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Microcap & Penny Stocks : ZuluGroup.com (ZULU/ESVS)-Ecommerce & Internet Advertising -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brady B. who wrote (34)	1/17/1999 7:08:00 AM
From: wlcnyc	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2003

www-agency.com What Internet Shopping Should Be by Ted Buerger As investors in a number of Internet-related companies, we have explored many models for succeeding in on-line retailing. Our conclusion, supported by our experience with three on-line retailers (two of which are already profitable), is simple: Serve the customer. That conclusion may seem unremarkable, until you consider your own personal experience when shopping on-line. How many times have sites initially caught your fancy, but in the end disappointed you because of: 1. Limited selection; or 2. Extensive selection, but with no basic search capability; or 3. Quality products, but at full (or even higher than) retail prices; plus 4. Undisclosed handling and shipping charges; or 5. Uncertain quality of products offered; or 6. Limited information on the vendor (sometimes not even an address); or 7. Limited helpful informational content (e.g. just "line listings" of products); or 8. No customer service number; or 9. Excessive graphics leading to unbearable load times; or 10. Techno-jargon (e.g. any phrase beginning "If your browser supports...") 11. Uncertainty about items in stock or shipping policies; or 12. Long order forms 13. Requirement that you register (or, worse, pay quarterly membership fees) How extensive are these problems. In building our on-line department store, Brands4Less.com, we reviewed hundreds of sites looking for proven specialized sites to provide the content and service for each of our on-line departments; most sites we find have failed one or more of these basic customer service standards. In fact, 2/3 of the sites we accepted as departments of Brands For Less initially required modification to work on major browsers, including versions of Internet Explorer 3.0 commonly used on America On Line, the largest ISP in the world! While the above is a good checklist of what not to do, the "customer focused" retailer will try to affirmatively "serve the customer" in a number of areas: a. Quality products at a lower price - As Barnes and Noble states on their site, "As an on-line service we do not incur the high costs associated with operating retail stores. We can pass all of these savings on to you!" Provide Real Value - That's serving the customer. b. Convenient, enjoyable shopping - Not just "24 hours a day, everywhere in the world, literally at your fingertips" (anybody can do that!), but also (i) intuitive, easy to use graphics and informational content, attractively presented, (ii) sites that are easy to navigate and to search and that just plain "work" (from download time to order confirmation), and (iii) customer-driven options (such as links to further information; and ordering by phone orfax). c. Reliable and specialized customer service - A lot of customer service questions can be answered with proper site design and clear disclosure of policies and standards. But customers want access to specialists, by e-mail and/or phone, for their tougher questions, or if their purchase has a problem. d. Worry-free shopping - Customers want to use reliable vendors (with an address, solid references and a history in the business), who back up their products with a "no-hassle" return policy and an unconditional guarantee. Stand behind what you sell! The above is not the only formula for success on the Internet. For example many major retailers are succeeding on the Internet by offering just convenience and reliability, without more attractive pricing. But contrasting Barnes & Noble's reason for lower pricing on the Internet, these other vendors are not sharing the lower cost of the Internet with their customers. In time, their customers will realize that these vendors do not have their customer's best interests at heart. And in the meantime, they will have left an opening for other retailers (like you?) to fill the void. Ted Buerger, Managing Director Growth Capital Partners www.brands4less.com Growth Capital is an investor in Brands4Less.com and other Internet- related companies.