Suppose you are surfing the Internet for a digital camera. At www.RealCheap
Cameras.com, a hypothetical site, you are asked to type in the name of the
specific brand and model number you want. Then you are quoted a price
with shipping charges and asked for your credit card number and a shipping
address. Now suppose you go to Best Buy’s Web site, www.bestbuy.com. You can
go through the same steps to get prices and place an order for a digital camera, but
you can also review the specifications for different cameras or look through reviews
of different cameras by experts and other consumers. You can then go to a
store to see the cameras, get additional information about them from a sales associate,
and look at accessories, such as a carrying case and additional memory
units. Thus, Best Buy’s multichannel offering is providing some valuable services
to you—services that you cannot get from RealCheapCameras.com.