Brown and White Vol. 134 no. 8

              The Brown and White Vol. 134 No. 8
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
E-COMMERCE EVOLVES IN LEHIGH VALLEY
Shifts in consumer behavior bring positive change
Kate Morrell/B&W Staff
Amazon.com is one of the biggest e-commerce sites in the world. The Lehigh Valley has become a center for the back economy of
fulfillment of e-commerce.
Students react to campus expansion
By ANNIE HENRY
Community Engagement Manager
11:58 p.m.: In an oversized
t-shirt and messy bun, a college
student sits in bed, the room lit
up by her computer screen.
11:59 p.m.: The digital numbers
on the top right of her MacBook
Air change. She checks her Wi-Fi
connection. It’s almost time.
Suddenly, 12:00 a.m.
Clicking on products. Adding
to carts. Her fingers race as she
types in her shipping address,
billing address and credit card
information.
She’s been on these sites before,
so the computer auto-fills the
information after she enters just
a few letters or numbers.
She closes completed tabs as
she goes, and her phone buzz-es
with confirmation-of-purchase
emails.
Done. She sits back in her
bed, lets out a sigh of relief and
resumes the Netflix show she was
See E-COMMERCE Page 4
By MARIA ROONEY
B&W Staff
Following the announcement
of the Path to Prominence in
October 2016, members of the
Lehigh community have voiced
concerns about potential down-sides
to the plan.
As part of the expansion plan,
several academic departments —
including the art, architecture
and design and computer science
and engineering departments —
will, or have already started to,
move to Mountaintop Campus.
Peik Shelton, ’18, an architec-ture
major and teaching assis-tant
for the art, architecture and
design department, said he wor-ries
about the logistical changes
as well as the change in working
Courtesy of Brent Stringfellow
Mountaintop Campus has undergone renovations that began in September 2016. The
renovations project on Building C is a part of Lehigh’s “Path to Prominence” initiative.
By ANNIE HENRY
Community Engagement Manager
America’s first book shop is still
thriving in the age of audio books
and Kindles.
During the winter, Christmas
ornaments and glass stars line
the walls of the more than
two-century-old Moravian Book
Shop. Signature beeswax can-dles,
Bethlehem mugs and freshly
baked Moravian sugar and ginger
cookies regularly fill the shop.
In a book industry that is domi-nated
by Amazon’s online low pric-es
and seemingly limitless selec-tion,
the independent bookstore
has managed to keep its doors
open since 1745.
“It’s a growing process,” said
Lisa Girard, the general manager
of Moravian Book Shop. “The book-end
is where our grassroots are,
but you have to change a little bit,
and we are going to have to keep
evolving with the times and what
people are looking for.”
The store had an online presence
beginning more than 20 years ago
but most recently introduced a
new website using WooCommerce
on a WordPress platform.
“We don’t have everything in our
store online, but we do have a good
selection,” Girard said. “Especially
things that are local, like the
stars, beeswax candles and things
that are related to the Moravian
community.”
Don Cunningham, the pres-ident
and CEO of the Lehigh
Valley Economic Development
Corporation, said small businesses
like the Moravian Book Shop need
to have an online presence to stay
competitive.
Yuliang “Oliver” Yao, a Lehigh
professor of information systems
and the chair of the management
department, said some products
are more suitable online than oth-ers.
“Not all products are suitable
for online purchasing,” Yao said.
“Products are typically divided
into two categories: experience
products and standardized prod-ucts.”
Experience products allow con-sumers
to get a feel for a product
or try it out before they buy them.
Cars that most people test drive or
wedding gowns a bride tries on for
fit, color, style and material are
both items that fit the category
and are not frequently purchased
Moravian
Book Shop
faces online
competition
See PROMINENCE Page 2 See MORAVIAN Page 3