ETD: 790 Electronic commerce how-to; The Fingerprint As
Password; Massive Sears Rollout of Symbol Self-Service Kiosks
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Jun 1 12:14:08 GMT 2004
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0790 June 1, 2004
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Electronic commerce how-to
[3] The Fingerprint As Password
[4] Massive Sears Rollout of Symbol Self-Service Kiosks
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
I hope those who had a long holiday weekend had a successful and/or
relaxing one. In the U.S. it was Memorial Day; in the Ukraine and other
countries it was Holy Trinity Day.
Today I wrote a piece on starting an e-commerce business. Actually it's a
framework with questions, which I would like our list members to expand on
with your experiences. What do you think?
I saw an interesting new product for use of passwords on your computer - a
device that reads your password and links in through the USB port. I can
envision this technology being build into computers (especially
laptops). Thoughts?
Finally, Sears is rolling out new self-service kiosks to allow customers to
verify prices in the aisle rather than at the checkout counter. To me it
sounds like a band aid on poor inventory management. It sounds like they
are saying their products are not labelled properly, and you, the customer,
should check it out before reaching the checkout so they don't have to call
for a price check. Get your inventory tagging under control!
Tell us about your business which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?" site. We just updated all those postings that
we were delinquent with the
updates. http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm And we have
a form there for you to tell us about you. As I said when I first proposed
this idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we often don't
know anything about each other. So, tell us who you are and what you do.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Electronic commerce how-to
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Many new list members want to know how to set up an e-commerce site. So I
decided to put together some thoughts on the basics to consider when
developing an e-commerce business.
We have all heard the stories of poor e-commerce sites - even those from
major corporations like ToysRUs and United Airlines. Often companies buy
packaged software or even obtain freeware and then try to modify it to
satisfy their needs. So what does it take to develop a good e-commerce site?
1: Decide if You're Serious about E-commerce. The "Field of Dreams" theory
("Build it and they will come") never did work. In addition to building a
site it has to work and it has to be easy to use.
2. Back-end system. What will you use to manage your business in the
warehouse or office? I have seen many companies who failed because of
disjointed software applications. At one consulting engagement I was on,
the company took orders online, transferred them to a spreadsheet to be
picked, then manually entered them into an accounting system to be
billed. For order to cash took 10 days, even though they had SSL for
credit cards.
3. Stop already! If you are modifying or writing a new package bring the
project to a conclusion. Too many companies go on and on with
customizations and never get the project finished, which means they miss
the market, and develop bad will with their customers.
4. Hosting and database design. Where do you host your site? Do you keep
history online? Do you provide conveniences like allowing your customer to
use a stored credit card (which means stored online, subject to hacking
attempts)? Do you need to make real-time decisions online, e.g., that the
merchandise is available and the customer can make selections based on
their input? What type database and server will you use?
SQL? Oracle? Access? Each has it's advantages and disadvantages which
need to be analyzed relative to your operation and your future plans. The
site can't crash on day one as it did with ToysRUs!
5. Warehousing and shipping. Will you warehouse the inventory or
outsource it? What delivery method will you use? If you ship nationwide
(or globally), how do you handle any taxes or legal issues (e.g., in
Germany the cost of product has to include delivery and taxes)?
6. Customer service. How are you going to keep your customers happy? Do
preferred customer get special treatment? Do first time buyers get special
treatment so they come back? Will you have an online customer service
mechanism with a live person helping? Will you provide 24/7 telephone
access? Are you going to outsource and of these functions? If so, how do
you control them?
7. Website. Will you use shopping baskets? Do you need graphics to show
products (don't get carried away)? Will you take credit cards (a
must)? Do you need to show inventory available? Will you calculate
estimated shipping date? The website needs to be easy to use and
quick. Many customers get frustrated with the checkout process and give up
(abandon shopping carts). It has been reported that 75% of potential
customers abandon their shopping cart. Most common reason? Too many
steps. There are some excellent articles on checkout that you should
read. My favorite is
http://www.clickz.com/experts/design/traffic/article.php/2245891
What do you think?
George
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[3] The Fingerprint As Password
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Biometrics is the science behind using a part of the body, such as a
fingerprint or the iris of an eye, to replace a password.
The Biometric Password Manager from American Power Conversion plugs into
the USB port of your PC. It sits on the desktop and whenever a password
would be needed, you use a fingerprint to sign in. Software running on the
PC associates the fingerprint with the user name and password and
automatically enters them both and signs in the user.
It integrates easily with a browser, too. Aside from the system log-in, the
software can be trained to remember the sign-in information for a Yahoo!
mail account. Once it was set up correctly, the fingerprint sign you in
smoothly and instantaneously to check e-mail.
The software also allows encryption of files on a PC. Say you've got an
Excel workbook containing data you'd rather people outside your company
didn't see, but which you don't need to refer to very often. You can lock
it up with a password, but after several months that password may be
difficult to remember. The fingerprint system makes that process easy.
The unit is available for about $50. The software supports Microsoft
Windows, starting with Windows 98, but doesn't support the Mac operating
system. Mac users who want fingerprint security should investigate a
similar device from Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ), called the Puppy,
which we'll test sometime in the future.
Overall, APC's Biometric Password Manager seems a good value, offering a
relatively simple method to avoid password overload.
Details at...
http://www.forbes.com/2004/05/21/cx_ah_0521tentech_print.html
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[4] Massive Sears Rollout of Symbol Self-Service Kiosks
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Sears deploys an in-store price-check solution based on the Symbol MK 2000
Micro Kiosk to approximately 870 full-line stores in the U.S. and Puerto
Rico. The retailer is using the kiosks to enable customers to self-scan
items to verify prices. By allowing shoppers to self-check the price of an
item within an aisle, Sears speeds the checkout process, which helps
shoppers. By reducing the volume of price checks at checkout, it is also a
productivity gain for Sears, as fewer items need to be restocked.
"At Sears, we are focused on our customers," says Mike LeRoy, Sears
director of retail systems. "The Symbol MK 2000's inherent computing
intelligence and intuitive interface easily lets shoppers access the
information they need, quickly and effectively," says LeRoy. "The Symbol MK
2000 is yet another way Symbol is helping us offer customers an enhanced
shopping experience and driving customer loyalty."
The deployment of the Symbol MK 2000 complements another Symbol enterprise
mobility solution already installed at Sears. The retailer is using nearly
20,000 Symbol wireless hand-held mobile computers to perform critical
in-store, browser-based applications such as inventory, price change,
merchandise pickup, receiving and replenishment. Enabling customers to
capture, move and manage critical information to the point of business
activity is the core of Symbol's enterprise mobility system.
Details at...
http://www.imakenews.com/edgellris/e_article000263616.cfm?x=b3bw2cy,b1PJcv1q
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Links to follow
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Prior to 29 Dec
1999 http://etailersdigest.com/archives/index.htm
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