If you have ever visited a "Bricks and Mortar" Apple store and made a purchase, you will almost certainly have experienced the same surprise as me... being offered the opportunitity to pay with your online account.
Needless to say that right from the start I have accepted this offer. I've also beeng delighted with the whole experience - receiving a PDF receipt for the transaction straight to my email address. This helps me to keep my accounts straight. No more scanning in crumpled paper till receipts.
This is amazing. This is Customer Relationship Management in action. The relationship that started online is being extended and strengthened, being made more real, more personal, more complete.
This is also strategic use of Information Technology. Why pay for a separate IT infrastructure and applications to support the bricks and mortar business, when the online applications can with a little adjustment (e.g. the addition of physical payment card processing devices and paper receipt printers for those customers who want them) do the work?
How many other companies have taken their online retailing infrastructure and made it available in store?
Sunday, 22 March 2009
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