Word: marteli
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...front of a mid-'50s Chevy, powder blue. We all wonder who the model is. Anyone we know? The girls giggle more. We're suddenly pals, they and all hitchers instantly familiar, completely at ease--as if we've picked up classmates on the way to the mini-mart. Safety here is assumed, trust a given. Where is there danger in Cuba? This is unclear...
...first strike is planned for New Year's Day, when Wal-Mart has said it will launch a redesign of the site, adding photo and travel services and expanding the menu to 600,000 items (superstores typically stock about 100,000). The company also promises to link the site to its 2,485 stores in 50 states, allowing online purchases to be returned off-line. "We'll even refund the shipping charges," says Glenn Habern, Wal-Mart's Web war chief...
...changes move Wal-Mart closer to the "clicks-and-mortar" approach to e-tailing. But Balter isn't expecting a watershed event. The company will improve its online operations, he says, "at a pace it feels it needs to go at to win--and it usually wins." Wal-Mart's loyal demographic--mainstream folks, not tech geeks--will be sidling up to spanking-new, sub-$500 PCs from Santa just as the new-and-improved wal-mart.com is making its debut. So Wal-Mart just might be their ride to the party...
Mighty America Online just signed up to help pass out the punch. Last week Wal-Mart and AOL confirmed plans to launch a co-branded, low-cost Internet service by next spring. In-store kiosks will help introduce shopping at wal-mart.com--and probably the new ISP--to the yet-untapped market strolling Wal-Mart's aisles...
...Mart does face some challenges. It's the leading logistics company in the world, but it is not set up for shipping directly to consumers, an essential link in the e-commerce chain. To fill the gap, Wal-Mart has contracted Books-A-Million and Fingerhut to pick, pack and ship online orders--most likely a short-term solution. The company will also have to grasp how online shoppers shop. Choosing products to splash on its home page isn't like stocking razor blades by the check-out. "This is where it's behind the learning curve," Cooperstein says...