 12 months with increased power and functionality.

Good software vendors are very transparent about their immediate future roadmaps. This helps customers plan their upgrade paths and predict their own commercial development roadmaps.

Traditionally then, given this constant drive to improve, the end of the year has always served as a fitting time to lay down some informed conjecture detailing the most likely areas for development going forward. So what can we expect from technology and software in 2020?

In terms of key trends and game changers, lets consider the fact that weve been able to encapsulate a good deal of the internal mechanics of software engineering and present them in the form of low-code/no-code tools. These technologies allow us to condense the guts of coding into an abstracted upper layer. Users can drag-and-drop or use natural human language commands to create varying degrees of functionality.

This revelation in coding allows non-technical, or at least less technical,users to bring software functions together and create business applications without taking a degree course in software engineering.

The rise of low-code/no-code is significant for a number of reasons. First, the planet doesnt have enough developers to keep pace with the demand for enterprise software, so giving business professionals the ability to create applications even of the most basic form is fundamentally important. Second, this development means we can free up our software engineers to work on new and emerging innovations in areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, perhaps soon,quantum computing that offers the potential to process exponentially more data compared to classical computers.

Looking forward into 2020 and beyond, we will see that low-code/no-code has lowered the barrier to entry for creating applications. The challenge now is getting users to physically put their hands on a keyboard and start touching these tools. Its like DIY, once you pick up a toolbox and get your hands dirty, you realise how much you can achieve.

Things are changing in business value metrics too. When we look at the union of developers and operations inside DevOps, our focus over the last decade has been mostly dedicated to increasing development and deployment velocity. Forrester however predicts that business value will now overtake velocity as a favoured DevOps metric.

So value today doesnt just mean money and financial terms of trade anymore. It means value in terms of how fast a business can change and adapt. It also means how much value you have delivered to your customer. Some measures of new value will be quantitative measures that we can track quite accurately, but others will be qualitative and much harder to track based on a measure of sentiment and human feeling.

While were on human emotive experiences, lets consider the fact that, slightly paradoxically, the rise of AI will allow us to be more human. As we apply AI-based efficiencies to an increasing number of workplace tasks, we are able to take a hands-off approach to many of the repeatable and definable tasks that AI is so good at shouldering.

We will witness a positive development in the number of human touch jobs and roles. Technology analysts suggest that masseurs sports, therapeutic or the more exotic kind will be the last people to ever see their jobs changing due to AI robots. But other human touch roles will also flourish. Jobs that need human empathy, intuition and randomness of thought will be able to grow and develop.

What all this means is that we will be able to apply more of our own individual humanistic approach to the way we carry out work. Work itself will become more experiential and less like a collection of tasks that need to be checked off. This will allow us more time to do a better job for any given task. If were baking a cake, it will be richer, more lustrous, and with extra toppings.

Conveniently for those who wish to jump on the marketing tagline opportunity, 2020 will be the year of 20:20 software. This term describes software applications and services that have a clear vision for which data sources they need to be connected to ensure that timely information gets to the right place for business decisions to be made.

The rise of 20:20 software gives us the chance to get a new and much more accurate view of what resources we need in line with own personal work tasks. This allows us to focus on the things that really add value to the business. There is a natural hierarchy here as task alignment for individuals becomes connected intelligence for teams, then departments and then entire businesses. What used to be top-down management now becomes a user-first bottom-up growth cycle where creativity is championed from the start.

So will we still be talking about digital transformation in 2020? Yes, of course we will. But 2020 will really be the year that the rubber hits the road. Now that so many businesses have made significant moves to cloud platforms and services, we can start to learn more from best practices and, crucially, shared practices to make work and life better for everyone.

Link:
The road ahead for software in 2020 - Diginomica

Do you want to know how to play Windows games on Mac?

Gaming is becoming a more acceptable pastime nowadays. This is because the gaming industry is changing and becoming a viable career path. Most people try to cash in on the gaming industry by playing popular competitive games for hours every day.

Mac had compatibility issues before that prevented people from running popular games. Fortunately, there are ways that allow you to play Windows games on Macs now, though. Read on to learn how you can run these high-end games on a high-end device.

If you want to learn how to play Windows games on Mac, installing software that allows you to access them is the first step. These are the best applications used to run games on Mac. They also have different qualities to serve different purposes.

Wine is the best software for its cost. The way the software works is by adding an extra interface on your Mac. The interface instructs your device to allow you to run Windows applications.

Instead of getting an error message like usual, youre able to run the programs that only Windows devices could before. This is how emulators work on a PC.

Whats great about Wine is that you can try it on your device for free. This makes you sure about your experience before buying the program.

Wine is too technical, though. People often have a hard time understanding Wines interface. This puts people off and makes them get another program.

It also doesnt help that Wine isnt compatible with most games. It often takes time for developers to make a game compatible with Wine. If you plan on playing the latest games, youre better off getting another program on our list.

This is the best option if you have a large library of games available on any of the popular game hosting platforms. GeForce Now enables your Mac to connect to popular platforms like Steam or Battle.net. It does this with the help of Nvidias connections across Europe.

The program uses the existing Nvidia connections to provide a fast streaming connection to its users. It also uses the help of Nvidias cloud storage to allow users to play their games in an instant.

The system streams and stores your game data in seconds. This makes it possible for you to play your game as soon as you download it. It also optimizes your game for streaming, making the best video quality its default.

The only problem with GeForce is that you have to be online while youre using it. Losing connection while youre playing stops the program and the application. You also need a fast internet connection to make GeForce worth your while.

If subscription-based services are your cup of tea, then get Shadow for your Mac. This software provides your Mac with a full copy of Windows 10. This means you will be sure your Mac can run all the games available for Windows.

Shadow also proves to be a cost-effective software to use. It gives your Mac a 4K display resolution and a frame rate of 60fps. It also gives you free upgrades as technology improves.

The only problem with Shadow is its price. Its pricey for a subscription service. They back it up with their impressive services, though.

If youre looking for a cheaper alternative to Shadow, then Boot Camp is the software for you. This allows you to install a copy of Windows 10 to your Mac. The best part is that it does this for free.

This means youll also be able to run other programs that enable you to play games on Windows, such as emulators and virtual consoles. Doing this means you can even play old console games from your childhood on the Mac.

The only issue with Boot Camp is that it takes up more space. This is because it will also save a copy of Windows 10 on your hard drive. This makes it harder for you to install big games on your Mac.

Another option is to run virtualization software on your Mac. Virtualization software allows you to run Windows and macOS at the same time. Switching between the different operating systems will be possible through this.

Windows Virtual Machine is a great software to do this. The intuitive software allows you to launch any Windows 10 app you like. It also doesnt take up space as Boot Camp does.

The limitation with this is the performance of your programs. Virtualization runs 2 operating systems at the same time. This means it also takes up processing power.

This method limits you to your devices performance power. Low spec devices cannot use Windows programs to their fullest.

You can install add-ons, though. Items like the Razer Core X help your Mac become a better gaming device. This comes at an extra cost, but it can help you save on getting a new Mac.

If you already have a powerful PC at your disposal, then you can use that to run your games on your Mac. You can do this with Steam In-Home Streaming. The software uses the processing power of your PC to run the games.

You can then play your games on your Mac as the software streams to it. This makes it so you can have any setup you want.

You also need not worry about storage space when using the software. Youll be using the storage spaces of 2 devices when running this setup.

This also means you dont overwork your Mac. Using the processing power of your PC instead of the Mac means it will stay cool while you play.

Now that you know how to run Windows games on a Mac, here are the best games to play.

Minecrafts popularity remained steady ever since its release. It peaked when a popular internet celebrity played it. Now, it has a large community and new updates to keep everyone playing the game interested.

The premise of the game is simple. You need to survive with the tools you start with, your bare hands. Your goal will depend on how you want to play the game.

You can be a builder who creates magnificent structures to live in. You can also be an adventurer, hopping from area to area and surviving on what you can find.

Most people find that exploring this generated world is addicting. This makes them play it for hours without even realizing it. This makes it the perfect game for your Mac since its simplistic graphics wont overwork your device.

Fortnite became the most-watched game on Twitch, the most popular streaming service. This is because of its appealing graphics and high-skill gameplay. Knowing how to play Fortnite on Mac will let you know why everyone loves the game.

The battle-royal type shooting game is perfect for you if you want a fast-paced game. Its also among the most competitive games today. Playing this on your Mac will be a great way to practice if you want to become a professional gamer.

If you want a more strategic team game, then you should consider League of Legends. This game is the perfect balance between competitive and casual gaming. The game is easy to learn and is fun with friends.

What makes it better is that League of Legends is free to play. There are cosmetic items that cost you real money, but you can unlock them through the games orange essence system.

South Korean gamers consider this game to be their national sport because of how popular it is. You play as one of three races in this game. The Terran, Protoss, and Zerg factions have unique structures and units for you to control.

They also have different play styles. This makes it feel like a new game every time you choose a different faction.

The game is perfect for you if you enjoy planning your moves and managing your in-game economy. It also has a campaign mode with a great story for you to learn the lore of the game.

If you enjoy single-player games that make you think, then this may suit you better. Slay the Spire is a card-based game that relies on deck building and lucky draws. Its also a part of the rogue-like subgenre.

This means that having the game beat you is a normal occurrence. With each failed run, you understand the game better and you get stronger cards to use.

While the game demands a certain level of thinking, theres no beating the feeling of pulling a victory from the clutches of defeat when you get lucky and draw the right card for the situation.

You need not get a PC for yourself to play games anymore. Learn how to play Windows games on Mac today and run your games there instead!

Running games on Mac is only the start. There are a ton of other important things to learn if you want to get the most out of your Mac. Weve got you covered with more guides right here, so feel free to check them out today!

Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. Frankly and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact pressreleases@franklymedia.com

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How to Play Windows Games on Mac - KAKE

Broadly speaking, profitable businesses are less risky than unprofitable ones. That said, the current statutory profit is not always a good guide to a companys underlying profitability. Today well focus on whether this years statutory profits are a good guide to understanding Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB).

We like the fact that Blackbaud made a profit of US$19.9m on its revenue of US$883.8m, in the last year. The chart below shows how it has grown revenue over the last three years, but that profit has declined.

See our latest analysis for Blackbaud

NasdaqGS:BLKB Income Statement, December 20th 2019

Importantly, statutory profits are not always the best tool for understanding a companys true earnings power, so its well worth examining profits in a little more detail. Therefore, we think its worth taking a closer look at Blackbauds cashflow, as well as examining the impact that unusual items have had on its reported profit. That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

One key financial ratio used to measure how well a company converts its profit to free cash flow (FCF) is the accrual ratio. In plain english, this ratio subtracts FCF from net profit, and divides that number by the companys average operating assets over that period. This ratio tells us how much of a companys profit is not backed by free cashflow.

Therefore, its actually considered a good thing when a company has a negative accrual ratio, but a bad thing if its accrual ratio is positive. That is not intended to imply we should worry about a positive accrual ratio, but its worth noting where the accrual ratio is rather high. Thats because some academic studies have suggested that high accruals ratios tend to lead to lower profit or less profit growth.

For the year to September 2019, Blackbaud had an accrual ratio of -0.13. Therefore, its statutory earnings were quite a lot less than its free cashflow. To wit, it produced free cash flow of US$129m during the period, dwarfing its reported profit of US$19.9m. Blackbaud did see its free cash flow drop year on year, which is less than ideal, like a Simpsons episode without Groundskeeper Willie.

Having said that, there is more to the story. We can see that unusual items have impacted its statutory profit, and therefore the accrual ratio.

Blackbauds profit was reduced by unusual items worth US$8.7m in the last twelve months, and this helped it produce high cash conversion, as reflected by its unusual items. This is what youd expect to see where a company has a non-cash charge reducing paper profits. Its never great to see unusual items costing the company profits, but on the upside, things might improve sooner rather than later. We looked at thousands of listed companies and found that unusual items are very often one-off in nature. And, after all, thats exactly what the accounting terminology implies. If Blackbaud doesnt see those unusual expenses repeat, then all else being equal wed expect its profit to increase over the coming year.

Considering both Blackbauds accrual ratio and its unusual items, we think its statutory earnings are unlikely to exaggerate the companys underlying earnings power. Based on these factors, we think Blackbauds earnings potential is at least as good as it seems, and maybe even better! Ultimately, this article has formed an opinion based on historical data. However, it can also be great to think about what analysts are forecasting for the future. So feel free to check out our free graph representing analyst forecasts.

Our examination of Blackbaud has focussed on certain factors that can make its earnings look better than they are. And it has passed with flying colours. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to follow the money and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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Heres Why Blackbauds (NASDAQ:BLKB) Statutory Earnings Are Arguably Too Conservative - Simply Wall St