Shopping Centers Today -> July 2002
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SHOPPING MAY BE TIRESOME...
Jumping in the car, finding a mall parking space and waiting
in line are ever such tiresome pastimes. At least that’s
what Amazon.com is telling people in its first foray into
television advertising. The online merchant is testing TV
commercials in Portland, Ore., and Minneapolis. If the ads
prove effective, the company will expand them to other markets,
announced CEO Jeff Bezos at the company’s annual shareholders’
meeting in May. But clearly, Amazon is not entirely convinced
about the tedium of conventional shopping: Earlier in the
year, the company announced a deal with Borders allowing customers
to pick up their online purchases at Borders’ bookstores.
...BUT IT’S GOOD FOR YOU
Walking across a mall parking lot and through its
hallways is good for you, and certainly a lot more healthful
than sitting at a computer with your credit card, say health
experts, who blame an increasingly sedentary lifestyle for
a doubling of the obesity rate among Americans since 1980.
Online shopping, television remotes and other energy-saving
options have helped make 60 percent of the population obese,
according to Marion Nestle, professor and chairwoman at the
Department of Nutrition at New York University, and author
of several books, including the recently released Food
Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.
“It’s hard to imagine that shopping could be good
for people, but from an activity standpoint, it sure beats
letting your fingers do the walking,” she told SCT.
“This is one more reason why people have so much trouble
keeping weight off.”
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INTERNET PEDALING
While a number of very hefty e-commerce players have gone bust,
some comparatively tiny operations are flourishing online. The Internet
generates a third of sales for Harris Cyclery, a small bicycle shop
in West Newton, Mass., and helps it stay open year-round —
a tough challenge for anyone catering to seasonal activities. The
store, which employs about five staffers, uses its Web site to dispense
free advice, offer hard-to-find parts and bring customers into the
store.
BLUELIGHT.COM TO BECOME KMART.COM
Bankrupt Kmart Corp. plans to switch the name of its e-commerce
arm, BlueLight.com, to Kmart.com this fall. “People know the
Kmart name,” Richard Blunck, BlueLight’s CEO, told the
Detroit Free Press. “We believe this will draw more
people to our site with less confusion.”
ONLINE SALES UP
First-quarter consumer spending over the Internet rose 19 percent versus the same
period last year, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures. Though
the amount people spent online was minuscule in comparison to what
they bought in stores — $9.85 billion compared to $744 billion
— the increase was significantly higher than the 3 percent rise
in store spending for the period. About 40 percent of this online
spending went for travel, a sector that is up 87 percent over last
year. But book and apparel sales declined slightly, according to the
report.
CONSUMERS VALUE PRIVACY — AT ABOUT $100
Though
70 percent of online consumers say they are concerned about online
privacy, few of them are doing much to protect it, according to
a June report by Jupiter Research. Only 40 percent say they read
Web site privacy statements, and 82 percent said they would provide
personal information to e-commerce sites for a chance to win $100.
QUEEN E-LIZABETH
Among the people making a tidy profit from online shopping
is Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. An online store selling souvenirs
from her Balmoral Estate in Scotland is bringing in $219,540 a year,
according to
The (London)
Times, which says it was
provided exclusive access to confidential royal accounts. Merchandise
ranges from teddy bears to scotch. The royal family has had to pay
closer attention to raising revenue in recent years, after public
pressure obliged it to start paying taxes and supporting itself
from the Queen’s income rather than from the public purse.
