AllThingsD » Sams Club

Sam's Club to Use Wi-Fi to Push TVs

Ann Zimmerman — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:00:58 +0000

This holiday season, Sam’s Club is making a big bet on Internet-connected television sets—and hopes that providing free Wi-Fi in its stores will help draw customers to the new technology.

The Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) membership warehouse chain’s more than 500 clubs will be outfitted with Wi-Fi by November. The move is testament to Sam’s Club’s high hopes for Internet TV sets and other Web-enabled devices this holiday shopping season.

By providing Wi-Fi, Sam’s Club says it hopes to help customers better understand such products, which are still relatively new to the market. “This will allow a member to walk up to a Samsung LCD Internet-enabled TV and see how to find his Facebook page or stream video from Vudu,” said Sam’s Club Chief Executive Brian Cornell in an interview. “It is an intimidating category with lots of complexity.”

But Wi-Fi also will allow Sam’s Club shoppers more reliable Internet access on their smartphones in the warehouse, where they can find additional information about what they are buying or check competitors’ prices.

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New Way to Flit from Store to Store

Katherine Boehret — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:16:00 +0000

Imagine going to the mall in search of a new pair of black leather gloves. But this time, rather than starting the search by going straight to your favorite stores, which look familiar and carry recognizable merchandise at expected prices, you must walk to the center of the mall and sort through a giant bucket of gloves with few identifying marks other than price.

Wacky as this scenario sounds, it’s the way many people shop online every day. They look for specific items by searching Web sites like Amazon.com (AMZN) and eBay.com (EBAY), where results are displayed in big lists without much association to stores. That means all the details a customer knows about a store—its ambiance, prices, style, quality and variety—aren’t put to use.

[ See post to watch video ]

This week, I shopped online with Flit.com, a free Web site owned by San Francisco-area company enterONCE LLC that encourages people to shop using the same method they use at the mall: Start inside familiar stores, not in a giant bucket of products. It’s designed so people will enter a search item once and receive multiple suggestions of places where the item might be sold. As shoppers “flit” off to those stores, Flit.com serves as a home base, remembering the original search so shoppers can flit back, choose different stores and shop from there again and again.

I used Flit.com to shop online for black high heels, a digital camera, the iPad (not yet available), a robe, running sneakers and black leather gloves. I found that using it saved me from having to manually enter multiple URLs, and I liked how it helped me shop from store to store, since I already associate certain styles with each.

Select from the list of stores carrying black dresses. The store’s Web site opens to reveal all the black dresses carried there.

A male colleague of mine explained that he doesn’t naturally shop according to stores, so it’s worth noting that Flit.com may appeal to women more than men. I wish Flit.com had a way of combining its store shopping with side-by-side comparisons of the same product; the company plans to add this in March.

The Flit.com shopping process works as follows: Type in a search item, such as “red dress,” then choose to search in Value or Premium stores and press the Enter key. This returns a list of stores from a pool of more than 300 that carry red dresses; store categories can be selected to return more accurate results. Select one store, and its Web site opens to reveal all the red dresses carried there. Search results include stores like Target, Best Buy (BBY), Bloomingdales, Sam’s Club and J. Crew, as well as popular shopping sites like Amazon, NexTag, Buy.com and eBay.

The value behind Flit.com’s method of flitting you out to individual store sites is twofold. First, you still get to shop on a store’s own Web page, many of which were designed to uniquely reflect the store’s spirit and style. Lots of shoppers have saved shipping and credit card information with a store Web site, or they have coupon codes or gift certificates to use there. Shopping on each store’s page rather than on a general shopping site lets them tap into that data.

Type in an item such as ‘black dress’ (above), choosing to search in Value or Premium stores.

Second, after you flit off to a store Web site, an orange button remains in a Flit.com toolbar at the top of the page; click there to return back to home base before flitting off to yet another shopping site. Flit.com will keep a breadcrumb trail of where you have gone in your shopping session, using store icons to represent each site that was visited. You can place a check mark beside sites to remember them.

Flit.com’s search results are only as good as each individual store’s search engine, so if a store doesn’t do a good job of querying its own inventory, you’re out of luck.

The Flit.com home page would benefit from offering more ways to sort stores, such as by price range rather than just by using Value, Premium or alphabetical order—especially because “value” and “premium” mean different things to different people. The company’s CEO says Flit.com will likely add sorting by price and other categories by this spring.

In a hunt for a robe using Flit.com, I was surprised to see that of the 12 top stores that appeared at the top of the list, seven of them didn’t carry robes, according to what the store sites told me when I linked out to them. I asked Flit.com’s CEO about this and he said that search returns don’t filter out some stores that may have limited or no selections, and that this is valuable because it shows shoppers that a certain store doesn’t carry an item—just like physical shopping. I had hoped that one advantage to Flit.com would be less virtual wandering in stores that don’t carry what I am looking for.

Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy Web sites, all owned by the same company, didn’t display the orange toolbar button that returns shoppers to Flit.com because they use their own toolbar at the top of their pages.

It’s too bad that Flit.com’s breadcrumb trail, which tracks where a user has shopped, doesn’t hold specific items. For example, I found the same pair of running sneakers in my size after digging into Web sites for Road Runner Sports and Zappos, but I couldn’t save the shoes anywhere. Flit.com’s CEO says capturing individual products and merging them into the search trail will be offered in March.

Snipi.com, a free shopping site I reviewed last spring, uses a toolbar for holding items that are dragged and dropped into it so they can be remembered and revisited for buying at a later time. Flit searches can be saved or shared with others with the “save your shopping session” button. It prompts the user to enter an email address for sending a Web link of the saved session.

Flit.com is currently funding its operating costs from an original private investment and doesn’t have any formal relationships with the stores where it sends users. The site’s CEO says the company hopes to negotiate a system where it gets paid by the stores, or by third parties, for any business it generates.

After doing a lot of flitting, I noticed a screen between the Flit.com search results page and the store page that asked if I wanted to share Flit with friends, and offered to let me do so through email or a social-networking site like Twitter or Facebook. This screen pops up roughly every 25 flits, according to the company, but it includes a step to skip this and continue to the store’s Web page.

The people working at Flit.com seem to know what the site needs to improve, thus preventing it from being just another fleeting online shopping site. Its shopping trail needs a little help, as do its result categorizations, but the way it lets users shop online starting with familiar stores makes Web shopping comfortable and easy, much like visiting physical stores.

Edited by Walter S. Mossberg.

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Sony's Kindle Competition: Touchscreen Plus AT&T, for $399

Peter Kafka — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:53:57 +0000

Sony did indeed have a bit of news to announce at the New York Public Library: Its most direct challenge to Amazon’s Kindle to date. Like the Kindle, the “Daily” reader will feature a wireless connection–Sony (SNE) will use AT&T (T), while Amazon (AMZN) uses Sprint (S). And unlike the current versions of the Kindle, the Sony device will feature a touchscreen.

But it will come at a price: The device, shown below (click on image to enlarge), will retail in December for $399. That’s $100 more than the current price of Amazon’s Kindle 2. And that price point is almost certain to drop in coming months.

Sony wouldn’t let reporters handle the Daily, and didn’t put it through its paces, either. So hard to get a sense of much here. But here’s a video I shot of Sony exec Steve Haber holding the machine while talking up its virtues — which include free access to books from your public library.

EXTRA, EXTRA: SONY’S DAILY EDITION ROUNDS OUT NEW LINE OF DIGITAL READERS

Wireless 3G Reader Extends Sony’s Commitment to Bring
Open Digital Reading to Mass Audience

NEW YORK, August 25, 2009 Delivering on its promise to give consumers a variety of choices, Sony today announced the third member of its new Reader family–the Reader Daily Edition™, a highly-anticipated wireless model with 3G connectivity. The Daily Edition caps its new line of Reader products, joining the Reader Pocket Edition™ and the Reader Touch Edition™ which were announced earlier this month.
The Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition are available immediately, and the Reader Daily Edition will be available this December in time for the holidays at SonyStyle stores and SonyStyle.com.
“We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division. “Today, we take another large stride to deliver on that promise. We now have the most affordable devices on the market, the greatest access to free and affordable eBooks through The eBook Store from Sony and our affiliated ecosystem, and now round out our Reader offering with a wireless device that lets consumer purchase and download content on the go.”
A Family of Three Readers
The Reader Pocket Edition sports a five-inch electronic paper display packaged in a stylish chassis and is available in a variety of colors, including navy blue, rose and silver. It is available for the ground-breaking price of $199, making it the most affordable dedicated reading device on the market.
The Reader Touch Edition features a responsive, menu-driven six-inch touch screen panel that enables quick, intuitive navigation, page turning, highlighting and note taking with the swipe of a finger or by using the included stylus pen. It comes in red, black or silver and retails for about $299.
The Reader Daily Edition gives consumers wireless access via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network to Sony’s eBook store from just about anywhere in the U.S. Book lovers will be able to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines when and where they want. There are no monthly fees or transaction charges for the basic wireless connectivity and users still have the option to side load personal documents or content from other compatible sites via USB.
The seven-inch wide, touch screen display provides for intuitive navigation and comfortable layout of content, including newspapers and magazines, whether you’re reading in portrait or landscape orientation. In portrait mode, about 30-35 lines of text are visible, making the experience very similar to that of a printed paperback book. A high contrast ratio with 16 levels of grayscale ensures that text and images are crisp and easy to read. The Daily Edition also boasts an attractive aluminum body with an integrated cover for durability. It has enough internal memory to hold more than one thousand standard eBooks and expansion slots for memory cards to hold even more. It will sell for about $399.
All three models feature Sony’s award-winning industrial design and an E Ink® Vizplex™ electronic paper display that emulates the look of ink on paper. Sony’s eBook Library software 3.0, which now includes support for many Apple® Macintosh® computers as well as PCs, makes it easy to transfer and read any Adobe® PDF (with reflow capability), EPUB, Microsoft® Word®, BBeB® files, or other text file formats on the Reader.
Access to Even More Content at the eBook Store by Sony
In addition to announcing a new family of Readers, Sony has also made several changes and improvements to its eBook Store to provide better access to an even greater variety of ebooks. Earlier this summer Sony announced the availability of more than one million free public domain books from Google, and the company made new releases and New York Times bestseller titles available for $9.99.
Today also marks the launch of Sony’s Library Finder application. Sony, working with OverDrive (www.overdrive.com), the leading global digital distributor of eBooks and to libraries, will now offer visitors to the eBook Store by Sony easy access to their local library’s collection of eBooks. Thousands of libraries in the OverDrive network offer eBooks optimized for the Sony Reader, and visitors can now find these libraries by typing their zip code into the Library Finder. Through the selected library’s download website, visitors can check out eBooks with a valid library card, download them to a PC and transfer to their Reader. At the end of the library’s lending period, eBooks simply expire, so there are never any late fees.
The Reader Pocket and Touch Editions, as well as available accessories such as AC adaptors, cases and covers with reading lights, are available now at SonyStyle.com and SonyStyle stores. Book lovers interested in trying out a Reader in person will also be able to find them for sale at Best Buy, BJs, Borders, Sam’s Club, Staples, Target, Toys“R”Us, Wal-Mart and other authorized retailers nationwide.

DIGITAL READING ECOSYSTEM EXPANDS FOR SONY’S READER

NEW YORK, August 25, 2009 Further evidence of the broad support for its open approach to digital reading, Sony today announced relationships with a variety of traditional and digital publishers who provide content in industry standard formats to create a universe of reading material compatible with the Reader.
All of these sites will offer content in the EPUB format, the International Digital Publishing Forum’s (IDPF) XML-based standard format for reflowable digital books and publications. EPUB has gained acceptance among major trade book publishers with dozens of publishers already producing the majority of their eBooks using the standard. Sony recently announced that the company is transitioning its entire content library to the EPUB format, giving consumers the freedom to purchase or download free eBooks from the eBook Store by Sony and read them on any EPUB-compatible device.
“From the beginning, we have said that an open format means more choice for consumers,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division. “Now, working with other industry leaders, we can provide a device that is compatible with the widest selection of content available. Readers can shop around for what interests them rather than be locked into one store.”
Sony’s eBook Store already provides access to more than one million public domain Google Books in EPUB format and, starting today, Sony’s Library Finder application will go live. Library Finder offers visitors to the eBook Store by Sony easy access to their local library’s collection of eBooks. Thousands of libraries offer eBooks optimized for the Sony Reader, and visitors can now find these libraries by typing their zip code into the Library Finder. Through the selected library’s download website, visitors can check out eBooks with a valid library card, download them to a PC and transfer to their Reader.
Other sites offering EPUB content include:
• Independent Bookstores–More than 200 participating members of the American Booksellers Association–including stores such as Tattered Cover (Denver, CO) and Vroman’s Bookstore (Pasadena, CA)–will have the ability to sell e-content to consumers beginning this fall. The stores using ABA’s IndieCommerce platform will offer content in the EPUB format and protected by Adobe’s Content Server 4 (ACS4) digital rights management, which is compatible with Sony e-Reader products. In addition, plans are underway to make Sony’s e-Reader devices available for purchase from independent bookstores in time for this holiday season. ABA is a not-for-profit trade organization devoted to meeting the needs of its core members–independently owned bookstores with storefront locations–through education, information dissemination, business products and services, and advocacy.
· BooksOnBoard–BooksOnBoard, the largest independent eBook bookseller and member of both the ABA and IDPF, has been a staunch supporter of the EPUB standard through its founder Bob Livolsi. BooksOnBoard was the first eBook site to offer the EPUB standard to its burgeoning customer base and has sold more EPUB formatted books than any other online bookstore. BooksOnBoard believes that the EPUB standard significantly benefits the publisher, authors and most importantly the consumer.
· NetGalley–NetGalley is an innovative and easy-to-use online service and connection point for book publishers, reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers and educators. NetGalley delivers digital galleys and promotional materials to professional readers and helps promote new and upcoming titles. Starting today, NetGalley will support the Reader with the ability to download a protected PDF file and this fall the company will offer digital galleys in EPUB format.
• Powell’s Books and Powells.com–Powell’s Books is the largest independent bookseller in the world. Innovative since its inception in 1971, it was one of the first booksellers online (beginning in 1994), and one of the first to sell eBooks for reading devices (the Rocket eBook) in 1999. Powell’s offers EPUB content for a wide range of compatible devices, including the Sony line. Powell’s is an important player in the open access world of eBooks, where titles are provided by a wide range of publishers in a competitive retail environment, read on a range of devices, and downloaded and owned by millions of people around the world.

EA's Take-Two Two-Step

John Paczkowski — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:00:04 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

EA's Take-Two Two-Step

John Paczkowski — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:00:04 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

For Those About to Shop (We Salute You)

John Paczkowski — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:50:32 +0000

Guess AC/DC and Garth Brooks have something in common after all. They’re both Wal-Mart-only artists. When AC/DC’s new album, “Black Ice,” arrives at market on Oct. 20, it will be sold exclusively in the U.S. at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.

The deal is an interesting one, and for a number of reasons. Unlike Brooks–or The Eagles or Journey, who have similar pacts with Wal-mart–AC/DC is still under contract to Sony (SNE) BMG’s Columbia Records. By inking such a deal, Columbia almost certainly risks alienating other retailers, who can’t be happy to see AC/DC’s first album of all-new material in eight years become a Wal-Mart exclusive. Among those retailers: Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes Music Store, where AC/DC has so far refused to distribute its music.

The deal also comes at a time when Wal-Mart and other big retailers are reducing their CD shelf space. It’s been estimated that Wal-Mart, Circuit City (CC) and Target (TGT) have cut between 5 percent and 23 percent of their CD inventory in the last two years. Which means that retail exposure, which was once a given for many bands, is becoming increasingly dear. So much so that it’s a negotiating point, and–in Wal-Mart’s case–enough of one for big-name acts to justify allowing the retailer to sell their new releases on an exclusive basis.

“Shelf space has shrunk so much over the last five years that for anyone to give you shelf space and exposure is a big deal,” Terry McBride, chief executive of Nettwerk Music Group, recently told the New York Times. “Should the labels be worried? There’s been a move away from the labels for a number of years now. And it’s not necessarily their fault. The shelf space to have those records sell just isn’t there. That’s the market reality.”