Shopping Centers Today -> July 2001
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THE LONG GOOD-BYE
Target Corp. is using the Internet to lead the way in the conversion
of its Dayton’s and Hudson’s department stores to the
Marshall Field’s banner. The company announced in January it
would scrap the Dayton’s and Hudson’s names and bring
them under the Marshall Field’s umbrella. But while the names
remained on the stores at press time, Minneapolis-based Target began
redirecting all Internet visitors to the Hudson’s and Dayton’s
Web sites to its redesigned www.marshallfields.com site.
LA IMAGEN MÁS CLARA
The Sharper Image has launched a Spanish-language version of its
U.S. Web site to increase its appeal among the 33 million Latinos
living in the United States. "We have enjoyed a strong Hispanic
base among our best customers," said Richard Thalhaimer, founder,
chairman and CEO of The Sharper Image, in a company press release.
"Our top-ranked stores in Houston, Miami, New York and California
serve many Spanish-speaking shoppers, from both the United States
and from Latin America."
WIRED COFFEE DRINKERS
Starbucks is wiring up its cafes to provide Internet access to clients
and a computer link with its headquarters. But don’t call them
Internet cafes. "We’re really trying to stay away from the
term ’Internet cafe,’" Megan Behrbaum, a Starbucks spokeswoman,
told SCT. The reason, she said, is the company is anxious for customers
to know their experiences won’t change. Starbucks, which has
signed a deal with Compaq for the equipment, is first wiring up
locations in Dallas, San Francisco and Seattle, and expects ultimately
to offer the service at about 70% of its company-owned cafes, she
said.
CLICKS, BRICKS AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
Multichannel retailers are scoring higher for customer service than
Internet-only e-tailers, according to a survey by Andersen, the
accounting and business advisory firm; only 9% of respondents said
they derived more customer satisfaction from pure plays. But nearly
half complained a lack of coordination between channels is "somewhat
of a problem," the survey found. In-store kiosks are an effective
way to provide cross-channel service, Andersen concluded. "Never
give customers a reason to look elsewhere," said Joe O’Leary,
Andersen’s global managing partner, customer and channels solutions.
"Kiosks create barriers to switching, are convenient for the customer
and prevent the store from losing sales."
BIBLIOFIND LOST
Bibliofind.com, a popular Web site that gives those searching for a book a worldwide
list of booksellers and prices, has merged its site with Amazon
and all but disappeared. The company suffered a blow in March when
it discovered that hackers had downloaded the names, addresses and
credit card numbers of 98,000 customers. Bibliofind immediately
shut down its payment system, forcing customers to contact booksellers
separately to arrange payments. The May 7 merger with Amazon’s
site — Amazon has owned bibliofind since 1999 when
it acquired its parent company, Exchange.com — had nothing
to do with the security breach, according to Amazon. But it does
mean customers once again can pay for their books online, a spokeswoman
said. You won’t find the name bibliofind on Amazon’s site,
but, for now, nostalgics typing "bibliofind.com" are redirected
to a page bearing the bibliofind and Amazon names.
