Name of your website?OnHop, Inc.
Your name?
Dr. Jon Alexander
Your Location (city, etc)
Ottawa
Please give us a short summary of your website?
This is an online computer, computer related, consumer electronics, and technology discount retailer. We serve both the Canadian high tech community, and consumers generally. OnHop is unique in that wherever possible we show price comparisons with our primary competitors, using realtime data from an objective and wholly unrelated website. If our price is not the lowest, we show you just where to go to beat it. To our knowledge, this is a true and significant innovation in online retailing. We provide objective advice on how to choose the right product, and we specialize in honesty.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
We have many years of experience in selling computer related consumer items in a brick and mortar store, but have also seen that there is currently underway a true sea change in consumer buying, a move toward online shopping. We decided to become a part of this movement.
We launched our store on August 1, 2007,
How did you decide on a name for your website?
This was a brainstorming effort that required the consumption of several beers.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
We show people whether our products are the cheapest they can buy, and usually they are, but if this is not the case, we show them where to get it more cheaply. This works through a link with an objective price comparison website with which we are totally unaffiliated. Our shipping is surprisingly swift. We also warn consumers about possible dangers and problems. We have an onsite Ombudsman who can investigate consumer complaints and, if they are warranted, can request a solution from the manufacturer on our customers' behalf.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
We are in business for the long haul.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
So far, we are just barely breaking even, and this is likely to continue for about another year or so.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
We would put up content more quickly. As it is, this is a labor of love.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
We would love to find out!
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
We are computer geeks, with one exception. Our Chief Information officer, Dr. Jon Alexander, who recently retired from Carleton University in Ottawa, has had to struggle with a very steep learning curve.
What has been your biggest challenge?
To continue to grow and develop without growing and developing a bureaucratic structure. So far, we have succeeded in keeping the job informal and fun. Our CEO, Terry Cheng, is a great guy with whom to work.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Search engine optimization.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
There is more work involved.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
We think we must enjoy such gains, because ours is the most innovative retail operation on the Canadian web today.
Do you have goals and objectives beyond making a lot of money?
Making money is actually not our primary objective. We hope to become an indispensable part of Canada's and Ottawa's high tech community, so that we shall be able to serve that community and help make it more cohesive than it now is. That's our "hidden" goal.
Thanks for asking that question, and making us 'fess up on what we are really trying to do.
What is your website address?
OnHop, Inc.
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