Other interesting sites
Where To Shop Online by Anil Sharma
All the major retailers have a big time online presence too. Online stores have no constraints of shopping hours and allow people to shop literally any time. The problem with the major retailers is that now they also have to maintain two fronts - one the brick and mortar chain of stores and the other online. No doubt, they have now two venues open for generating sales also. More and more online shops pose another problem: since most people, if they are outside of the state from the company they are shopping from, do not have to pay the sales tax, they prefer to shop online but they like to browse in the brick and mortar shop! For example, if I have to buy a camera, I might very well go and check it out physically in a Best buy store and then order it online from another discount website. This kind of customer behavior causes an extra expense for the retailers because they end up serving a customer who may never buy from them! Such customers often "test" all the features in item they are trying to buy leaving the item on the display almost worthless. The stores which have only an online presence on the other hand have a lot to save and they can very well pass all the savings on to the customers, making it harder for the big retailers to compete. This is similar to the pre-internet era, where the pop and mom stores were always cheaper than their bigger counterparts because these small stores did not have much of the overheads the big guys did. When it comes to the online only stores, the same concept may apply - a smaller online store would have a better customer service and might be cheaper than a much bigger brand name online store. Recently my wife had ordered a couple of garments for my daughter's dance recital from a relatively unknown website. As soon as the order was placed, the owner of the website called up and confirmed the order for one of the items and for the other he said he would follow up with his supplier. Even though he did not end up supplying the item, it was very reassuring to know that someone was working on her order and was taking personal interest in making sure that his customer was happy. I would not have expected such a call from any of the bigger retailers. The big retailers have been in the market for tens of years. Moving over or adding an online presence is hard for them since at the back end, they have the same group of employees and suppliers working on the customer orders. It would be hard for them to adjust to a much quicker moving online market. On the other hand, the retailers who have started directly online know the ins and outs of the system. Their mindset is tuned for the customer support that they had envisaged at the beginning. They know that since they might never see the face of the customer, it would be difficult to provide the personal touch to the service without being prompt in completing the order or getting in touch with the customers quickly and personally on the phone. One such store that provides real good customer service is AllofChoice.com. This store has great deals, wonderful customer service and a very secure website. The credentials of security are validated by a third party and are prominently displayed on the website. With such measures that build customer's confidence in shopping with them, AllofChoice.com is proving to be a great online shopping place. About the Author For more information please visit AllofChoice.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)