The Case for Purity; Street Scene: Tokyo
It’s become the widely accepted wisdom over the past two years that retailing online— if it is ever to be profitable—needs to be but one channel in a multi-channel mix of marketing media tethered to the bricksand- mortar store, mail-order catalogs and television, just to name a few.
But pure online players are not without some astounding success stories. The extremely low overhead that an online-only presence makes possible remains appealing. Innovations in online marketing, new affiliate models and declining costs may be reopening some of the doors we recently thought to be closing. Although many online- only retailers have come and gone or been absorbed into multichannel efforts, a few very bright ones warrant scrutiny.
EBags.com, a seller of brandname handbags, wallets and luggage, has sold 1.57 million items since its launch in May 1999. The site has innovated in the area of customer service, offering “worry free” shopping features that include lowest-price promises and “hassle free” returns. The Colorado- based company experienced a 43.7 percent spurt in sales during the first half of this year, bringing it well into the profit zone for the second quarter. It also won the coveted I.Merchants Award this year at the annual Catalog Age Awards in Chicago.
Seattle’s BlueNile.com sells diamonds and fine jewelry. It generated $15 million in revenue during the second quarter—a 37 percent increase from the corresponding period a year ago. “Traditionally, consumers have not had access to comprehensive jewelry product information,” explained BlueNile.com chief executive officer Mark Vadon in a recent eCommerceTimes interview. Free shipping on all items, compelling product photography and a comprehensive educational section are part of this site’s userfriendliness.
New York’s NASDAQ-listed BlueFly.com (BFLY) deals in discount designer clothing and is said to have built its success by maintaining and growing a strong repeat audience. August 2002 saw a 9 percent increase for the retailer over the equivalent period last year. Everywhere you look on this site screams huge savings, while an e-mail marketing platform promises even greater savings once you are registered.
All three of these online purists feature nice-looking, easy-to-use navigation and are free of slow-toload graphic gimmickry. The emphatic promise of excellent customer service is a feature of all three, too. But the commonality that perhaps best explains their successes is each one’s focus on a tightly defined product range. “Do one thing and do it well” seems to be the standard that may indicate a brighter future for the specialty retailer in cyberspace as the dot-com collapse completes its adolescence and matures into a more stable medium.
Site Review: The View From Tokyo
FashionInJapan.com (FIJ) is a freshly odd site. It offers the viewer a remarkably complete impression of the domestic Japanese retail apparel industry for professionals and the forces that currently shape it. But at the same time the literal Englishtranslated texts explain and document the well-researched content in occasionally awkward terms (e.g., “Why Japan is now in advance”). This, perhaps, augments the authenticity of the project, which does a respectable job of communicating the contemporary Japanese fashion landscape to Westerners. The result is a fascinating presentation that vividly depicts the unique sophistication of the modern Japanese consumer.
Views from the street show candid snapshots that isolate what the current moderate and hip trends are. Although presented in a bland spreadsheet-style layout, dozens of these recent encounters are posted (and dozens more become available if you register to become a member). These are genuine documentary-like views organized by market segment and even by geographical shopping districts. Short video clips are said to be on their way shortly.
