APC's Geek Gear is now live. It's the world's first e-commerce store in which you can buy products and then go behind the scenes to find how out the business works and how well it's trading.
 Geek Gear is now live - with real product! |
We’re nervous today. Our store, Geek Gear, has just opened for business after a period of development that's been the subject of a series in APC magazine. Like owners of any new business on its first day, we’re wondering if we’ve selected the right products, if we’ve priced them correctly and if we’ve done enough marketing. I’m even wondering if the T-shirts slogans are funny enough.
Geek Gear is a real online store, but one with a difference. You can purchase gear from it, but also find out what's going on behind the scenes. It grew out of an idea for an e-commerce tutorial series we had a few months ago. When APC discussed the proposed series with e-commerce company, NetMerchant, they instead offered to build us a real online shop. We jumped at it and the “reality e-commerce” concept was born.
Instead of presenting you with a text book on how e-commerce works, we'll let you be a fly-on-the-wall in a real business which has invested in stock and e-commerce infrastructure and needs to make it pay. We're kicking off with a modest range of products, but we're planning on growing the store as a real-life example of an e-commerce business trying to become a success in the online world, where the rules can be quite different to those experienced by bricks and mortar businesses.
Since APC staff's main skillsets are in publishing rather than e-commerce, we formed a loose partnership with NetMerchant in which we're effectively the shop’s “owners” and they are the suppliers of the e-commerce gear and expertise. It's the kind of relationship that many businesses wanting to launch a serious online store venture will need to form with an e-commerce supplier. NetMerchant will bill us for their services (we'll itemise them for you) and the only free “extra” they will provide is their insights into what makes a successful online business.
On most days, I will report back to you on how the shop’s faring, together with Luke Amery, the managing director of NetMerchant. We’ll open up the store's books and detail any developments (or dramas) in our dealings with customers and suppliers. In turn, we hope you’ll give us your comments on the store and your opinions on how we’re running the business. Nothing is sacred. We’re open to all advice.
Geek Gear has two main departments: APC-branded products, labelled "APC Gear" in the left navigation menu, and those under the Geek Gear brand in the "Apparel" and "Gadgets" links. Over coming days, we'll also describe every department of the store in detail, and how we set it up.
Come back tomorrow morning for a report on the first day’s trading. In the meantime, have your say by posting comments on this blog. Feel free to ask any questions about our experience in setting up Geek Gear.
Tony Sarno
Editor, APC