It’s June and the wedding season is upon us, which means its time to shop for that perfect wedding gift.
If trudging off to a department store in search of another wedding gift is an uninspiring thought, you’re not alone. The reluctance that many shoppers feel toward tracking down the perfect gift is just what The Wedding Channel, a new online bridal registry, is banking its success on.
The new Web site [http://www.weddingchannel.com] will feature many well-known national and local retail stores in one location, including such stalwarts as Williams-Sonoma, Neiman Marcus and Crate & Barrel.
“Buying wedding gifts online is the perfect e-commerce application,” says Rebecca Patton, president and CEO of The Wedding Channel. “For gift givers, The Wedding Channel offers an unprecedented benefit: the ability to find instantly where couples are registered and buy them the perfect gift. Plus, since couples have already selected the gifts they want, the gift givers have no need to touch and feel the products. They’re looking for the best selection and the convenience of purchasing online.”
How does it work? A bride and groom register at their favorite stores. They are then able to manage the registry online via The Wedding Channel Web site. They can add products if the registry is running low from the comfort of their own home. The couple doesn’t need to update the list either. Every purchase, whether made online or in person, is updated on the site and in the stores daily.
After the registry is set and the gifts selected, the bride and groom tell their wedding guests that they can shop online for their gifts. The guests simply go to The Wedding Channel Web site, enter the bride or groom’s name, browse through the couple’s registry, select the perfect gift, and then purchase the item online.
Many industry analysts believe that this new model will take hold with the public. However, most also believe that no single wedding site will win out like Amazon.com did with bookselling online. Already other Web start-up companies have targeted the, as yet, untapped online wedding market.
The Wedding Channel has company in providing online registry services. The fledgling company must contend with other Internet-only sites that offer registry services such as The Knot [http://www.theknot.com]. In addition, traditional retailers like Macy’s [http://www.macys.com] and Bloomingdales [http://www.bloomingdales.com/] have expanded their online efforts to include virtual bridal registries. To top it off, both traditional retailers and Net start-ups have to sell the public on this new method of handling and age-old process.
“The challenge in the registry business is that you have a two- step selling process: one, to sell bride and groom and then to sell through to the guest,” said David Liu, chief executive of New York-based theknot.com. “We think this relationship will give us a great venue and opportunity to market and reach all of those consumers.”
However, The Knot is much more than a registry service. The company, which bills itself as the most comprehensive, customized and up-to-date combination of wedding information and planning tools available on or off line, also provides the Internet’s largest searchable bridal gown database, thousands of in-depth articles on wedding planning, and more than 50 hours of hosted chat per week.
