From a database of nearly 21 million companies reviewed by Entrepreneur magazine and research provider CentrisPoint, 2Checkout.com was distinguished as one of the nation’s Hot 100 fast-growth businesses. 2Checkout.com ranks #37 overall, #2 with sale totals of 213 million, and is the only e-commerce business to make the list at all! The Hot 100 ranking appears in the May issue of Entrepreneur, on newsstands April 22.

Of the nearly 21 million companies on the preliminary list, only 0.3% made the first cut, and just a fraction of those made it to the Hot 100, including 2Checkout.com.

“This year’s Hot 100 listing reveals the shining stars continuing to drive the nation’s economy forward,” says Karen Axelton, executive editor of Entrepreneur. “These companies, and the entrepreneurs who built them, are making a major impact on the economy with their revenue and the new jobs they create as a result of their growth. The innovation, persistence and passion they demonstrate in industries across the board are vital to the nation’s success as a whole.”

Entrepreneur magazine’s 14th consecutive ranking of America’s top fast-growth companies revealed businesses with total combined revenue of $4.6 billion in 2007. The Hot 100 are expected to employ more than 15,000 individuals by 2009, an increase from a total of 517 employees on their first day of business. And of the companies ranked, 91 offer employees health insurance, 73 provide retirement funds, 42 offer tuition reimbursement and 40 offer flextime.

Click here to see our entry in this year’s Top 100.

Now, a new group of online shoppers is growing — The Baby Boomers.

1 in 4 Americans is over 50. This is a market of 76 million Baby Boomers. Every time this generation moves into a market, they dominate it. This generation sent housing prices soaring in the 1970s and 1980s.

While a large part of this demographic is already shopping online, I believe that we have yet to see the greatest push. When the kids move out and the house is paid off, it’s time to start shopping. As more and more baby boomer’s head toward and enter into retirement, online sales will increase.

My own parents are in this generation. Before this past year, my parents never even touched a computer, but now they buy everything online. I have been amazed at how in the last year they have become online shoppers. All of my mother’s Christmas shopping was done online last year.

So how do we market to the baby boomer generation?

I found a great article posted on sba.gov entitled Reaching the Nation’s Mature Market. Here are a few ideas from the article:

• Products should be well designed with broad applicability.
• “The key to success,” claims industrial designer Jim Mueller, “is to produce products flexible enough to be useful for older people and those with disabilities as well as the general population, resulting in products with wide appeal.”
• Don’t assume that 50-plus customers are recalcitrant and brand loyal. According to Rick Adler, “All the studies indicate that mature consumers are as likely, if not more likely, to switch for value.”
• Get 50-plus consumers involved in your sales and marketing. Have them sell, do customer service, and provide insights on how best to appeal to this diverse group. Keep in mind that the generation that said “don’t trust anyone over 30?” is now saying “don’t trust anyone under 30?” and may very well soon be saying “don’t trust anyone under 50.”

Also, I would like your input, what’s the best way to reach this generation? Feel free to post all of your input here.

References:

• Women and Over 55s Take Lead in Online Shopping
• U.S. Small Business Administration
• ThePrices.com
• Senior Marketing Facts

The article, “Texas mulls bill that would make PCI requirements a state law,” states:

The state’s House of Representatives last week voted 139-0 in favor of a bill that would formally codify PCI requirements into a state law that merchants would be obliged to comply with if passed. Under HB 3222 a breached entity will have to reimburse banks and credit unions the cost associated with blocking and reissuing cards if the merchant was not PCI compliant at the time of the compromise.

Personally, I view a unanimous vote proof that this legislative body is doing more than mulling a legal shift in liability to merchants of the State of Texas. Unless this legislation runs into unexpected opposition in the State Senate then law it will become.

More research will need to be conducted but one telling feature of this legislation would appear to be that, unlike the credit card associations’ data security standard, this law doesn’t permit any relaxation of liability standards for smaller vendors.

According to the language of the bill, “A business that, in the regular course of business, collects, maintains, or stores sensitive personal information in connection with an access device must comply with payment card industry data security standards.”

If you have your own merchant account and have not been contacted by your ISO in regard to PCI compliance certification now might be a good time to give your account representative a call. The card associations’ standards (and the expenses that go with them) increase with the number of transactions a merchant handles per card type in any given year. Look for Texas to be only the first State to go this route. The author notes that Massachusetts saw similar legislation introduced earlier this year. It is probably a sure bet that the associations are lobbying in many (if not all) States and, possibly, abroad as well, for similar legislation to be enacted.

2Checkout was proud to be among the first CNP retailers to meet the original PCI compliance deadline. Our vendors can consider their 2Checkout arrangement to be a PCI compliance alternative.

Baby Boomers were born between 1946-1964. Of course not all of them will be able to retire, a lot of them will have to keep working at least part time for financial reasons.

The next generation to try to fill the demand of the lost skilled workers will be Generation X, born between 1965-1976. The Society for Human Resource Management estimates there will be about 48 million Gen. X’ers that will try to fill these positions, but with huge skill gaps. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 60% of all future jobs require training that only 20% of current workers possess. Besides that scary statistic, what makes Generation X nervous is Generation Y coming into the work place.

Generation Y were born between 1977-1997. The Society for Human Resource Management says that 80 Million of them will be more educated in the more desirable positions that the baby boomers are leaving behind. This generation may not have the work place experiences under their belt, but they do possess knowledge and the ability to learn new things and put them into action.

Generation Y has the potential to significantly shape the work place over the next decade. They have grown up in an environment more diverse than previous generations ever could imagine. 39% of this generation have different racial or ethnic backgrounds. For employers the diverse experiences and cultures of Generation Y may smooth the differences in the work place – reducing discrimination claims.

This is also a group that grew up with email not U.S. Mail. Generation Y is more comfortable with technologically advanced products and services. This generation is enormously optimistic, educated, energetic and compassionate and they will be in high demand.

So, for the remaining baby boomers and Gen. X’ers we will have to accept all the differences and embrace the challenges the Generation Y will be bringing to the work place.