Shopping specials over cel phones is an INSP specialty. see the excerpt below from Red Herring:CATCH OF THE DAY:
I wrote recently about the death of the mall. A recent
experience compels me to continue this thread: I went out to
buy sneakers in two specialty stores (Athlete's Foot and
Footlocker). The salespeople were so completely useless that
I ended up buying at Nordstrom. I paid more, but the service
was worth it.
To the two gentlemen (and their managers) who guaranteed
that I'll never visit their establishments again: If I just
wanted a shoebox, I would have bought online; presence in a
store is a plea for human interaction.
Furthermore, new companies are now forming that will be
arming consumers with information that they'll be able to
use while they are out shopping. Viafone, which debuts at PC
Forum on March 12, is a new application service provider
that will weave mobile wireless capabilities into e-commerce
companies.
In other words, in addition to the mall you stand in, your
cell phone is going to become the mall you carry with you.
This will put pressure on physical retailers, and, I hope,
actually make the physical shopping experience better.
The company will compete with Everypath, Bitmo, and others.
It has raised $10.7 million in venture funds.
- Rafe Needleman, rafe-needleman@redherring.com
Editor, redherring.com |
