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A Multichannel Merchant staffer recently ordered the board game Blokus Trigon from BN.com, the Website of bookseller Barnes & Noble. When she received her order, the staffer was disappointed to find she'd been sent the wrong version of Blokus. (It was a gift, so save the nerd jokes!)
At first it seemed like a warehouse pick/pack mistake, since all of the order paperwork was right. But the problem turned out to be the incorrect barcode sticker affixed to the product's box. In other words, the Barnes & Noble sticker on the box had the right barcode and label for Blokus Trigon, but it was placed on the regular version of Blokus. That meant that had the staffer tried to exchange the item, she probably would have gotten the same version back again if a picker scanned the barcode sticker. For this reason the BN.com customer service rep suggested the customer simply return the game rather than exchange it — which is no way to salvage an order gone wrong.
What's more, the staffer really wanted the right item, and thanks to a coupon code, got a good deal on the game so she didn't want to return it and buy it elsewhere. The rep was able to locate a nearby Barnes & Noble store that carried the game, so the staffer did exchange it. Not exactly a shining example of multichannel synergy — plus, dealing with store personnel, who wanted nothing to do with the order, was a nightmare. A week after this fiasco, a visit to BN.com indicated that none of the Blokus games were available, so hopefully that means the company was working on a game plan to correct the problem. We hope so, as the snafu could prove incredibly annoying to customers — and highly expensive for the merchant.
Abercrombie magalog swings into London
Abercrombie & Fitch is hoping that its saucy magalog will get a warmer reception in the U.K. than it's had in America. The apparel retailer's A&F Quarterly will be for sale in Abercrombie's London flagship store starting this month — nearly five years since the title was discontinued in the U.S. amid protests from family groups and politicians.
The quarterly magazine-catalog hybrid periodical was launched in 1997 and featured articles about college life, photo essays by Bruce Weber, and advertisements for Abercrombie's clothing. But its semi-nude photos and content covering new drinking games for college kids and sex tips had parents up in arms. Protests in 2003 from religious organizations and women's rights activists prompted the company to pull the Christmas 2003 issue from stores; it then announced that it would discontinue the publication altogether.
Now that it's revived the A&F Quarterly for the U.K., will it play in Piccadilly? The company says the new A&F takes a more sophisticated, intellectual approach, with articles on travel, dining, and trendy neighborhoods. That's nice, but we suspect (perhaps from our upbringing on Benny Hill reruns) that the nudie photos will be more the market's cup of tea.
Scrubs cataloger has queer eye for the medical sty
Medical uniforms mailer Scrubs & Beyond is getting involved in a different type of surgery: the messy office makeover. The St. Louis, MO-based merchant is inviting medical offices to apply for a makeover contest. Applicants must complete a form detailing why the group or practice should win the contest, and then send it to Scrubs & Beyond with a picture of their group. The winner will be featured on the company homepage and receive a customized makeover by Scrubs & Beyond medical scrubs specialists. The deadline for submitting an entry is March 28; form and rules are available at www.ScrubsAndBeyond.com. Not being in the medical field (though we sometimes perform major surgery on copy), we're probably not eligible. But trust us — our office is a mess!
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