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Shopping Centers Today -> June 2001
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CLICKS AND RUBBLE
Following the March earthquake in Seattle, some entrepreneurs were collecting debris and auctioning it as memorabilia on eBay. Items included bricks from the Fenix Underground nightclub, glass from the Sea-Tac airport control tower and a broken beer mug.
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ANOTHER SHIRT LOST ON THE INTERNET
The Custom Shop has died — again. Last year the bankrupt chain of 52 stores, which sold custom-made shirts, was bought by Houston-based Express Custom Tailors, and began a new lease on life as a clicks-and-bricks entity, TheCustomShop.com. But, blaming poor sales, the company in March shut down the stores, the Internet site and its manufacturing plants, declaring bankruptcy under Chapter 7.
BELLS, WHISTLES AND —YAWNS
Retail Web sites are offering shoppers an increasing array of services, from wish lists to gift ideas, but they needn’t bother: While search engines and "close-up" pictures of merchandise help turn visitors into shoppers, most customers don’t use many of the other features, according to a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the professional services organization. For instance, only 13% of online shoppers say they have forwarded wish lists to friends or family, and a mere 9% had held online chats with customer-service reps, Mary Brett Whitfield, director of the company’s E-Retail Intelligence System, told SCT. "There is much that e-retailers can do to improve the online shopping experience, but bombarding shoppers with numerous ’bells and whistles’ is not a sound strategy," she said.COUPON CROOKS PLAGUE E-TAILERS
Online retailers are experiencing rampant fraud, much of which involves coupons, according to a report in Imarketing News. Macy’s fell victim to a scheme in which customers were entering multiple coupon codes for purchases that were eligible for only a single coupon. Visitors to IGo.com, which sells wireless devices and accessories, discovered they could enter the same coupon number several times, and one trickster used this method to obtain a $499 Palm VII for $10. The problem is that while many retailers claim to have software designed to thwart such schemes, they don’t, the report noted. |
BARGAIN BLOOPERS
When a store puts the wrong price tag on an item, the damage is usually limited to a few sales until the problem is noticed. But when it happens online, it can involve thousands of customers and tons of money. Online retailers can’t afford this, as 2,000 Amazon customers discovered recently when they placed orders for 1 gigabyte Viking Component memory modules priced at $19.99 instead of the usual $999.99, according to a report from CNET News.com. Instead of the modules, they received a letter of apology and a $15 gift certificate from Viking, which Amazon said was responsible for the pricing error.TESCO.COM COMING TO THE STATES?
Britain’s Tesco, which describes its online grocery shopping site — Tesco.com — as the world’s largest and most successful, is looking to expand it to the United States, according to Reuters. Tesco.com currently processes 70,000 orders a week worth £6 million ($8.4 million) in Britain and Ireland, and is accessible to 90% of Britain’s population. The company, which has invested $40 million in the service and cut in half the time it takes to process orders, has been talking to several potential U.S. partners, according to the report.
Shopping Centers Today
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