E-Commerce

One part I touched on in another post briefly was how the internet helps with the retailing of kayaks. Although there is no way to buy one online due to tremendous shipping charges (I've shipped a kayak from Boston to Richmond and lets say it wasn't cheap,) the internet does help the purchasing process. It provides a great place to gather up information all the different brands, the company's style representation, their different boats, the volume, length, weight, colors, and rocker of each boat. Potential customers can use a side by side comparison matrix to evaluate the different boat models. Several sites also have personal reviews and ratings for each boat, allowing customers to hear what people are saying about the boat after they have purchased it and paddled in the boat for a while. Although you cannot actually purchase boats, the internet allows customers to 'shop' around through different retailers for the best price, or the best package deal they can get for their money.