Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
MEGA Group USA to Unveil New Web Program at Convention
February 28,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 1, 2011
Home furnishings buying consortium MEGA Group USA will launch new Web site programs for members its National Convention in San Antonio, March 10-13.
This convention is the first of 2011 and will be hosted at the Grand Hyatt on the Riverwalk. The second is set for August 25-28 in Nashville, Tenn.
At the San Antonio convention, MEGA Group USA will unveil its WebFronts Premium Web site program. WebFronts Basic was first introduced in 2007 by MEGA Group USA to give members a customized Web site with e-commerce capabilities. With more than 80 percent of consumers searching online first before making a purchase, it is vital for every store to have a Web presence. MEGA's WebFronts program is designed to give members that capability and compete online with the big box retailers cost effectively.
This year, MEGA Group USA is taking WebFronts Basic to a higher level by offering the two-tier Premium package. The Premium Package is highly customized and features unlimited product catalog capabilities, advanced merchandising, price tools, unlimited shopping cart, advanced SEO techniques, automated rebate center and product comparison capabilities.
"We are excited to officially introduce this new website program to our members in San Antonio," said Scott McFarland, Director of IT for MEGA Group USA. WebFronts is available to our members in all categories--furniture, bedding, appliances, electronics and lawn and garden. We already have the Premium Package live with a few of our members and they are experiencing an increase in traffic to their site and store.
"One of the reasons we are different from other buying groups is our passion to stay abreast of leading-edge technologies and constantly bring our members the latest in web-based and social media programs," said Rick Bellows, president of MEGA Group USA. "WebFronts Premium gives our members a powerful presence online that competes with any large retailer in the market. Members simply wont be able to get this type of technology and web presence this cost efficient on their own."
MEGA Group USA will open the Convention in San Antonio on Thursday, March 10, with a golf tournament for participating members, followed that evening by a welcome reception.
Friday, March 11, kicks off educational seminars and workshops aimed at helping members run their business more successfully. Sessions will include:
* Appliance, Electronic and Furniture State of the Industry Insights and Reviews
* Web site and Social Media workshops
* Seminars on Disaster Recovery, Color Trends, Product Protection and Insurance Services
* Advertising and marketing training and planning
* Financial guidance and planning sessions
"We have found this day of workshops and training to be the most popular day of our conventions," said Bellows. "In this challenging retail environment, members have so little time to stay abreast of latest happenings and trends. Attending these workshops gives them additional insights and knowledge they need to run their business more successfully."
The Convention's show will open Saturday, March 12, after featured key note speaker Scott Deming delivers a powerful talk on how to bring customer service back to life. For 30 years, Deming has been a motivational speaker, author and consultant who has helped small business to multi-national corporations develop smart and effective sales training, marketing and planning techniques that positively impact the bottom line.
MEGA Group USA reports more thab 800 members registered and more than 85 vendors exhibiting at the show. The show will be open all day Saturday, March 12, and until noon on Sunday, March 13. The show provides members the ideal setting to purchase product for their showrooms and take advantage of "show specials" MEGA offers.