Typing or talking to one person is fun and interesting, but for really good gossip, you need more than two people. Fortunately, the Internet offers limitless opportunities to find like-minded people and discuss anything you can imagine. Clubs, churches, and other groups use the Internet to hold meetings. Hobbyists and fans talk about an amazing […]
Your first time in a chat room can seem stupid or daunting or both. Here are some things you can do to get through your first encounters:
l Remember that when you enter a chat room, a conversation is probably
already in progress. You don’t know what went on before you arrived.
Wait a minute or two to […]
Unfortunately, the instant-messaging systems don’ttalkto one another. Because the goal of all of these systems is to help you stay in touch with your friends, use whichever one they use. If you’re not sure who your friends are, AQL Instant Messenger is a good bet because it’s easy to set up and works automatically with […]
Windows XP comes with the latest instant messaging program, called Windows Messenger. Microsoft noticed that this was a niche in which they didn’t have the dominant program, and so decided to issue everyone a copy of theirs. Windows XP nags you to sign up for a Microsoft .NET Passport, a free account that you use […]
Online chat is similar to talking on an old-fashioned party line (or CB radio). In the infancy of the telephone system, people usually shared their phone lines with other families because stringing telephone lines was expensive. Everyone on the party line could join in any conversation, offering hours of nosy fun for people with nothing […]
You can forward e-mail to someone else. It’s easy. It’s cheap. Forwarding is one of the best things about e-mail and at the same time one of the worst. It’s good because you can easily pass along messages to people who need to know about them. It’s bad because you (not you personally, but, um, […]
Commerce has been dependent upon retailing for hundreds of years. Retailers have concentrated on perfecting the in-store experience over the past 30 years in such a way that entire industries have developed to support the effort. Unique companies emerged to analyze register tapes, provide consulting services on furniture and fixture placement, and even research the […]
A few years ago, retailers, in an effort to rectify some major retail issues, devised a new way of evaluating merchandise and streamlining the supply chain. The foundation for category management depends on cooperation and sharing between manufacturers and retailers. In the past, buyers were responsible for entire categories but were still managing each SKU […]
Shopping is not always about choice. It is often the process of elimination. Signage can help narrow down the selections and serves two purposes. First, it’s directional and helps shoppers find their way through the store. Next, it separates a variety of products into logical categories. The same ability is available online. Virtual signs can […]
It’s fairly common for business-to-business (B-to-B) catalogs to be published annually or semiannually due to seasonality, production expense, and the production lead time. Smaller flyers often supplement the larger catalog and may be mailed monthly or quarterly. The larger books tend to be organized as reference catalogs, line listing a variety of products. Because they […]
Who hasn’t heard of the “wish book”? Entire families used to sit by the evening fire and thumb through the glossy pages, choosing any number of wonderful items they’d like to order. While the Sears catalog is now defunct in the U.S., the catalog industry has been rejuvenated in the last ten years. Rather than […]
Merchandising helps consumers make product selections and guides them through the store. Retail merchandisers use any combination of the following fixtures:
Signage—outside signage, directional signage, category signage
Floor graphics—directional, product specific
Spinners—rotating free-standing racks holding a specific product or entire category
Shelving—standard shelving; custom-made usually for a specific brand or category
Shelf talkers—small signs or animated graphics promoting a brand […]
Because retailers use every medium to promote their stores, advertising outside the channel will leverage sales. Utilizing direct mail, print advertising, and even broadcast advertising will reach an audience wider than those who frequent the web today. If web shopping is perceived as appealing, it will give others a reason to participate.
Promotion is more than […]
Catalogs take time to develop. Large annual catalogs are often in production 12 to 18 months prior to printing. The product mix, then, is somewhat risky because product packaging and pricing can change during this long lead time. Even the actual product can change during the gap between initial planning and printing, and new product […]
Online stores use the following six basic component webpages in their store design:
Home page
Category pages
Sub-category pages
Product detail pages
Informational content pages
Checkout page
Category Pages—”The Aisles”
A main category link off the home page brings the shopper to a main category page or “aisle.” These e-aisles collect similar products together—such as dresses, printers, or shoes.
Online stores use the following six basic component webpages in their store design:
Home page
Category pages
Sub-category pages
Product detail pages
Informational content pages
Checkout page
Another essential merchandising technique is to make recommendations to customers and to help them select products. To be relevant, this must be more than providing spec sheets that they study and compare. As mentioned previously, customers look to the merchants for recommendations. Online, products are promoted when they are new or if there are special […]
One of the most important goals in website design is to ensure that customers can easily and intuitively navigate a website. The closer the experience is to being a “no brainer,” closer it is to a good, customer-centric design.
Operating a website is like operating a car. The controls of a car are its buttons, knobs, […]
Retailers with more than one channel should write separate plans for each with an overarching, integrated business plan that balances products and resources. Independent channel decisions vary depending on the customer base and business structure. Internet planning must take into account the global nature of the channel. In addition, the physical flow of product distribution, […]
If your web store or company is fairly large, you can monitor chat rooms designed to share information about your goods. You may, however, get an earful. The most informative sessions are those not sponsored by the merchant.
Complaints can be annoying, but your firm needs to ask if the complaints are warranted and if resolution […]