As predicted in the weekly edition of Aardvark, an onslaught of email-borne
worms, trojans and viruses has started just in time for the festive season.
Just last night I detected and disabled an email carrying a copy of the
Hybris Worm
as it arrived in my mailbox. I doubt it will be the last nasty little
package that will be received in the coming weeks.
I'd be interested in hearing from others who find similar unwanted
payloads over the next few days.
Online Shopping's Time Has Come?
Dot-com etailers have been going to the wall this year faster than
most of us can keep count -- but the silly thing is that those who
have been able to tread water long enough and who have their fulfillment
systems sorted out are (by all reports) doing very well right now.
The Christmas rush, combined with the death of many etail wannabes
has left those remaining in a good position to post some very impressive
turnovers.
However, that which is etail's greatest strength can also be its greatest
weakness.
By this I mean that you might as well put your mouse away now if you were
planning to do some last-minute online shopping for Christmas.
Why?
Well, with less than a week to go there are only a very few online vendors
that are willing to promise delivery in time for the 25th. If you want that
last minute present for Aunty Maude then you're going to have to leave the
keyboard and fight the crowds on the streets I'm afraid.
Which is why I'm surprised more etailers haven't woken up to the potential
for selling vouchers online.
It seems that every time I visit The Warehouse (in person) you can guarantee, no matter
which check-out queue I join, the person in front of me wants to buy a
dozen gift vouchers for friends and family. This means the poor checkout
operator is burdened with the task of typing in a whole lot of information
through a keyboard not really designed for the task and then positioning
and printing each and every token separately.
If you're unlucky enough to be behind such a person then you might as well
swap queues there and then because I've yet to see this procedure performed
in under 10 minutes -- per voucher!
So why not offer an online system where you can, at 11:30pm on Christmas Eve,
drop into a shop's website, fill out a form, hand over your credit card details
and have your PC print out a valid gift voucher that can be redeemed as soon
as the shop is open for trading again?
Come on retailers -- wake up -- start using the unique power of the Net to
your advantage and to the benefit of your customers. Let's get creative!
Aardvark Weekly, Have You Got Yours?
I'm still sorting out the "features" of the Aardvark Weekly mailing list
so some subscribers won't have yet received the latest edition -- but
I'm planning to clear the backlog today. Please be patient.
If you want to subscribe, just
drop me a note and I'll put you on the list.
As always, your feedback is welcomed and...
Did you tell someone else about this website today? If not then do it
now!
