Eventually, we took on some outside jobs as well, designing all the merchandise, for example, to go with Destination Cinema's large-format film Mysteries of Egypt. Warner Bros. The new store is completely interactive. The name we chose, The Big Idea, reflects our mission, and the products we carry are all directly related to exhibits and experiences in the museum. We have plenty of hands-on stuff, and more than 20 percent of our stock is merchandise created for the store that you can't find anywhere else. Everyone is trained to do demonstrations and to be knowledgeable about the products and the museum.
Computer monitors play software demos, and talking mirrors make comments about people as they go by.
The Big Idea was an immediate success, and the store continues to make a significant contribution to MSI's bottom line. We select the products and handle fulfillment, but Yahoo manages the operating system and software. It's a great way to try e-commerce with low risk. If you're just starting out MSI is a large operation, but many of the strategies we employ will work for smaller institutions, too. Understand your visitors.