As the holidays approach, the emerging retail culture of the
Internet presents an alternative to the bustle of the mall. The world of
shopping has discovered the world of the Net, and the massive
investment in virtual storefronts and other similar Net presences has
been astounding. At the same time, retail outlets are searching for the
magic formula that can create an Internet business success story.
Hundreds of stores have joined the rush toward the Internet. Like
practically everything else, their virtual storefronts are plastered
with "Under Construction" signs, as they strive to develop a workable
interface. And plenty of companies are discovering that the hype does
not yet equal the actual consumer demand.
Even so, the projects involving financial transactions on the Net
and the experimentation with different approaches to Internet
marketing demonstrate the large number of people who expect an
increasing use of the network for retailers. This move not only affects
the holiday shopper, but is of interest to anyone involved with
purchasing as well. Need a new computer for the library, an ergonomic
chair for the office, a translator for brochures, or a new bestseller to
take on a trip? Even if you choose not to purchase the item on the Net,
it can be an excellent way to research a purchase, compare the
specifications for competing products, and see who is on the Net.
The variety of virtual storefronts, virtual malls, and online
businesses is as eclectic as any downtown shopping district or
suburban mall. Computer manufacturers, bookstores, music outlets,
department stores, and even a restaurant or two dot the backwaters
and main streets of the Internet. From the one-person operation to an
industry giant, the matrix of virtual shopping is quite broad. Their
Internet presence can be as simple as a glorified business card: store
name, address, phone number, and logo. Alternatively, a full
multimedia set of Web pages could include a fully illustrated database
of products and product information.
The product databases being developed by the retail sector show
many limitations, but they can also be a useful information source.
Knowing about the problems of secure transactions for purchasing and
some alternatives help in deciding whether to risk shopping on the Net.
An alternative to retail software can be found at the Virtual
Shareware Library and in the one area of gift buying where the Internet
is the best place to shop: the shareware archives.
CATALOGS AS DATABASES
At least one essential component to the magic Internet success
formula is creating an online version of the company catalog. An online
listing of available products is essential for communicating with
potential customers. The old print standard of mail-order catalogs
exemplifies the range of ways in which an online counterpart can be
designed. The least expensive print catalog may be a simple
alphabetical or classified listing of products, with brief text
descriptions and no pictures. The graphic capabilities of the World
Wide Web present a very attractive option for the glossy catalog. Video
clips and sound clips can be included, and for the software provider,
demonstration programs can be easily distributed.
Despite all of the multimedia capabilities, if the product
information is not available for browsing and searching in a database
with full descriptive information, consumers are likely to turn away.
Spending some time in the commercial portion of Web space will
quickly illustrate how little many well-intended companies know
about database construction. Sometimes the interface to the product
database will not even work. At other sites, the catalog includes less
than a dozen items. In most cases, the database of product information
contains only the basics.
Take a well-known Oregon bookstore as an example of both the
positives and negatives. Powell's Technical Books
(http://technical.powells.portland.or.us) boasts a huge inventory of
new and used titles. With a database of its available titles, it offers a
large collection for the book buyer and a substantial database of
information on books. However, the database could be greatly expanded.
It does not yet include the entire Powell's collection. Search options
are available for title, author, publisher, and subject, and some
primitive AND and OR functionality can be used. The database records
include only those four fields plus the ISBN, the number in stock, and
the price. No pagination, tables of contents, or cover blurbs are
included. Sometimes information is incomplete for a record, (only the
principal author is listed, no publisher is included, or titles may be
truncated). Abbreviations are often used and can create a difficult
search situation. The subject browsing capability is being improved
and has not always been available. Like many other sites, Powell's is
under development and promises significant future improvements,
including access to the complete Powell's inventory, an extended
search option, and even an option for browsing "the stacks with the aid
of a graphical map of the store."
An incomplete and occasionally inaccurate database may be good
enough for some stores, if the customers only need basic information
about items. But the less detailed the database, the fewer the possible
search options. Having a bookstore with Powell's reputation on the Net
with even a partial online database of their inventory is wonderful. In
the best of all worlds, I would like to see complete bibliographic
information, book reviews, an image of the cover, and excerpts.
Expecting any bookstore to be able to add all of this information easily
(and inexpensively) is unrealistic. Powell's mentions trying to add
some reviews and other improvements to the database and search
engine, but the most significant improvement will be having their
complete catalog online.
The paucity of the database records in many online storefronts is
similar to Powell's. The Compact Disc Connection
(telnet://cdconnection.com) packs their descriptions into a two-line
display. This kind of brief product description makes it difficult to
browse in the virtual shops. The product databases can work well for
known item searches, but for the kind of shopping where the customer
wanders through the store, picking up and examining individual items
and then deciding about the purchase, the online storefront has a long
way to go.
SECURITY
One of the most common worries with creating efficient and
trustworthy online commerce concerns the security of financial
transactions that occur over the network. How can money be sent from
the customer to the virtual cash register? Credit cards provide the
most obvious answer, but who wants to send their card number across
the wide open Internet? Theoretically, it is possible for an
unscrupulous system operator to view the card number as it passes by
as an encapsulated package. An unencrypted message containing such
information is certainly at risk, but consider the vast amount of
information flowing over the network and the general lack of time
available to system administrators. Is it really any greater risk than a
sales clerk in a mall? Only time will give an adequate comparison, but
as long as consumers doubt the safety of the transfer, there is a
problem for the retail merchants.
A number of different, and perhaps competing, solutions to the
problem are under development. One of the better known is the secure
transaction capability built into the Netscape browser and server.
Netscape uses encryption technology to create secure transmittal of
Web forms, the most likely place for a credit card number. By
encrypting the packets sent through the Internet, sensitive
information should be safe, even if there is a sysop with free time and
the urge to look at packets passing through a node. Netscape browser
preferences can be set so that a warning is issued every time insecure
forms are submitted. This seems to be an effective method of
transaction, but only for those who use Netscape. Other recent
browsers and servers also incorporate encryption technology which is
sometimes compatible with Netscape, and sometimes not.
As the various encryption and security features are being
developed, there are still other, very easy solutions to the security
problem that are available to all of the Internet citizenry, i.e.,
browsing the information and selecting the purchase online but sending
the orders offline. Many companies suggest faxing or phoning the credit
card number. Others offer to set up accounts for customers with a
credit card over the phone or by mail.
Secure transactions for transfer of funds is certainly the major
problem with Internet purchasing, but there are a number of other
significant limitations to the budding online marketplace. Despite the
dramatic rise in registered commercial domains over the past few
years, plenty of major retailers do not yet have a gopher or Web server
up and running, and some have no Internet access at all. While a big-
name retailer may be on the Net, it is still a rare exception that makes
its entire product line available to the Net wanderer. Large department
stores, such as JCPenney (http://www.jcpenney.com), feature
selected items from their catalog, but with a large list of products, it
will take time to put the full catalog online.
FINDING THE STORES
The common theme among all Internet information sources is the
difficulty in locating an applicable resource. There are plenty of
Internet yellow pages in print, but none come anywhere close to
comprehensiveness for businesses on the Net. Online directories, such
as Yahoo, or search engines, such as Lycos or InfoSeek, can help the
Internet shopper find an appropriate storefront, but even the online
sources suffer from their inability to be up-to-the-minute. Stores
come and go on the Net much quicker than they ever could downtown or
in a mall.
One of the best starting points is in the Yahoo directory
(http://www.yahoo.com) in the Business: Corporations classification.
Virtual malls provide an opportunity for more in-depth searches. Yahoo
has over 100 of them under Business: Corporations: Shopping Centers,
and each mall can have dozens of stores. What is missing from all of
the directory listings is a way to quickly distinguish the big stores
from the small specialty shops, the storefronts with three items from
the one with 300 and a network-wide product index.
Two strategies can be the most successful. For the known item
search, try to find the company with Yahoo, Lycos, or InfoSeek. Once
you find a company's central server, it is usually, but not always, easy
to find where the product information is located. The second strategy
is to look for the type of product. Once again, start with Yahoo and then
expand out to InfoSeek and Lycos. But don't spend too much time
looking. There are still plenty of stores and products not yet on the
Net.
SHAREWARE
For the do-it-yourself gift buyer, the vast archives of freeware,
shareware, and demonstration programs avoid the problems with
secure funds transactions and locating the proper storefront. The
shareware archives have been around on the Internet long before there
was much of a commercial presence. Even so, they continue to be an
excellent source of software. These archives were typically available
by FTP and spawned one of the first Internet finding-aid databases,
archie. The old text-based archie and its more graphical descendants
are still a useful database for finding files by name. However, for
those with a Web browser, the Virtual Shareware Library (VSL) offers
an excellent alternative and much improved keyword search (Figure 1).
VSL originated in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Mirror sites are now available
all over the world. For the U.S., try http://www.acs.oakland.edu/cgi-bin/shase. The complete list of mirrors is at http://www.fagg.uni-lj.si/SHASE/mirrors.htm.
The VSL features several different databases of software. From the
first screen, the user can choose whether to search the MS Windows,
Mac, DOS, UNIX, OS/2, Atari, or Amiga archives. Then the search form
at the next stage (Figure 2) includes lines for keyword searches, often
based on the one-line descriptions in a README file, truncated
filenames, and a date limit. The display of the results demonstrates
the significant improvements that have occurred on the Internet. After
choosing a specific file to retrieve, multiple sites are listed where
the file can be found. In addition, just select the hypertext link and the
file will start transferring.
As with archie, the most recent version number of a particular
program may take a while to find its way into the database. Thus, a
search in VSL for a recently released demonstration program, such as
MoreMem version 4, pulled up nothing. One simple strategy is to avoid
searching on the version number. Having seen a reference to MoreMem4
without a location in a Usenet posting, I turned to VSL and tried a
search on moremem4 as a partial filename. When nothing turned up, I
truncated the search to moremem and pulled up a number of hits for
moremem3.zip. By taking this location and substituting the 4 for the 3,
I was able to retrieve the appropriate file. Not all the mirror sites
update at the same time, so occasionally it might be wise to try the
same search at different mirror sites when looking for the most
recent version of a program.
For the computer-inclined, pull in some freeware, load it on a disk,
and wrap it. Or find some shareware for a colleague and pay the
shareware fee as a gift. Whether shopping for the holidays or for your
business, take some time this holiday season to explore the virtual
malls, try the latest secure transactions tools, or take a look at the
software archives. Then determine for yourself whether the world of
retail trade is destined to come online.
Communications to the author should be addressed to Greg R. Notess, Montana State University Libraries, Bozeman, MT 59717-0332; 406/994-6563; Fax 406/994-2851; Internet-- greg@notess.com ; http://www.notess.com.
Copyright © 1995, Online Inc. All rights reserved.