Road Trip! Shopping the Internet

By Van Landrum

'In Van Landrum's latest Road Trip, he provides us an alternative to the crush of holiday crowds--shopping on the Internet. Settle into your easy chair, grab your mouse, and display your fondest gift selections.'

It's November, and it's time to think about what to get Aunt Millie and the rest of the extended family for the holidays. But if you're like me, your time is constrained and you just can't seem to face the crowded malls. So let's jump into the WebExplorer for a road trip to the mall on the Internet.

Shopping on the Internet has received a lot of press lately, both good and bad. Much has been said about security issues and whether or not shopping on the "net" will survive. A lot of work is being done now to find ways to make it safe to use your credit card on the Internet. While you wait for these security issues to be resolved, shop for what you want on the Internet, then order by phone. You should, however, know something about the company before placing your order.

Let's look at a few of the World-Wide Web (WWW) shopping sites available today.

Branch Mall at [] has good variety in its retail selection. Categories offered include flowers and plants, food, books and magazines, music and videos, cosmetics, and home products. An education section offers toys, books, and other products for sale, all designed to bring science to life.

In Branch Mall's "hobbies, toys, and novelties" section you will find the Santa Letter. On this page, you can fax or mail a letter with a North Pole postmark from Santa to a child (or adult) on your Christmas list.

For the adults on your list, a two-bottle package of Forest Hill Chardonnay might be the perfect gift. Forest Hill is produced in the Napa valley by vintners David and Kathy Manace and was featured in the April issue of Smart Money and the ''Wall Street Journal Magazine of Personal Business''. Check out the wine selections at [].

For your cyberspace friends, you might choose the Cyberspace Navigator hat--a black baseball cap with a five-color logo embroidered on the front ([]).

The Internet Shopping Network (ISN) at [] was bought by the Home Shopping Network in September 1994. The products are primarily technology items, but a wider variety of choices (home and office, flowers, specialty stores, gourmet foods) is being added. You must first be a member of ISN to buy from them. Membership, however, is free and only a phone call away.

Hammacher Schlemmer (see Figure 1) offers many unique products through ISN, including items for the home, travel, and collectibles. They offer a nice layout, effective graphics, and extensive product descriptions.



'''Figure 1. Hammacher Schlemmer on the Internet''' Spiegel has a Web site called "dotSpeigel" at []. This high tech, trendy site uses the latest hypertext markup language (HTML) technology. While Spiegel's site doesn't offer a lot of products online, there are some interesting articles. In fact, they call their site a "'magalog'--a 21st century, interactive magazine where you can get great ideas on fashion, entertaining, and home decorating; give us immediate feedback and tips about how we can serve you better; and buy everything you can see ( with online ordering coming soon)."

The Sharper Image (see Figure 2) has an online catalog at [] that is also quite trendy. Their product categories include automotive, electronics and gadgets, great gifts, health and massage, home and safety, outdoor and garden, and travel and luggage. Good graphics, complete product descriptions, and a secure ordering system make shopping at the Sharper Image easy.



'''Figure 2. Sharper Image on the Internet''' Eddie Bauer is at [] Whew! I know it is a long address, but try it out anyway to access the fine products Eddie Bauer has to offer. Eddie Bauer provides nice color photos of its products and complete descriptions. To order, call their 800 number.

MecklerWeb has an Internet Mall at []. As of this writing, there were 3,281 companies listed in the Internet Mall. Unlike the other malls, these are listings of other WWW sites. If you have a particular company in mind, you can look them up at this Web site to see if they are on the Web.

These are just a few of the retail malls you can access via the Web. Search MecklerWeb to find more online stores or use the WebCrawler at [] to search the Web for your favorite store. By "Web-shopping" online you can find gift ideas or purchase gifts, and then have the gifts sent to your friends and relatives. After shopping the "net," you can go to your local mall to listen to the music, watch the shoppers, and enjoy the atmosphere--knowing your holiday shopping is done!