The giant merger between Time Warner and America Online is poised to change the business landscape forever, and e-commerce is going to play an integral role in that transformation. In fact, AOL President Robert Pittman was quoted as saying that the merger will allow the two firms to “blow the roof off” their respective e-commerce packages by allowing unprecedented cross-marketing opportunities.
In the following exclusive interview with AOL Vice President of E-Commerce Patrick Gates, conducted just days before the merger was announced, the E-Commerce Times explores the industry through the eyes of its now-undisputed standard-bearer.
I just watched the Subject interview on CNN and wanted to provide some feedback hot off the press concerning a recent purchase I tried to make online... I recently searched online to purchase a Sony HDTV and found that the "Best Deal" was offered exclusively online via Circuit City. When compared to local stores the savings were significant - over $300. Instead of completing the order online, I instead called the company and received an additional $108 in store coupon which was awesome. Once the order was complete, I was transferred to the staff that handles the delivery and that's when the problems started. The staff were actually folks overseas (India?)that spoke unclearly (had to ask them to repeat themseslves and was asked myself to repeat my information over and over) and had a difficult time locating my information that was already provided to the original sales clerk. The original sales clerk told me that my TV would be shipped no later than 3-business days - shipping was included in the deal. Not only did the delivery personnel have a rough time figuring out what I bought but they told me that I had to wait for an email confirmation (don't recall being told that by the sales clerk) of my order prior to scheduling a delivery date - they told me to call back tomorrow. Well, tomorrow came and went and so did the next day and the frustration level began to rise. I figured that the TV and warranty service that I had just purchased which ran just under $3K warranted a higher level of service than what I was receiving so I called and cancelled the order. I went to a local Best Buy store with all of the information I had downloaded online. Best Buy price matched the exact product listed on the Circuit City website that had to be purchased online to get the same deal. Additionally, they gave me another $270 in the form of a rebate, the 4-year service plan only cost me $250 versus $499 from Circuit City and they promised the TV would be delivered on Friday - a 3-day turn around. I was also told that Best Buy has a "No Lemon" policy which means if they come and have to fix the new TV 3-times they will just replace it with another one!!! Without making a generality, I would beg to say that E-commerce still has bugs to work out - that's as PC as I can get, I would like to use a few other choice words about my experience but will refrain. Taking the time to research the product you intend to purchase online is key. Once you've gathered all your information, head to a local store and show them what you've found and ask them how they might accomodate your purchase and "sweeten the deal" so that you might actually buy it from them and you may be pleasantly surprised at what they come up with. Happy Holidays and Happy shopping - it's your hard earned money! Sincerely Matthew
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Exclusive Interview: America Online, Patrick Gates, Vice-President of E-Commerce
Posted by: Joshua Wilner January 12, 2000 12:00 AMThe giant merger between Time Warner and America Online is poised to change the business landscape forever, and e-commerce is going to play an integral role in that transformation. In fact, AOL President Robert Pittman was quoted as saying that the merger will allow the two firms to “blow the roof off” their respective e-commerce packages by allowing unprecedented cross-marketing opportunities.
In the following exclusive interview with AOL Vice President of E-Commerce Patrick Gates, conducted just days before the merger was announced, the E-Commerce Times explores the industry through the eyes of its now-undisputed standard-bearer.
I recently searched online to purchase a Sony HDTV and found that the "Best Deal" was offered exclusively online via Circuit City. When compared to local stores the savings were significant - over $300.
Instead of completing the order online, I instead called the company and received an additional $108 in store coupon which was awesome. Once the order was complete, I was transferred to the staff that handles the delivery and that's when the problems started.
The staff were actually folks overseas (India?)that spoke unclearly (had to ask them to repeat themseslves and was asked myself to repeat my information over and over) and had a difficult time locating my information that was already provided to the original sales clerk.
The original sales clerk told me that my TV would be shipped no later than 3-business days - shipping was included in the deal. Not only did the delivery personnel have a rough time figuring out what I bought but they told me that I had to wait for an email confirmation (don't recall being told that by the sales clerk) of my order prior to scheduling a delivery date - they told me to call back tomorrow. Well, tomorrow came and went and so did the next day and the frustration level began to rise.
I figured that the TV and warranty service that I had just purchased which ran just under $3K warranted a higher level of service than what I was receiving so I called and cancelled the order.
I went to a local Best Buy store with all of the information I had downloaded online. Best Buy price matched the exact product listed on the Circuit City website that had to be purchased online to get the same deal. Additionally, they gave me another $270 in the form of a rebate, the 4-year service plan only cost me $250 versus $499 from Circuit City and they promised the TV would be delivered on Friday - a 3-day turn around.
I was also told that Best Buy has a "No Lemon" policy which means if they come and have to fix the new TV 3-times they will just replace it with another one!!!
Without making a generality, I would beg to say that E-commerce still has bugs to work out - that's as PC as I can get, I would like to use a few other choice words about my experience but will refrain.
Taking the time to research the product you intend to purchase online is key. Once you've gathered all your information, head to a local store and show them what you've found and ask them how they might accomodate your purchase and "sweeten the deal" so that you might actually buy it from them and you may be pleasantly surprised at what they come up with.
Happy Holidays and Happy shopping - it's your hard earned money!
Sincerely Matthew