2) randomly navigate down Fortune 100/Consumer to see what that genre
of company could possibly be doing on the web. Indeed, very few had
any changes at all in the sample window. One was just "today's stock
price." P&G's press release page revealed the titles of new, well,
press releases.
3) followed a link to the Dryel PR, announcing P&G's first
worldwide-simultaneous new-brand launch for Dryel (drycleaning at
home) and Swiffer (some sort of static-electricty wipes). I had been
primed by WSJ articles on the advertising of the launch, but that
hadn't explained the product
4) linked to dryel.com, which ended up to be a VERY bad,
uninformative, all-graphics piece of flackery. Turns out it's a
fedex-envelope size bag you can use inthe dryer with this vapor-sheet
inside. Good for up to 4 pcs of clothing -- designed for the marginal
extra cleaning to be tossed in with regular clothes-drying.
5) shocked to see online-ordering option, I followed the link.
Comparing the $1/garment minimum cost ($12 + $3 s/h for 4 pouches --
I don't even know if this is a good or bad price!) to $1.25 shirt
cleaning isn't very good - especially given that I pay mainly for the
ironing. BUT, as a sucker for high consumer technology, I followed on.
6) Turns out the order was fulfilled by directsite.com. I wonder who
they are. I wonder how they could possibly justify the n-zillion
character order reference string...
Thank you for purchasing Dryel. Print and save this page as a receipt
of your purchase. If you have any questions about your order please
call 1-800-558-7993 or email refunds@directsite.com.
Receipt # MAF5QVBR2QS12G8M0017Q19G04
Ship To: Rohit Khare
3207 Palo Verde
Irvine, CA 92612 Bill To: Rohit Khare
3207 Palo Verde
Irvine, CA 92612
Name Unit Price Today's Price Qty Total Price
Dryel $11.99 $11.99 1 $11.99
Subtotal: $11.99
Shipping: $3.00
Total: $14.99
7) So it's time to find out more about directsite. "DirectSite offers
it's customers not only leadership integration of the broadest base
of production and order management resources, but also and most
importantly, unparalleled core fulfillment resources. Through our two
strategically located production and warehouse centers (Cincinnati
and Salt Lake City),"
8) and Swiffer?"Swiffer is a revolutionary new cleaning system for
removing household soil like dust, hair, and lint on a variety of
surfaces such as floors, walls, ceilings, furniture, and
electronics. Swiffer is a better way to clean because it captures
dirt/dust and hair while other methods can just stir them up." --
When the Swiffer cloth is rubbed over a surface it creates an
electrostatic charge to attract soils to the cloth. The web of
entangled fibers in the cloth traps them and the special treatment in
the cloth helps hold dirt in place. When the cleaning is done, simply
throw the cloth - and the soil - away.
9) Oddly enough, swiffer's direct Internet-sales is handled by
another firm entirely: http://st14.yahoo.net/swiffer/... Gotta love
the swiffer.com disclaimer: "Product claims only valid in the US".
"And now a word from our lawyers...
If you are under the age of 13, please do not send us an e-mail
because our lawyers tell us we cannot answer your message."
10) so now, even though I opted out of their e-mail list, I suppose
I've been added to a new and unique demographic snail-mail list that
will lump me in with radically different co-consumers. Or is there a
secret cluster of home-bound dry-clean-only wearing South Asian Male
computer geeks? And if not, can we form one, Ernie? :-)
E-commerce loose cannon,
(and blatant non-Amazon, non-B&N, non-books buyer),
Rohit Khare