Rapid Deployment Replacement Products

In building e-commerce web sites that sell items such as laptop batteries and LCD projector bulbs, we quickly came to realize the challenges in removing counter salespeople from the shopping process.

For centuries, a question and answer conversation between two people serves as the equivalent of a supercomputer to drill-down to the exact SKU that a customer needs. (I say it is like a supercomputer because a human being can hear not only what you're asking, but they can measure your questions against every situation and exception that they've ever encountered in real-time) You say, "I need a battery for such and such laptop" or "I need a bulb that goes in this projector." To remove one of the humans from this process, you need a relational database that lists the actual purchasable replacement products ... but also everything they "go in."

In the case of our battery web site, there are 65,000 cross reference rows in the database, even though there are only 1,000 battery SKUs available on the web site! In other words, the average battery fits in 65 different laptops. Of course, a person is more likely to know what laptop they have than what battery SKU they need, especially since manufacturers play all kinds of games with re-numbering components.

The situation gets even more hairy when you look at building a site for something like auto parts, because you have makes, models, model years, engine and transmission combinations, trim levels etc.

To discuss your replacement parts shopping cart project please contact Brandon Wilson at 800-WEB-9550 x101

Sample Sites