Virtually redefining book shopping

This is not a requiem for the good old bookshop. This is just a furthering of the bookshop, where you can `virtually' trudge down well-stacked bookracks and make your choice. The only catch is that, once the `virtual' choice is made, you get a hardcopy of the book, a book-lover's priceless treasure.

We're talking about ciolshop.com, the just launched online bookstore in association with Fabmart, offering books on IT, management, fiction and non-fiction. Skeptics can rest assure that

ciolshop.com does not steal away the `thunder' from shopping for books.

Infact, ciolshop.com makes the whole `experience' of book shopping simple, fun and very light on the pocket.

"ciolshop.com is the property of ciol.com and is in accordance to the CIOL mission to offer quality services to the ICE community," said Abraham Mathew, President, ciol.com, who added, "The objective of

ciolshop.com is to fulfil the requirements of IT users in the country. To this end, we have tied up with Fabmart, the best in the business." 

"For Fabmart, this partnership entails access to a big pool of Net-savvy ciol.com users," said K Vaitheeshwaran, Vice President-Marketing,

Fabmart. 

ciolshop.com offers you books not just on IT, but on management, fiction and non-fiction. The rationale behind this wide offering of books is to cater `extensively' to the needs of the IT community. So while a CEO of an IT company can find books on management, a professional or student can find subject-oriented books, while a housewife can buy her favorite novel online.

Scorching up the ciolshop.com site are the hottest ever offers on books, which are sure to make your online shopping cart blaze a trail of fire! Each of the three features (IT, Management and Fiction/Non-fiction) has a Hottest Deal section where you can buy the hottest book in the market at the `hottest' price ever, thanks to massive discounts to the tune of 50 percent to 55 percent! Currently on the ciolshop.com's `Hottest Deal' racks are Eric Herrmann's Mastering XML for an unbelievable ciolshop price of Rs 199.50, Peter F Drucker's Managing in a Time of Great Change for a ciolshop price of Rs 495 and Jack Canfield's Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul for a ciolshop price of just Rs 117.

While at the IT section, you'll find special offers on books like Martin Gruber's Mastering SQL, Bill Ball and David Pitts' Red Hat Linux 6, at the Management section, you find special offers on Graham Jones' How to do Business on the Internet, Walter H Bock's Cyberpower for Business etc. At the Fiction/Non-fiction section,

ciolshop.com has special offers on books like JK Rowling's The Harry Potter Collection and Jeffrey Archer's Twelve Red Herrings, to name a few.

Each section also offers Best Sellers and `What's New' in IT, management, fiction and nonfiction.

Sure, it's a labyrinth out there. But for those in a hurry or those wanting to buy that hard-to-be-found-constantly-out-of-stock book, this is where your travails end.

ciolshop.com provides you with a powerful search where you can find that exclusive but oft elusive book.

If you still don't make head-way with regards to getting that book, you can just click on the `Tell Us What You Want' section, give your name, email address and state your problem;

ciolshop.com will do the rest for you and get back to you with a answer. 

That's not all at ciolshop.com; the site, which has its users' best in mind, offers in simple language, quality information with regards to online buying at the `Buying Resources' section. While this section tells you how to buy online, it also offers tips for effective online shopping-what you should know and do while buying online. 

And there is more to come at ciolshop.com. "Future plans include multimedia titles, PC and peripherals stores by April 2001," said Abraham Mathew. We're waiting with bated breaths.