A few years ago, The Sharper Image had a huge hit with the Razor Scooter. Sales of the scooter were so dramatic that for about a year afterward the San Francisco-based catalog retailer issued disclaimers with its financial statements, comparing year over year results both with and without the scooter’s impact.
Last week Amazon.com announced that, at least initially, it would be the exclusive seller of the Segway Human Transporter, a two-wheeled, battery operated, self-balancing vehicle. I doubt that the lightning that struck Sharper Image is going to hit Amazon, though.
Readers may remember the Segway HT better as "Ginger," the name inventor and promoter Dean Kamen gave it before its unveiling, when it was getting coverage as a device that would revamp America’s cities, cause seismic changes in its energy policy and cure its citizenry’s bad breath.
It will do none of these things. Its top speed of 12.5 miles an hour, and limited range, makes it impractical for rural use. It may be legal, but it won’t be welcome, on crowded city sidewalks, and its design – it looks like a standard push lawnmower that one stands on – doesn’t seem to give enough protection to make it street worthy, especially with the way most stressed city drivers drive.
So what will it do for Amazon? Generate buzz for the Seattle-based online retailer, for a start. I'm sure traffic to the site has increased. But a better question is "What could it do for Amazon?" The answer is, sell lots of other, more affordable products. At $4,950, plus delivery, the Segway is a bit out of reach as an impulse buy, and probably out of the range of most kids' "Pleeeze" entreaties.
This is a good thing: Unlike the Razor Scooter, the Segway HT is not recommended for people under 16. Nor, according Amazon, will it restore balance to people that don’t already have it, such as those needing a motorized chair. Finally, adults over 250 pounds can’t use it.
The Segway’s market, therefore, consists of thin American adults with excellent poise, who have a lot of money and live in temperate climes. By my reckoning that leaves Atlanta-based Jane Fonda and not many others.
An on-site review notes that its design won't protect riders from the elements - and trying to wrestle with an umbrella while riding something going 12.5 miles an hour isn't advised, either. Maybe Amazon could provide a hot link to a page with big, floppy hats – unless they won’t fit over the recommended safety helmets.
Alas, this traffic builder doesn’t offer a link to the safety helmets either, or much of anything else, beyond Amazon’s standard top-of-the-page category links. Not even to an assortment of city guides, which would seem to go well with it. Remember when Amazon was all about selling books?
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