Internet Shopper Seeking More

It’s 1970 again. And the world shops at Naum Brothers.

It dawned on me during the ’08 Christmas shopping season…

I’m what you might call a reluctant shopper. I’d be quite happy if I never had to go to the mall, but living with 4 women and store checks for work make that nearly impossible. I do avoid the mall though, and just about any store other than Wegmans, Barnes & Noble and occasionally Dicks for essentials.

It started during a holiday shopping season many years ago. I became a catalog shopper. Somewhere along the line I innocently bought something I saw in someone else’s catalog and ended up on dozens of mailing lists. It was early December and I was working late again. I was determined to avoid the stress of procrastination THIS TIME!

I started browsing catalogs to get ideas about gifts for family and friends. I marked the pages so I could come back and compare. The pictures were vivid, production values high and there was just enough romance copy to convince me my wife would just love that emergency chain ladder for the kid’s bedroom! Ordering three of the latest electronic gizmos was a great solution for the kids - and shipping was free! I didn’t have to go to the mall. I didn’t have to go anywhere! I was hooked. By the time I finished my spree I needed only one trip to Sears for some nifty tool for Dad. Could have gotten that too but I didn’t have a Sears catalog. I thought I’d never have to go to the store again…

Then came the internet. Now I didn’t have to collect the catalogs from the mail. I didn’t have to dial. Didn’t even have to talk to anybody on the phone! With my card and security code in hand I could shop the world in minutes. And I felt smart, too. I was right up there with the best of the smart shoppers! Cross-checking prices, availability and shipping charges before I clicked the fateful “send” button. I tossed my catalogs (and everyone else’s in the house) into the blue bin on the way in from the mailbox. I’d never have to pickup a catalog again.

But last year I noticed something. Actually something missing… there were no more beautiful still life product photos, no beautiful models in exotic places. I found myself even missing the romance copy (I guess some people actually DO read the copy, sorry Rob). It was hard to tell what that coat actually looked like that I was buying for my wife – it was only 2 inches tall!! As a mater of fact, EVERYTHING WAS TWO INCHES TALL!!! And all the stores started looking the same. Was I at Bluefly? Or Neiman Marcus? Did I buy those iPods from Apple or Amazon? No matter where I shopped the products were all tiny little pictures and a product number on a white page. I told myself I didn’t care. I hated shopping anyway!

But I did care. I felt like I had bought all my gifts at Naum Brothers!?! (historical note for those under 40: a discount catalog that everybody got in the mail with small photos of all the products and a couple lines of copy and a price). I was buying thousands of dollars worth of stuff based on a 2-inch photo, 3 bullets and a price! At least Naum Brothers had a showroom where you could actually see the products before you bought them.

My blogstory ends with a dilemma and a solution. The dilemma is that I don’t really like shopping on the internet anymore. It’s sterile and small. I miss catalog covers and big beautiful product photos. I miss beautiful models in exotic places. Hell, I miss packages and shelves full of them in different varieties and sizes. I miss logos and graphics and colors and diagrams and… I miss the romance copy! I miss big holiday sales signs and endcaps! I miss the gorgeous displays in the cosmetics departments and the interactive displays in electronics. Did I say I missed beautiful models in exotic places?… I miss all of it, but I still don’t like shopping and I refuse to go back to the mall.

I want the stores to come to me. I want them to try harder and not surrender to the web techies’ databases and shopping cart software and 2-inch picture on white background specs. I have a 24-inch screen and high-speed internet. I want more. So I did something about it.

And I can show you… contact me at info@forwardbranding if you need help with the shopping experience in your online store and I’ll tell you about WebPOS 2.0TM.

- Jim (see my page)