Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Did anyone noticed that the the one week icon is no longer on the Handspring site? Could it be that handspring shipped all its available stock to retail stores? Could it be that handspring is back-ordered once again?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

Well, the Shipping Status page still shows 1 week.

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James Hromadka
VisorCentral.com
Personal Website: http://www.Hromadka.com

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Washington, DC USA
Posts: 12

Hmmm, I ordered 3 Visors last Tuesday (3/21 - one week ago today) and I haven't yet received the "Order Shipped" email.

I fear that my order has been redirected to some Best Buy. I'll post to the "Visor Received Log" topic when the order arrives.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 1

I ordered my BDV on Friday the 17th, received a ship confirmation on Tuesday the 21st and received it from California via Standard Delivery on Saturday. Not too bad.

The only issue so far is that I did not know that Windows NT doesn't support USB ports. Therefore, I wasn't able to HotSync yet and I'm still working with my old pilot. The IS group at my company is loading Win98 for me right now on my primary computer.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Portland, Maine, USA
Posts: 12

Could be that they are pushing for customers to buy a Visor on the retail end and not on the site. They still offer to sell the visor online but I think that their push is for retail sales.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

LewisgProd:

I doubt that. Why would they pushing retail sales when they make more money by selling it online?

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Portland, Maine, USA
Posts: 12

yardie:

I read in an article that Handspring was looking to sell more at the retail stores so that they could concentrate more on the Springboard modules and improvements on the system. They may make more $$$ by selling it on the web but in the long run market share is determined through retail sales. Ever notice that there has been no formal announcement of the number of Visors sold via the web site?

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Washington, DC USA
Posts: 12

While Handspring might make more per unit selling via the web, they're almost sure to make more in the long run via retail due to greater volume.

Would you rather make a profit of 5% on 100,000 units or 3% on 1,000,000 units?

Selling via retail brings in the people who are already in the store to buy something else. It also harnesses the Sunday advertising inserts that Staples, CompUSA, and BestBuy publish in many newspapers each week.

If I'm Handspring, I'd happily give the retail units their cut to help with the marketing and order fulfillment.

[This message has been edited by wemmick (edited 03-30-2000).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: North York, Canada
Posts: 50

"Why would they pushing retail sales when they make more money by selling it online?"

In fact many manufacturers that sell directly really want customers to buy through their distribution / retail channels. Selling direct, one unit at a time, is a pain.

Palm is a perfect example. Their website sells at list price, and you can get it cheaper at almost any online shop or big box retailer. So where do you think they really want you to buy?

[This message has been edited by BruceMc (edited 03-30-2000).]

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

The arguement about Handspring selling 100,000 via its web site vs selling 1,000,000 via retail would make sense if Handspring actually had 1 million units to sell. Handspring can barely keep up with the orders it is getting via its web site at the moment. I would think that Handspring in the long run would still want to sell visors on its web site. With that being said, I wouldn't be surprise if Handspring start offering next day shipping (you order today and its shipped to you tommorow).

Just my 2 cents

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Quote:
I read in an article that Handspring was looking to sell more at the retail stores so that they could concentrate more on the Springboard modules and improvements on the system
End of Quote.

Really? I could have swore that I read somewhere that Handspring itself is not handling its web orders, but like just about every other e-tailer, they are being handled by a 3rd party company.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:

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Originally posted by yardie:
Quote:
...but like just about every other e-tailer, they are being handled by a 3rd party company.

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