You may be wondering, “What the heck is a Woot?” I didn’t even know such a thing existed until I clicked on a photo link in a friend’s personal blog. She had stated that she bought her “first Woot,” showing a picture of some odd kitchen appliance that looks like it makes elliptical-shaped sandwiches. My curiosity getting the best of me, I decided to check this photo link out and discovered that a Woot is not only a kitchen appliance, but can be many different items ranging from the random oddity to the latest, or at least semi-latest must-have item.Â
The beauty of the site is that the products are sold at a fixed quantity. Every evening a new product is released to the rabid masses who hungrily snap them up within a matter of minutes. Once the last item is bought or when the clock hits 11:59pm CST (whichever comes first), the shop is closed. That’s right, the site sells only one product per day with the exception of random bonus items known as Woot-Offs released for 12 hours after an item has sold out.Â
Aside from its uncanny approach to product sales, the site also boasts a blog and podcasts. The anonymous “WootBot†who describes the item for sale while adding humorous commentary, creates each blog post. A podcast accompanies almost every post and is equally as bizarre. Honestly, if nothing else, listen to the podcasts. Little original ditties to hark each product – you won’t be disappointed.
Strange or pure PR/Marketing genius?Â
The use of humor is refreshing and the actual description of the featured product helps its marketing ability. What’s most important, however, is that registered buyers are allowed to post comments about the product. The comments are of no use to the site, but do allow first-time Wooters and seasoned Wooters an inside tip on whether the product is a steal or a bust.Â
After browsing the Frequently Asked Questions page, I do have a few problems with the online store. First, Woot employees are not guaranteed to respond. Second, customer service is not offered. These two factors combined severely limit two-way communication. If a buyer has a problem with the item, he or she has two options: contact the manufacturer or sell it on Ebay. Only in dire cases, it seems, is the customer allowed to return the item for a full refund. I’m led to conclude that the site takes no responsibility for the products it hoardes. Granted a wide-scale defect (i.e. a dangerous product) may not happen, but still I wonder how much Woot can be faulted without the presence of a customer service department or regular interaction from the staff. Say something disastrous does happen; does Woot have a plan in place to deal with the backlash?Â
As I mentioned previously, I had never heard of Woot. Is this because of misguided PR efforts or is the World Wide Web simply too vast that discovery has to be at random? What does this say about information gathering? Obviously, that is a question that must be answered by the individual.
>> Say something disastrous does happen; does Woot have a plan in place to deal with the backlash?
Yep, actually our previous plan was to run away scared. Now that we’re too well known to hide, we’ve enacted Plan 2: Search around real good for noisy bloggers to squelch, censor our forums clean of complaints and ignore everyone’s emails.
Thanks for the coverage. You are 99% of our PR program, misguided as it may be. 🙂
I’m not trying to bash your site, if that’s what you’re getting at. I think it is very interesting. I just raised some concerns as I read over the FAQ.
The impression from the humor could be sarcastic, but it may cause some to be turned off, if the idea is that the staff doesn’t care if they have a gripe.
I only said misguided PR efforts because I’ve never heard of the site. Actually, misguided was probably the wrong term to use. The site IS a unique concept. I just thought I would see something like this around the Web more often and not in some obscure place.