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| February 1998 WEB SHOPPING It could be the next big thing, or the next big bust If you're on the horns of a dilemma about whether to plunge into the World Wide Web to create a shopping site for your store, consider these pros and cons from Wall Street Journal writer and 'Net expert Thomas E. Weber. We've boiled them down and refocused them toward the special needs of retail jewelers: Pros Cruising around the Web is relaxing and crowd-free. A consumer who may balk at visiting your real store might nibble at your on-line site. (It's also a good way to meet young shoppers, who are more likely to be Web experts and more comfortable with this still-new medium). Consumers who hate sales pressure of any type are completely in charge. If they want to spend half an hour poring over your gold earring selection and then walk away, they can. They've formed a good sense of your inventory without feeling obligated. Now they just might be ready to buy. If you're registered with good search engines (the Web services that list and catalog sites by categories broad and specific), your unique inventory will be displayed before a consumer who is actually looking for a wide range of sapphire jewelry, for example. You could develop a nationwide clientele. If your site is good, easy to navigate and filled with unique items, you could soon have customers from all over placing orders. Browsers are often looking for information and ideas. If your site features
some fascinating education ("Did you know that opals come from Australia?")
and romance, you could lure that consumer out of his chair and down to see
your exquisite collection of Australian opals. It's free advertising - for
the moment. Cons Visuals can be a real problem. The problems are especially significant with colors, where two shades could look exactly the same, or worse, might bear no relation to the actual stone you're displaying. Crisp, shiny metals can look fuzzy. No matter how carefully you have scanned your images, consumers have a wild and woolly array of computer equipment out there and what they see isn't necessarily pretty. Chance encounters with an exceptional and rare item that catches just the right consumer's eye are difficult to engineer on-line. You can try to give such items prominence on your site, but not everything can be on the first screen they see. You may have to bury something that the perfect customer for it may never uncover. Overcoming the distrust factor is daunting. Consumers cannot see your storefront; they can't feel the solidity of your business or see your reassuring face. You could spend a lot of time answering hostile questions that a visitor to your store may not ask. They may assume you are a fly-by-night operation, despite your company history and proclamation of 100 years in business. Professional Jeweler's call: The pros seem to outweigh the cons
in this review. Go ahead. Take the plunge. Just be sure to call in a Web
expert to help. Or maybe your 12-year-old child.
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