posted on Friday, February 25, 2005 8:54 AM
by
thomasswilliams
Get online or get got
Brendan postulates that the Internet is putting companies out of business, and I agree with him (the title of this post is a quote from him). He uses the example of shopping in person at a bookstore vs. shopping online. I know I personally enjoy wandering around book-laden shelves, but when I'm on a mission I find Amazon.com a lot quicker and more complete. The sad thing is, here in Melbourne I don't believe there's any bookstores with an effective online shop. Even Borders just has a crummy contact page.
For Christmas last year, Olivia bought me a Chicago Bulls DVD set that I'd seen here in Melbourne for over $120 AUD. She sneakily ordered it some weeks ahead from Amazon for around $50 AUD (even including shipping). My normal preference is to buy local, but not at $70 for the privilege!
At least some businesses have got it right with a searchable inventory online. Two examples that I have personally purchased stuff from are KA Technologies because their shipping was reasonable, and EzyDVD because I could see what they had in stock and their prices were pretty good too. Taking the good example of these stores I can see that Brendan's quote of “Get online or get got” is not too far away...