The infrastructure already exists too – well, it does here in Italy where there is the ‘Mailbox’ chain. All they would have to do is add a few slightly bigger boxes, then when you make your purchase you decide to have it delivered to a post box near you, you are assigned a number and a PIN code. You then get a mail when the item is ready to be picked up and off you trot! The late opening is not a bad idea either. You just go in, find the box with a your number on it and enter the PIN code to open it. The only problem, and it is a big one, is that such a system would make fraudulent credit card purchases very easy. A solution to this problem would need to be found.

It may be quite an efficient solution for those of us who do not have a fixed place of work, so to speak, or for situations in which bosses are not too happy about having personal post delivered to work. TNT do offer a similar service here in Italy, in conjunction with local stationers etc – you just have your stuff sent to one of these places near your house and pick it up.

A lot of people send their deliveries to work in order to solve this problem!

Not sure why I got the impression you are from the states – must have been the kitesurfing!

I believe that we need easier ways to receive our online purchases. For example, instead of paying for delivery to the purchaser, partnerships with strategically placed local retailers need to be formed. This would mean delivering to one place, and delivering in bulk, thus cutting costs.

Hopefully some of this reduction in costs could be passed onto the customers, after the shops running these pickup points have taken a cut. Lots of figures need to be played with, as well as giving some serious thought to finding the right distribution system model. Not easy, but definitely possible – especially for those retailers who have a on and offline presence.

Regards,

Alex

Maybe you are right saying 08 wont be a milestone – but I think the sector will see very strong performance, and its profile will rise significantly!

Thanks for coming back and sharing your thoughts Alex!

I, personally, am under the impression that on-line prices are not that much lower than off-line prices, and then there is the delivery problem. I’m not always at home to wait for the delivery and have ended up going halfway across town to some out of the way dhl/tnt depot somewhere, and this does put me off buying on line. I don’t know if I’m the only one with this problem though, and I imagine that Italy, where I live is not as well organised as the States.

Will ‘08 be a good year for on-line marketers? Well, I think it will be better than last year, but I still feel that many businesses have yet to wake up to and fully exploit all that the web has to offer, and I don’t foresee as huge change just yet. I think internet marketers are going to have to wait another two or three years yet, but I predict that digital tv may allow more integration between tv and web, to the extent that we’ll all switch to surfing the www while the tv ads are on, although, paradoxically those who surf the web will end up seeing more, and much better targeted, ads than those who stick with the tv.

This will happen, but ‘08 won’t be any milestone, I feel.

I could, however, be very wrong!

Regards,

Alex