To E-Retail or Not?
That is the Question.

New Zealand Retail Magazine, November 2008

In today’s world, the Internet is changing customer buying behaviour whether we like it or not. So having an online store is imperative for keeping up with customer demand and remaining competitive in the marketplace. But how do you integrate your website with your bricks and mortar store to get the best business results? Will it detract from your shop floor sales or boost them?

New research shows that increasing numbers of consumers are going online to research and make important pre-purchase decisions. In fact, the latest statistics show that “the Internet influences more than US$3 of in-store sales for every dollar spent online”*.

If you don’t have an online catalogue or full e-retail website, you could be missing out on potential customers not only from the town your shop is in, but also the rest of the world.

For bricks and mortar retailers, the big question is: “How does having an e-retail website directly affect sales at my retail outlet?”

Brandan Beattie, manager at Barkers’ Newmarket store, knows first-hand how the launch of their Barkers Online store 12 months ago has impacted retail sales.

“We’ve had a hugely positive response to the online store. Now when people come into the store, they know the styles, they know the deals, and it makes the whole process really easy and fast, which really works for our target market”.

Barkers has considerably improved its customer experience by having its website integrated with its stock management system, Infinity POS. “The feedback has been really good,” Brendan says. “Customers love being able to see if the item they’re after is in their local store. And if they want to go out wearing it that night, they can just come down and pick it up.”

There are other sales-boosting advantages to integrating on-line retailing with your bricks and mortar store. An initiative also seen in the States is the ability for the online purchase to be returned to the store. “Being able to return items in-store has really increased incremental sales,” says Brendan. “Customers come into the store to make an exchange; and then walk out with more product than they had planned!” 

So what do you need to know to take your Bricks and Mortar to Clicks and Mortar?

James Gilbert, Creative Director at web development firm Solutionists, recommends looking at your e-retail website as a key element of your marketing mix.

“It’s the equivalent of putting a new shop in every shopping mall all over the world – as long as you can get found,” says James. “Just like creating a new retail outlet, you need to consider the design and usability, plan the stock, find a manager and do things to build traffic.”

So when you’re building your new web shop, make sure you have a whole growth strategy around it - sales targets, advertising (both traditional media and online) and ongoing merchandising/updating of the website.

Selling online requires customers to make a quick and immediate decision on the product, so James recommends reducing the perceived risk by offering guarantees, a free returns service or being able to bring returns into the store for an exchange.

Other e-shop sales-boosting tactics include offering discounted or free delivery and incentive purchases – such as ‘buy one get one free’.

“Above all else,” says James, “take the process seriously with a long-term strategy in mind.”

As you can see, there is a big difference between just getting your website live, and creating an effective e-retail store. It’s important to partner with a company that understands e-retail, will listen to you and understand your business. 


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