National Recognition Picks Up Steam for Binoculars.com

Duluth, MI November 14, 2003 -- Binoculars.com's growth rate has been consistently rising since the beginning of 2003, starting at 35% and moving last month to over 260%. With recent features in Time magazine, The Saint Paul Pioneer Press, and the Miami Herald, the press is catching the energy that drives the company.

A fresh storefront at binoculars.com focuses on converting visitors into customers. This is helping the company hone its online optics sales into a service-centered science. By upgrading and testing different aspects of their website such as layout, interface, and security, the team at binoculars.com keeps up a feverish pace tempered by the voice of the customer.

While some still prefer the old fashioned way to shop, Binoculars.com is doing everything they can to make a customer's first online shopping experience as easy and comfortable as possible. For some, it is a sense of personal security that creates this comfort. "When people purchase binoculars online they are required to give us personal information; this is why security has become a major concern for us," says Jonathan Thralow, Director of Marketing and Technology. With all the changes we do to the site, network security and customer safety have not been forgotten. Thralow adds, "In the world today, we realize we can't afford to have any mistakes when things like credit card and phone numbers are at stake."

The electronic frontier of the World Wide Web is not the only venue to which Binoculars.com is catering. In addition to the company's online, digital catalog, their second printed catalog will be out soon. The catalog has proven successful and broadens company's market. The catalog is available upon request and is sent along with orders.

"Late summer and early fall sales have been fantastic with this new site," says Thralow. "In the early years we simply tried to drive more visitors to our site. However, over the last 18 months we have shifted additional resources to focus on existing traffic. Elements like layout and navigability surprised us with the strength of customer response. We have always known that treating customers right drives sales, the web site is where customer service starts."

Binoculars.com always shows at least two running versions of the site. Website viewers are randomly given one version of the site, and if they place an order it is considered a vote for that version. The company tests aspects of the website daily with different elements such as picture placement and interface changes to keep things fresh for the customer. While changes can be rapid at times, binoculars.com continues to listen to the voice of its customers because they mold the evolution of the website.

Binoculars.com was started in Duluth, Minnesota and is a division of Thralow Inc., a company that specializes in niche oriented e-commerce companies. Among the 9 different divisions of Thralow Inc. are Telescopes.com, Peepers.com, Pans.com and Eyewear.com. Duluth is located in northern Minnesota at the tip of picturesque Lake Superior, an ideal headquarters for an optics corporation.

Binoculars.com Recently featured in Time Magazine: Nov 17
"Binoculars.com…For all your distance-viewing needs…"

Internet Retailer States: November 6, 2003
"Binoculars.com has experienced triple-digit growth every month since it re-designed its web site three months ago, Jonathan Thralow, director of marketing and technology, tells InternetRetailer.com. Web site sales in October exceeded $600,000 and were up 260% over October a year ago, he reports. Sales grew 160% in August over a year earlier and 206% in September. ‘The new layout has really made a difference,'he says."

Miami Herald Writes: Oct. 19, 2003
"Thralow sees plenty of room for his company to grow. He said national binocular sales last year totaled about $1 billion, meaning binoculars.com has less than a 1 percent share of the current market. Thralow believes that by educating customers, he can expand his market. Soon, the company will offer an online primer on the features of different binoculars. Thralow has enlisted Duluth poet Louis Jenkins to play the role of Dr. Binoculars in a customer tutorial."

Duluth News Tribune Writes: October 8, 2003
"Binoculars.com occupies a special e-tail niche where Thralow believes it enjoys certain competitive advantages. He said the company can offer a much larger selection of optics than bricks-and-mortar retailers do."





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