One Short Story, Three Very Important Lessons
October 25th, 2008I buy a lot of books online. So many, in fact, that I built my own website (Booku.com) which searches the big online stores and locates the best prices for me. It’s nothing fancy, but it does the trick.
The other day, I received an inquiry from someone representing another online book retailer, requesting that I add their store to my roster. So I checked them out.
My first impression was, “Ah, yes, I remember them”. I had been there before but had departed after several seconds, without venturing past the home page. I couldn’t remember why. I investigated, and here’s what I discovered this time:
On the top left, there’s a button that says “Save on Christian Books, Music, and Bibles”. The top right says something about “Desecration”. I also noticed the word “FaithPoint” mentioned a few times.
After a quick view of the site I jumped to this conclusion: It’s a bookstore specializing in Christian books and religious products. Perfect, if only I had a hankering for, let’s say, an audio version of the Bible on CD.
But, upon further investigation, I discovered something fantastic:
They actually had a great inventory of all kinds of books – not just religious titles. New books, used books, and hard-to-find books. (Who would have known? Why did they hide it? Did they even KNOW they were hiding it?) But, here’s the kicker…
Every title I searched was at least 10% cheaper than could be found at Amazon.com (you get the extra discount when you purchase a $5 membership – but I think it’s worth it.) In addition, they had titles I had previously searched at Amazon, but couldn’t find. They even offered something I have yet to see online: the ability to order individual issues of magazines (not just subscriptions).
I decided to go shopping.
After filling up my cart with five magazines and a wee tiny book, I was a bit surprised to see the total price considerably higher than I expected. When I got to the bottom of the list, I saw the shipping charge for UPS ground service (3-7 business days – ugh) was almost ten bucks ($3.25 plus $.99 per item). For what? A few magazines and a book? These items would probably fit in a USPS flat rate envelope for three and change.
At about this time, I could hear the voices in my head (no, not THOSE voices) screaming: “Abandon cart! Abandon cart!”
Which is just what I did.
This isn’t just a silly little story about me being a cheapskate. There’s more. If you sell anything online that has to be shipped, pay close attention here…
“Shipping And Handling Charges Deter 63 Percent Of Consumers >From Buying Online…”
“…Survey reveals that 73 percent of consumers evaluate the total price of products, including S&H, before making an online purchase.”
“…Companies that are profiting on S&H run the risk of increasing distrust among consumers.”
“New research indicates that weight-based shipping and handling costs will minimize merchants’ and consumers’ risks”
