Thinking Outside the Box

Frequent specials and discounts. Substantial discounts can overcome the barriers that some shoppers have to purchasing online, and, since price comparison is a simple matter on the Web, the best price will often win when it comes to commodities. Even among unique brand names, online discounts are traffic builders and sales motivators. Actively promoted specials can yield even bigger results—even too big if the site isn’t equipped for bursts of heavy traffic. For example, an e-mail promotion of J. Crew’s (www.jcrew.com) October Clearance caused such heavy traffic that the site turned shoppers away. By the time traffic had eased, much of the clearance stock was gone.