E-Commerce Website Analysis

To buy or not to buy
From the moment I’ve decided to curate a show about New French Designs, I knew that logistically it would be much doable to purchase the items I need, rather than asking for brands & PR firms to contribute. Why is that? You asked. Well, for one thing, it would mean that I can test out all the e-commerce websites available out there, which will then makes this “experience-based” feature legit and true. After using some of the websites available to me, as a Chinese (or Asian) buyer the verdict will only comes down to one thing: delivery fees. Not only they are expensive to begin with, there is also an extra, not to mentioned unpredictable import taxes and duties that have to be taken into account. Sometimes they are also
It was the first website that not only provide design products but also fashion (men’s, women’s & kids) together with art pieces Since founded in 2000 by Italian Federico Marchetti, Yoox.com did not lead the e-commerce trend for long before other sites like Net-a-Porter or ASOS pulled up front. And its product variety and style, particularly the user friendly-ness was not as exciting too. Although for a while now the site has been partnering with Corriere Della Sera’s Living magazine for its photo shoot (and hence a great product placement move), the magazine lack of distribution reach in China/Asia was definitely a miss opportunity for them, considering Yoox actually has a delivery hub in Hong Kong. This is the most baffling aspect of the site. Compare to Nest & Madeindesign, Yoox has the cheapest courier service (by UPS no less). And even though they charge an extra fee called “Local Taxes and Duties” (around 20-25% of RRP), in the end this will eliminates the worry of unpredictable custom charges. So why can’t Nest & Madeindesign include this
Fx was kindly enough to let me buy off his design at the the show, which I assume was a normal thing to in the past, e.g. when David Trubridge’s chair was famously being bought by Mr. Cappellini after the SaloneSatellite show in 1999. However, with a strict check-in luggage rule, a foreign tourist like me would very much like to travel as light as possible – hence the dilemma of “To buy or not to buy”: on the one hand, this is an opportunity to get hold of a piece of design that is not readily available to the Chinese market, but safety of the lamp while in transport was another big concern as the lamp “FINE 400” table lamp has a thin structure that might not withstand the “brutal-ness” of airport