Fast Company Article - Melinda Re "You've Got 12 Days 'Til Xmas" by Gina Imperato, December, 1998, pg. 277.

I Found A Furby!

If you happened to read my November article summary, you might note that for some strange reason I happened to choose another article written by the same author. I didn't realize this until I went to write the summaries. I guess I must think a little like Gina. And you might remember that I'm not that great with today's technology. Well let me tell you, I just got better!

I had never considered buying a product on the Web. But a few days before my December Fast Company was delivered, I had an interesting conversation with my son. He wants a Furby for Christmas. He informed me that they are no longer available in any store in our community (he had been out looking). But he said he could find one on the Web. Since he knows that I have never had much success online, he asked me if he could buy it for me to give to him? I said that's not my idea of a gift. But the conversation left me determined to try to figure out someway to find the Furby on the Web.

Imagine my delight when, as I ripped the plastic wrap off Fast Company, it literally fell open to an article about online Christmas shopping. A Christmas miracle? I thought.

This article offers great advise on shopping on the Web. The author lists many sites. I immediately got on the computer and started my search. I visited many "merchants". In fact, I spent an hour going to site after site. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped. Some of the sites were confusing and I never figured out how to purchase a product. Finally I went to the site that sounded the most interesting - coolshopping.com. This site gave updated information on the hottest gifts of the season, including Furby, and where to find them. I took a link to another site and found what I needed.

Some of the sites mentioned in this article are really quite fascinating. Cdnow.com will custom make a "favorite hits" CD for you. You can get your Christmas tree at garden.com. And at clickrewards.com your purchases earn frequent flyer miles that are electronically sent to your airline of choice. There is a whole world out there that I didn't know existed!

The day after reading this article, my December 7th Newsweek was delivered. The cover story, "Xmas.com" (also about Christmas shopping on the Web) predicts that $2.3 billion will be spent on holiday gifts from the Web, an estimated threefold increase over last year in Christmas e-sales.

Many techno experts agree that electronic commerce will continue to grow. In 1996, 5 million people bought a product from a Web site. The estimate for 1999? 17 million. Why is this way of shopping becoming more popular? The experts believe it's due to consumer confidence. People are buying familiar products with less worry about their credit-card numbers getting hacked, or unscrupulous merchants defaulting. Shopping online can be more convenient, faster and in some cases cheaper. The disadvantages of shopping online include the need to have a credit card to purchase anything, lack of customer service, and higher risk of fraud.

I talked to 4 people about e-shopping before I found someone who had ever visited a shopping site, let alone purchased something. This particular online shopper told me that he has purchased many computer and software products. His advice in a nutshell:

7 Start your search at bizrate.com. This site rates online merchants for product and service. 7 It's best to know exactly what you want. Otherwise you could "shop" for hours - not a time saver. 7 Avoid online shopping for items that you need to try on or try out. 7 For computer products, visit zones.com.

And another Christmas miracle: I bought the elusive Furby. Won't my son be proud!

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1998

Answers

Melinda, I truly am impressed by your technical saavy! The purchase of a furby is certainly a thing to be proud of. I enjoyed your article analysis and was intrigued by the research that you did pertaining to on-line shopping. It sounds as if you have opened up a whole new market for yourself.

Your observations about the difficulty there is with finding the products that you want is accurate. I have had similar experiences. The ordering process at some sites is so cubersome, it takes much more time than you would have spent in a store. There is a lot that needs to be done, but we see continuous daily improvements on many of these sites.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 1999