[Burnaby, CANADA] Future Shop, Canadas consumer electronics
retailing powerhouse, is predicting a growth of 20x over last year to
its’ EC business this holiday season, as a result of some new
initiatives.
Future Shop (TSE:FSS) is Canada’s largest retailer and e-tailer of
consumer electronic products, with 88 superstores, five Computer City
stores, and its online superstore.
“In the past three months we have invested over Cdn $1 (US $1.48)
million into our Web site to not only ensure that we are ready for
the increased volume,” said Behzad Khosrowshahi, executive vice
president of Merchandising and Supply Chain, “but also to improve our
navigation and site features.”
DVD, game, and music CD titles have now been added to the extensive
catalog of electronic, computer, communication, and appliance
products available through the site.
Product information and special features now beef up the site as
well, some specific to the holiday season. For example, the Wish List
feature allows registered visitors to select products and add them to
a desiderata list that can then be e-mailed to prospective gift givers.
Future shop has also now extended their familiar brick and mortar
policies to the online shop, including lowest price guarantee and
free delivery. The return policy has also been expanded to allow
returns to the store nearest the customer.
Other enhancements include Price Watch, Product Wizards and Consumer
Reviews features.
Forecasts have generally held that e-tailing would hit its stride
sometime in the future (see:
E-Commerce to Be Profitable in the Distant Future, January 4, 1999). Whether the future has arrived
for Future Shop this holiday season remains to be seen.
http://www.futureshop.ca