On Sat, 20 Mar 1999 06:53:37 -0800, William Sommerwerck <williams@xxxxxxxxxx>
jammed all night, and by sunrise was overheard remarking:
> I don't know who owns this site (Camera World of Oregon?), but it's been
> getting a lot of promotion -- I've even seen a billboard in Renton, WA.
> I'd say this "camera world" is more like a "camera continent." Maybe even a
> "camera territory."
I would have to agree here. I placed an order last fall at CWO for a
LowePro bag, a TrimTrekker. They had the best price on the net by around
$20, and free shipping. Ok, they only had grey in stock, the e-commerce
system said, and I wanted green, but maybe not $30-or-so worth of it.
So, a week or so goes by, and I get an email that says "in-stock in about
10 days". A few months go by, ok -- I'm busy doing other things, finally
I write again. Now it's "maybe next month -- we're not getting any
product from the supplier". So I cancel the order, call up B&H, pay an
extra $20 or so, and have my green TrimTrekker in about four days.
I'm sure there's nothing wrong with CWO, they seem to get good marks from
customers. My guess is they're doing that Web thing of appearing larger
than you really are. After all, you only judge the company by their site
unless you know them somehow in the meat world. Snappy art, a good
e-commerce system, pix, etc. creates the illusion of a large company
being behind it, when it fact it may just be a small or medium shop with
a couple of great kids doing their Website for cheap.
Of course, this is also how small companies grow these days. I read in
ComputerWorld or Wired or one of the oh-so-many bits of print I consume
each month that large car dealers were pressuring the likes of
Ford/GM/Chrysler-Daimler/etc. to restrict web sales. Seems some little
guys with really good web presence were outselling some of these big
dealers, without the need to pay for big lots or tons of advertising
(this, of course, affects the bottom line with car dealers, since the
volume folks get better prices. And, no doubt, the big guys felt the
little guys were intruding on their turf).
--
Dave Haynie | V.P. Technology, Met@box AG | http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One
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