Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Putting video on stardem.com, further expansion of the internet store
If you have a high speed connection, you might want to check out the sports area on the website. We are experimenting with video clips. I took some sample clips of a couple of wrestling matches at North Caroline High School when Cambridge-South Dorchester came to compete.
The clip posted was of the third period of the match between NC’s Mike Hernandez and C-SD’s Matt Pender. It lasts just a bit over 2 and one half minutes. I used a small digital video camera I recently acquired for just such an experiment.
If you size down the window a bit, the image appears sharper. I also recommend you not try to view it if you only have a slow dial up connection. It really does need a high speed connection to work comfortably. Send me your observations.
I do intend to develop this feature on the website. We want to make it more than just a mirror of the print paper.
I write this on the day after Christmas. I understand this week is the least productive week of the year. It is hard to keep your focus when many of your colleagues are off relaxing at home.
Reports are already filtering in on the Christmas shopping season. Some say it is tracking slightly behind projections at about 3.5 percent growth verses the 4 percent suggested. While store visits are slightly below projections, the Internet has once again experienced growth.
Reports are that Internet shopping increased 26 percent during the season from Thanksgiving to just before Christmas when compared to the same period last year. Our little highly unscientific poll on the stardem.com website has 49 percent of people saying they are using the internet more than before while 44 percent said they were not. The remaining seven percent said they do not use the internet to shop.
I did the lion’s share of my shopping on the internet this year. I made UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Mail happy with my steady stream of package deliveries. And, yes, they all came on time. Each company also had a mechanism in place for me to keep track of my order or kept me notified at each step in the delivery process.
None of my purchases were for items that had to be sized. There is still a place for trying something on before you buy it. But, ordering on line is no different from going to a store, guessing your wife’s size and buying with your fingers crossed. Just like your favorite department store, be sure to know your internet company’s return policy when you buy something.
I am confident the internet stores will be as aggressive in making their return policy as convenient as possible. This will remove one of the remaining concerns of people who choose shopping if a physical store over the online one. They know that a convenient return policy is one of the hallmarks of the more popular department stores.
In a recent column I put forth the prophecy that the internet will bring on the demise of the big box store. With more high speed connects and sophisticated websites, shoppers will prefer the convenience of shopping online to the hassles of traffic, parking and crowds.
To carry this thought a bit further, internet websites also make it possible for the mom and pop store to compete with the big boys down the street. The problems of metered parking in many downtown areas and the difficulty of access, are no longer a problem. A small store with a little effort and the help of a professional web designer can have a site look as good as one put up by a big box store.
That leaves price as one of the only remaining factors to consider. Consumers want the best price for their buck. They don’t have to rely only on the stories in their neighborhood or town. They have the world at their door. They can access the little unique shop downtown just as easily as they can the big box two counties over.
As a consumer myself, this is a winning situation for people like me.
So Happy New Year, next year at this time, I predict we will revisit this topic and find we are farther down the road to internet shopping dominance than we image today.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com. You can also check out my blog accessible from the home page of the stardem.com website.
The clip posted was of the third period of the match between NC’s Mike Hernandez and C-SD’s Matt Pender. It lasts just a bit over 2 and one half minutes. I used a small digital video camera I recently acquired for just such an experiment.
If you size down the window a bit, the image appears sharper. I also recommend you not try to view it if you only have a slow dial up connection. It really does need a high speed connection to work comfortably. Send me your observations.
I do intend to develop this feature on the website. We want to make it more than just a mirror of the print paper.
I write this on the day after Christmas. I understand this week is the least productive week of the year. It is hard to keep your focus when many of your colleagues are off relaxing at home.
Reports are already filtering in on the Christmas shopping season. Some say it is tracking slightly behind projections at about 3.5 percent growth verses the 4 percent suggested. While store visits are slightly below projections, the Internet has once again experienced growth.
Reports are that Internet shopping increased 26 percent during the season from Thanksgiving to just before Christmas when compared to the same period last year. Our little highly unscientific poll on the stardem.com website has 49 percent of people saying they are using the internet more than before while 44 percent said they were not. The remaining seven percent said they do not use the internet to shop.
I did the lion’s share of my shopping on the internet this year. I made UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Mail happy with my steady stream of package deliveries. And, yes, they all came on time. Each company also had a mechanism in place for me to keep track of my order or kept me notified at each step in the delivery process.
None of my purchases were for items that had to be sized. There is still a place for trying something on before you buy it. But, ordering on line is no different from going to a store, guessing your wife’s size and buying with your fingers crossed. Just like your favorite department store, be sure to know your internet company’s return policy when you buy something.
I am confident the internet stores will be as aggressive in making their return policy as convenient as possible. This will remove one of the remaining concerns of people who choose shopping if a physical store over the online one. They know that a convenient return policy is one of the hallmarks of the more popular department stores.
In a recent column I put forth the prophecy that the internet will bring on the demise of the big box store. With more high speed connects and sophisticated websites, shoppers will prefer the convenience of shopping online to the hassles of traffic, parking and crowds.
To carry this thought a bit further, internet websites also make it possible for the mom and pop store to compete with the big boys down the street. The problems of metered parking in many downtown areas and the difficulty of access, are no longer a problem. A small store with a little effort and the help of a professional web designer can have a site look as good as one put up by a big box store.
That leaves price as one of the only remaining factors to consider. Consumers want the best price for their buck. They don’t have to rely only on the stories in their neighborhood or town. They have the world at their door. They can access the little unique shop downtown just as easily as they can the big box two counties over.
As a consumer myself, this is a winning situation for people like me.
So Happy New Year, next year at this time, I predict we will revisit this topic and find we are farther down the road to internet shopping dominance than we image today.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com. You can also check out my blog accessible from the home page of the stardem.com website.
# posted by Richard Polk @ 11:27 AM 
