I would like to send a message to the group.  COuld you tell me how to do
so.
Thanks. [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Martin Tibor <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, December 12, 1998 9:31 AM
Subject: Re: tech: online shopping


>Great links Kelly,
>
>I bookmarked most of them or emailed friends when they were relevant to
them.
>By the way I repaired the http://www.bluefly.com link, it picked up an
extra
>space somewhere. Bluefly still has some work to do on their site it had
quite a
>few errors. E-commerce certainly is changing the landscape of shopping and
>doing business today.
>
>At 05:20 AM 12/12/98 -0600, Kelly Pierce wrote:
>>I pass on the following articles not because I endorse the high-impact
>>consumer economy and believe the capitalist experience of shopping to be a
>>virtue, but because of the independence that electronic shopping offers
for
>>the blind person.  we now have the ability to have as much information
>>about a product as a sighted person without the hassles of hurried store
>>clerks who really don't have the time to provide assistance.  There are
>>two articles with this post.  the first describes online shopping
>>generally and the second focuses on the fact that many well known brands
>>are not available online.  the two articles are separated by a line of
>>dashes.
>>
>>
>>kelly=20
>>
>>from the New York Times=20
>>
>>December 10, 1998
>>
>>Online Shopping: Good, Bad and Growing
>>
>>You Can Get Books, Jewelry and Even Miss Melba's Olde Timey Fruitcake=20
>>By TINA KELLEY
>>
>>In many houses, there is a mouse stirring this holiday season: the one
>>attached to the computer.  It is being used for one-click gift ordering,
>>with the promise of avoiding crowded malls and traffic jams and the hope
>>of finding last-minute purchases on the Web.
>>=20
>> Online holiday purchases are expected to double compared with last year,
>>said Nick Donatiello, president of Odyssey, a market research company in
>>San Francisco. And while online shopping will still account for only a
>>small part of holiday purchases, wired merchants and investors have been
>>salivating over the potential increases.
>>
>>But can shopping online really make the last-minute rush easier? A
>>sampling of shopping sites and interviews with Internet retailing experts
>>suggests the answer is yes -- at least for products that can be found on
>>the Web and especially for near-last-minute purchases.
>>
>>Just remember that many items are not easily available online, that Web
>>traffic itself can suffer from jams and that most of the things you click
>>your mouse on still have to be delivered by trains, planes or trucks.
>>
>>To sweeten the season's shopping experience, Internet retailers have
>>developed gift registries, gift suggestions for stumped shoppers and even
>>live customer service -- just like stores. And the number of Web retailers
>>grows every year, increasing selection and competition.
>>
>>There are big and efficient online sellers for books, CD's and computer
>>equipment, and many sites offer electronic cards and gift certificates.
>>There are even games that can be downloaded, theoretically, the night
>>before Christmas.
>>
>>In fact, for grown-ups who would rather visit a root canal specialist than
>>a toy store in the next two weeks, there is www.etoys.com, which promises
>>that "Santa can go to bed early this year." Toys are categorized by age,
>>and pages describe what awards each toy has won. At www.toysrus.com, the
>>Toys 'R' Us site, you can check the baby registry created (off line) by
>>the moms of the munchkins you're shopping for. At www.justpretend.com
>>("toys and playthings that inspire imagination and creativity") there are
>>five sets of specialized dress-up sets, with reversible wizard-or-princess
>>hats.
>>
>>For those with quirkier tastes, sites can be found offering four-pound
>>fruitcakes, fancy sports equipment, foreign musical instruments and rare
>>videos.
>>
>>Books are among the biggest-selling items online, with Amazon.com and the
>>Barnes & Noble site as two major places geared toward last-minute book
>>buying.
>>
>>"My goal is to take a two- or three-week period of hell and turn it into
>>15 minutes of a pretty good time," said David Risher, senior vice
>>president of Amazon.com, as he tripped through Web screens in his Seattle
>>office, demonstrating how to give a present in the fewest possible
>>seconds.
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-=
>>-----
>> =20
>>Some online sites have gone so retro that they are providing actual human
b=
>>eings to help shoppers. =20
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-=
>>-----
>> =20
>>=20
>>"Let's say you're in a big hurry," he went on. "We have a feature on the
>>Web site, Gift Click. You can do it Christmas morning." The function tells
>>your recipients via e-mail that you are sending presents and lets them do
>>the pesky work of filling in the mailing addresses. For purchasers who put
>>their credit card numbers on file, it's one-click shopping.
>>
>>Barnes & Noble, in addition to offering "buy now and get a free book"
>>deals for new customers, (www.barnesandnoble.com) posts a chart of the
>>last day you can order a book in stock for Christmas delivery.
>>
>>Another innovation for online shoppers is the gift registry. One example
>>is the Wish List offered by iQVC, the Web version of television's QVC home
>>shopping channel. About 10,000 people have signed up to use it, said
>>Stuart Spiegel, vice president and general manager for iQVC. At iQVC's
>>jewelry site (www.gemsandjewels.com), those who think it's blessed enough
>>to receive can leave very specific instructions on what they want, right
>>down to ring size, favorite stone and preferred designer. Those who are
>>going for the greater blessings of giving use the password of the person
>>who registered to find out which precious stone to concentrate on.
>>
>>"It's no different from that magazine left on the coffee table a little
>>too long opened to the right thing," Spiegel said. "It is a fun way to
>>point people in the right direction."
>>
>>A similar service is offered at Eddie Bauer (www.eddiebauer.com), where
>>you can send out e-mail announcements to friends about what you want from
>>the store. They're not subtle: "Hi from (my e-mail address) (my name)! I
>>have an Eddie Bauer Wish List at http://www.eddiebauer.com. Just go to
>>'Wish Lists.' . . ." The message includes the wisher's password to get
>>access to the list, but not so much as a "please" or "thank you."
>>
>>Another helpful feature for buying off the Web are shopping agents,
>>programs that search commercial sites and come back with a list of items
>>and prices, which can certainly reduce fingertip fatigue. One,
>>www.mysimon.com, will even search for the best bargains for the objects
>>you desire, then let you send the results via e-mail straight to people
>>who have you on their gift lists.
>>
>>Some online sites have gone so retro that they are providing actual human
>>beings, through chat or e-mail, to help shoppers. During limited hours you
>>can try live customer service at Azazz.com, an Internet-based department
>>store that offers housewares, apparel and home office supplies, with free
>>shipping. Another is Adatom.com, which offers brand-name furniture, linens
>>and toys direct from the factory. The humans function much like the
>>programs that are always available at sites like Amazon, which provide
>>suggestions for other books or movies a "Beloved" or "Titanic" fan might
>>like.
>>
>>For those who would rather decorate the house with all that time freed up
>>by not shopping, you can buy live Christmas trees and wreaths or
>>artificial trees that arrive at your door already strung with lights. Then
>>try poring over the numbing prospect of 26 different kinds of angel
>>ornaments available at Christmas Depot (Christmasdepot.com) (mauve satin,
>>peach satin, pink satin, red lam=E9 starburst, red sparkle, red velvet,
>>silver lam=E9, silver lam=E9 starburst, etc.). At the Menorah.net site,
can=
>>dle
>>holders are available in three-, six- and nine-foot models.
>>
>>Some of the less delightful aspects of holiday shopping exist on the Web
>>as well, like piped-in tinny Christmas carols and traffic that can be
>>heavy at peak hours, slowing things to a crawl. And every once in a while
>>you might see the screen message, "Please contact the server administrator
>>and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might
>>have done that may have caused the error." So much for the customer is
>>always right.
>>
>>The Web is never as smooth as it could be, and shopping is no different.
>>It can be just as hard to find some things online as off.
>>
>>For example, for the father who wants a video of the 1939 (not the 1978)
>>version of the English drama "The Four Feathers," a search through
>>Reel.com, Amazon.com, and MySimon yielded two sites advertising VHS
>>versions of the flick (both were out of stock) and one offering a laser
>>disk (too high-tech for Papa). Then again, he hasn't been able to find it
>>in a real store, either.
>>
>>=20
>> Yet the Web can be very useful for finding obscure items. Frith Maier of
>>Seattle had her heart set on a heated toilet seat, like one she had
>>enjoyed while visiting Japan, for her sister's outhouse in Alaska. After
>>calling plumbing supply companies with no luck, she found one on the site
>>of ToTo Toilets. The catch was that the seat, equipped with an extra
>>device that delivers a puff of warm air, cost $900.
>>
>>If you want a used cello (knock-knock.com/mie/cellos.htm) or a bodhran
>>(www.bodhran.com), an ancient Celtic drum, your selection will probably be
>>greater than can be found by skimming your local classifieds. Bodhrans,
>>which are made of goat skin stretched over a wooden frame, abound on the
>>Web, from Ireland to Massachusetts and Prince George, B.C., with air mail
>>delivery times as short as three days.
>>
>>For kids who need a specific brand of soccer ball, beyond what the mall
>>stores sell, www.soccer.com, for example, offers more than 25 kinds.
>>
>>Since online orders can be entered and registered so quickly, consumers
>>can be forgiven for believing they can put off their shopping to the very
>>last minute. Lands' End's site (www.landsend.com), announces how many
>>"shipping days left!" until Christmas, and Christmasdepot.com counts down
>>the very seconds. For Father's Day, Amazon.com processed lots of same-day
>>sales, with gift-certificate orders coming in via e-mail that morning and
>>being sent out the same hour, Risher said. The same is expected on Dec.
>>25.
>>
>>With the under-$1,000 computer hoping to attain Most Favored Donation
>>status, computer sites on the Web are revving up for a high-volume
>>December.
>>
>>Computershopper.com, on its gift ideas pages, gives hints on buying
>>someone a PC and have it last longer than a year. But earlier this week,
>>CompUSA, in its holiday Web section, listed a few items that were already
>>out of stock and back-ordered.
>>
>>One big site selling computers, Cyberian Outpost (www.outpost.com), has
>>warehouses and shippers located together and offers next-day delivery for
>>items ordered up until midnight Eastern time. And with the wide variety of
>>software available there and from other sites to download onto children's
>>computers, a popular game could arrive this Christmas morning via the
>>phone line, instead of the chimney.
>>
>>There are other aspects of the holidays that the Web can help with, of
>>course, like planning dinner. Where else but online could you find a
>>recipe for Hanukkah Candle Salad (www.pastrywiz.com/archive/channuka.htm)
>>that features half a banana stuck in a pineapple ring, topped with a
>>gumdrop, with mayo dripping down to represent melted wax and a green
>>pepper handle for the candle holder?
>>
>>And what brick-and-mortar store has as many kinds of fruitcake as the Web,
>>with Miss Melba's Olde Timey, Monastery, Gloria's Classic, Babs' Jamaican,
>>Sunshine Hollow's Real Handmade Pecan and Carolyn's Cajun (from Cut Off,
>>La.)?
>>
>>And for when the holiday hangover clears, there's always the return policy
>>to think about. At www.azazz.com and Cyberian Outpost, returns are
>>accepted for any reason. Amazon.com asks no questions about returned
>>books, though CD's and videos need to be unopened. A printed packing slip
>>for returns comes with every order. Beats driving downtown, parking and
>>having to look someone in the eye and explain why that gift from your
>>beloved isn't a keeper.
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------
>>
>>December 10, 1998
>>
>>Not Every Maker Wants Its Products Sold on the Net
>>
>>By SAUL HANSELL
>>
>>With online sales booming, millions of people are going to try to see if
>>they can cut down on trips to the mall this holiday season and do some
>>shopping over the Internet.  Some will end up being disappointed.
>>
>>Anyone whose shopping list includes, say, a Ralph Lauren sweater, a
>>Pioneer car radio, a Burton snowboard or even the latest Beanie Baby from
>>Ty Inc. will search high and low in cyberspace without finding it. The
>>reason? These manufacturers prohibit retailers from selling their products
>>online.
>>
>>To be sure, the Web is brimming with retailers, and new stores and shops
>>are going online every day, leaving the impression that the Internet is a
>>vast, freewheeling bazaar. Still, many well-known brands cannot be found
>>online because their manufacturers contend that the Internet flattens even
>>the most luxurious item to a garish, flickering image and then pits
>>retailers around the world in a grueling price war. "We don't think of our
>>products as commodities that can be managed by point, click and order,"
>>said Ed Sachs, executive vice president for sales at Pioneer Electronics,
>>which prohibits dealers from selling its audio and video products online.
>>
>>Pioneer's stance is still common in many industries. That is especially so
>>among makers of more expensive lines, which are concerned about
>>controlling the image of their brands and have always tried to have a
>>small number of local stores, whose loyalty they are loath to upset. Other
>>manufacturers are resisting the Internet because they want to join it
>>later, selling their goods themselves.
>>
>>For now, Internet shopping remains a very slim slice of the retailing pie.
>>The Direct Marketing Association predicts that this year, $4.7 billion
>>worth of goods and services will be sold online -- slightly more than 5
>>percent of the $87 billion that will be sold by direct mail and
>>telemarketing and a tiny fraction of the $2.6 trillion in overall retail
>>sales in the United States.
>>
>>In the future, of course, Internet selling is expected to claim a much
>>bigger share of the shopping dollar. Virtually nonexistent four years ago,
>>shopping online is now the fastest-growing form of retailing. This year's
>>Christmas sales are expected to be two and a half times last year's, with
>>hundreds of thousands of people buying online for the first time.
>>Consumers have been lured by the shop-at-home convenience and the ability
>>to pick from a huge selection of products, whatever the omissions. And
>>early fears about credit card fraud are fading as millions of people buy
>>products online with few reported problems.
>>
>>As online shopping begins to move into the mainstream, manufacturers are
>>coming under increasing pressure to allow their products to be sold in
>>cyberspace.
>>
>>"There is a spiral effect," said Maria Latour Kadison, an analyst with
>>Forrester Research, a Cambridge, Mass., firm that tracks Internet trends.
>>
>>"As more consumers come on the Internet, it drives retailers to expand
>>their offerings online. And when the retailers offer better selection and
>>easier-to-use stores, it draws even more consumers online."
>>
>>So while many manufacturers are "afraid to hurt the existing
>>brick-and-mortar retail channels that have supported their brands," she
>>said, "they will either change their minds or they will lose out." There
>>are already many brands that encourage online sales, including Philips
>>Electronics, Donna Karan and Mattel.
>>
>>Other manufacturers have kept online stores from selling their goods
>>simply because they want to sell their goods themselves.
>>
>>Macy's flagship store at Herald Square in Manhattan, for example, has rack
>>upon rack of jeans and chinos from Levi Strauss. But Macy's new Internet
>>site, macys.com, does not carry a single pair of Levi's among its 250,000
>>items. Why? Because Levi's insists that the only place to buy its products
>>on the Internet is at www.levi.com.
>>
>>"We want to present our brand at its best, both in terms of assortment and
>>presentation," said Jay Thomas, Levi's director of digital marketing.
>>
>>
>>Levi's, moreover, faces vigorous competition from the Gap, which has been
>>doing a brisk business at its Internet store. The Gap (www.gap.com) does
>>not face any retailer-manufacturer conflicts, because it makes and sells
>>its own products.
>>
>>Some manufacturers, however, have been forced to restrict online sales
>>because of pressure from their existing dealers.
>>
>>"At first, we sold to a number of Internet sites, but we had to stop,"
>>said Lee Carlson, president of Belinda Barton Furnishings for Children, a
>>maker of expensive sheets and towels in Cutchogue, N.Y. "Our stores were
>>upset. Their main concern was that people would go online and find prices
>>that were lower than what they were selling for."
>>
>>Online shoppers are caught in the middle of these squabbles. Gregory Frye,
>>for example, a fan of Calvin Klein, has been able to find only a few of
>>the designer's perfume items at the Macy's site and some of the underwear
>>line at a small site called www.metromanusa.com.
>>
>>Robert Triefus, a senior vice president for Calvin Klein, said the company
=
>>was worried that it would lose control of its brand image if its goods
were=
>> sold on the Internet. Moreover, the company has not figured out how
cybers=
>>pace fits into its existing geographic distribution agreements.=20
>>
>>"Some of our licensees have agreements that cover certain territories,"
>>Treifus said. "The Internet, by definition, is worldwide distribution."
>>
>>Such concerns about control show that the retail universe in cyberspace,
>>despite the booming online trade in books, compact disks and computer
>>equipment itself, is still at a fledgling stage.
>>
>>Without access to the merchandise, online entrepreneurs cannot hope to
>>become the next Amazon.com.
>>
>>The best example is in consumer electronics, where none of the small
>>online merchants have anything close to a complete selection.
>>
>>Greg Drew, chief executive of 800.com, a start-up company with an Internet
=
>>consumer electronics store, said he has been able to buy the basic lines
of=
>> television and audio equipment that are sold in such mass market
retailers=
>> as Kmart, but not the sort of sophisticated models that many Internet
user=
>>s want.=20
>>
>>"We can get the low-end stuff, but the high-end stuff we can't even get
clo=
>>se to," he said.=20
>>
>>Similarly, many makers of consumer appliances, like Maytag, have not been
>>willing to let their dealers sell online.
>>
>>"Appliances are a huge business which has become increasingly concentrated
>>through the major retail chains: Sears, Circuit City, etc," said Trevor
>>Traina, a founder of Comparenet, an electronic shopping guide
>>(compare.net). "Their cozy relationships with retailers are keeping them
>>from doing things that will build their business."
>>=20
>> James G. Powell, a spokesman for Maytag, said local dealers provided
>>better service and support for its products than Internet sellers who
>>might be halfway across the country from the buyer. "We want to protect
>>our premium brand reputation," he said.
>>
>>Of course, designers, electronics companies and others have long sought to
>>preserve their reputations and prices by limiting the number of stores
>>they sell through. And whole industries have evolved to help consumers get
>>around those restrictions. In fashion, there are many stores selling
>>close-out items and overstocks at discount prices. There are discount
>>electronics stores that sell goods purchased in the gray market -- that
>>is, through unauthorized distribution channels -- rather than directly
>>from the manufacturers.
>>
>>All these businesses have their counterparts on the Internet. Bluefly
>>(www.bluefly.com) sells off-price clothing, including some items from
>>designers like Ralph Lauren who will not directly supply Internet stores
>>with their goods.
>>
>>And there has also been a rise of gray market dealers of other goods, even
>>Beanie Babies, those small stuffed animals whose ever-so-cute variations
>>have made them a rage among collectors. There is a vast secondary market
>>for older Beanie Babies among the Internet auctions. But Ty Inc. refuses
>>to sell directly to any company that wants to offer new Beanies online. (A
>>spokesman for Ty did not return several calls for comment.)
>>
>>"It's not easy to get Beanie Babies, but we get them," said Toby Lenk,
>>chief executive of Etoys (etoys.com), an online store that is usually able
>>to buy directly from the big toy makers. "But since we go through a
>>middleman, we charge $8.99 or $9.99 for a model that people who get the
>>product directly sell for $5.99."
>>
>>The scarcity of Beanie Babies is an exception, and most manufacturers fear
>>that the gray market, and Internet sales in general, will lower, rather
>>than raise, the prices of their goods. They argue that this will
>>ultimately hurt them and their customers by squeezing out local stores.
>>
>>"Maybe if you bought a snowboard on the Internet, it might be a few bucks
>>cheaper, but it wouldn't help the sport," said Jake Burton, founder and
>>chairman of Burton Snowboards in Burlington, Vt., which will not let its
>>products be sold online. "The specialty retailer has played a huge role in
>>getting this sport off the ground."
>>
>>Still, a number of online stores have been able to persuade manufacturers
>>to sell to them by promising not to discount their products or otherwise
>>cheapen their image.
>>
>>Fragrance Counter, an online cosmetics store (www.fragrancecounter.com),
>>has won over some of the most reluctant and image-conscious manufacturers
>>by seeking to create an upscale boutique that is the "57th Street and
>>Madison Avenue of cyberspace," said Eli Katz, chief operating officer of
>>the company . "We sell everything at suggested retail price, and we
>>romance and describe every product."
>>
>>But perfume vendors were not convinced at first.
>>
>>"They thought that selling fragrances on a computer was bizarre," Katz
>>said. "Now people see how the Internet adds incremental sales." Fragrance
>>Counter now carries nearly every major perfume line except for some very
>>expensive brands.
>>
>>Other Internet holdouts like Oakley, a maker of sunglasses, are also
>>beginning to dip their toes in the online waters. But Oakley has spurned
>>the sites of big dealers like Sunglass Hut, granting online rights only to
>>Eyevault, a California start-up.
>>
>>"We have always focused on selective distribution," said Link Newcomb,
>>Oakley's chief executive.
>>
>>I don't think that online retail should be any different."
>>
>>
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>>
>
>Marty Tibor
>1 Stop Speech Recognition and Adaptive Technology Synapse
>3095 Kerner Blvd., Suite S, San Rafael, CA  94901
>toll-free 888-285-9988
>http://www.synapseadaptive.com
>Providers of adaptive and assistive technology solutions.
>http://www.unixspeech.com
>UNIX, mainframe and Mac speech recognition
>http://www.synapseadaptive.com/joel/default.htm
>Synapse hosts the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Unofficial Information Pages
>
>
>VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
>To join or leave the list, send a message to
>[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
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>
>


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