Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
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One of the worst kept secrets of recent times has been Telecom's intention
to make an entry into the world of onlince commerce, and finally that website
has gone live.
Ferrit.co.nz (aka ferret.co.nz),
is the result of the telco's efforts.
How did they come up with that name? And that slogan: "Ferrit, Find it,
Buy it". Someone in marketing was smoking some really bad dope if this is the
best they could do.
Maybe they'd just finished a long session at Ferrit.com
and, in their drug and hormone-crazed stupor, the name "ferrit" was all they
could think of. I bet that more than a few old grannies looking to buy a
nice present for little Johny are going to get a nasty shock when they try
the dot-com version of this site! :-)
What's more, I bet they're not going to get too ranked highly by most search engines with the
choice of meta-tags currently in the front page header.
Now "big and brassy" online shopping ventures here in NZ have so far all
scored a common trait: failure, and to be quite honest, I see little reason
to believe that Ferrit is going to be any different.
At least when Flying Pig (RIP) went live they sent me a commemorative plate
as part of their press kit. Perhaps the fact that the logo and writing on it
washed right off the first time I used it was a good clue as to the future
of that venture though.
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But, it was with an open mind that I visited Ferrit to take a look around.
The first thing that struck me about the site was -- nothing.
This site could be any one of a million other online shopping sites.
I'm afraid it has no "killer feature" or edge over its competition, even
though such competition is rather limited and sparse.
The range of products is presently somewhat small, the prices are far from
exceptional and the amount of info on each product is disappointing.
What's more, I simply don't believe much of what I'm, being told on these pages.
For instance, look at this.
Are 1K8 1/4 watt resistors *really* the "hot" item right now? Perhaps they this year's
must-have Christmas gift but somehow I don't think so.
Right now, Ferrit is just a rather lacklustre and ineffectual product index, with
no form of transaction processing -- just referrals to the actual vendor's websites.
This means if you want to buy three or four items listed on Ferrit, you may find
yourself forced to go through three or four different checkouts, typing in your
credit card number as many times and paying individual freight charges on each purchase.
That's *not* effective or efficient online shopping.
What's more, with a number of other price-comparison sites offering the same
kind of service in a far more efficient way, Ferrit is a dull and disappointing
also-ran which, right now, isn't worth the mouse-click it takes to get there.
Gosh, I seem to recall that I said similar things about Flying Pig all those
years ago: no price benefit, no advantage over other purchasing options,
not worth the server-space it's stored on.
Let's remember that Flying Pig was backed by the mighty Whitcoulls chain who
at that time, had a lot of retail muscle and a mighty good inventory of product.
Despite these advantages, it flopped big-time.
Telecom sure has a lot of marketing muscle but has no inventory and its this
Ferrit is about as airworthy as that Pig, in my humble opinion.
Of course I mine is just one (rather cynical) opinion and could be wrong (this time).
What do readers think of Ferrit? Is it another lame duck or have I overlooked
something obvious here.
By the way Telecom, if you want a "killer feature" for Ferrit, just drop me a line,
there's one in my notebook of million-dollar ideas and it was the next part of
my plans for 7am.com that I never got to implement.
Tell us all and see what others have to say in
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