Retail Net benefits give virtual shoppers their day in the sun

THEY couldn't have picked a better day to introduce Ireland's first virtual shopping mall.

Outside the Bank of Ireland headquarters yesterday, real world shoppers were swept by like drowned rats, hanging onto umbrellas which blew them into doorways they didn't want to visit.

Inside the bank, meanwhile, a brave new world of consumerism was unveiled to a calm, dry audience. Suited figures tapped credit card numbers into keyboards and made discrete purchases, free from the sounds of wind and rain and money changing hands.

The service was available to the public from 5 p.m. yesterday evening and can be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection and a credit card.

Budget Travel is a tenant of the virtual mall and managing director, Ms Gillian Bowler, caught the mood perfectly. She was wearing her trademark sunglasses in her hair, as if she'd just stepped indoors off the beach.

Of course, these are no ordinary sunglasses. These are rain and wind repellant sunglasses, which store up the sun's harmful rays during the summer months and convert them into instant glamour for use in November.

We discovered this when Gillian was dragged outdoors by the photographers for some drowned-rat-with-umbrella shots and returned some minutes later looking like she'd just walked in off the beach again.

Budget's services are not yet for sale in the Shop Ireland mall, which has been available to users of the Internet. But those of Clerys, House of Ireland and the Guinness shop - St James's Gate - are, and the Ticket Shop and Compustore will open for business soon. Others will follow when the pilot stage ends.

The mall is the offspring of a marriage between Bank of Ireland, Microsoft and Trintech. Trintech is a Dublin-based company whose function in the enterprise is to ensure that the concept of virtual payment doesn't catch on.

Trintech's "end-to-end secure payments system" is the nearest that available technology offers to a guarantee that the retailer gets his money while the purchaser retains exclusive ownership of his credit card. The bank, meanwhile, is pledged to pick up the tab for any glitches that might occur, like virtual shoplifting.

Microsoft is providing the merchant server software which links the web site with the Internet users' PC and enables them to conduct on-line transactions. Customers will reach the web site using an internet connection and be able to view the products available for purchase.

Using a "mouse", the customer can browse and then select the required product, transferring it to an electronic shopping basket. The customer then completes an electronic order form. The credit card details are checked by Bank of Ireland and an electronic acknowledgment sent to the customer. When the goods are dispatched, the retailer entrusts the bank to process the payment.

Shop Ireland has an eye on the US market, where shopping on the Internet is projected to be a $6.5 billion industry by the end of the decade. All prices are accompanied by the dollar equivalent and the mall is well-stocked to satisfy the American tourist's need for Waterford Glass and woolly jumpers, without the bother of actually coming here and putting up with the wind and rain.

The Internet address for the service is www.shopireland.com.