Online retailing tips, beyond just marketing, but into the functional structure of your online business.

iTWire – 10 tips for retailers on using technology to beat online blues

If you want to get ready for Holiday trade, now is the time to start refining your eCommerce for optimum performance.  With the nature of the Australian retail market, online sales are going to be a big piece of the pie.

Let Williams Commerce suggest how we can help optimise and improve performance of your eCommerce venture.  Contact me today for a look at your situation and some recommendations on how we can help with next generation web 2.0 eCommerce strategies.

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Another Australian retailer who gets it.

“Online and mobile orders contributed 40 per cent of sales, or $152 million in 2010/11, Domino’s said in a slide presentation accompanying the full year results. “

Pizza chain’s profit soars | IR News | Inside Retail

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People talk about the difference between conventional and online retailing, and talk about how conventional retailing is facing new ‘challenges’.  These challenges are clearly demonstrated by the dire situation confronting Australian retailers in the current market.

The cost structure of bricks and mortar vs Online is one issue, GST on international purchases another, but it all comes back to shopping experience and the perception of value for money.

Online seems to have the price edge, but as any good retailer knows, price isn’t everything.

Anything that is a recognisable commodity, based on brand or even functionality – a pair of Levi jeans, a Samsung 2122 TV, a TAG Heuer watch, 100 feet of rope, a USB drive – does well online.  The key reason being, you know what you are getting.

Some pundits talk about customer service, handling problems…the practical upshot is, you have to send it away if its broken.  Does it matter to whom?  Its usually a factory repair shop nevertheless.  Online operators know this trust is a fundamental cornerstone to their business, and in my experience, superior to many traditional shops.

Improved customer service pre-sale is obviously a good start.  Granted, not every retailer has untrained staff with limited product knowledge on the floor, but with cost cutting, the trend is obvious.  And likewise, not everybody wants the attention, all the time.  I think its nothing new, in terms of the ‘personal shopping assistant’, just a return to the good old-fashioned quality retailing many high standard operations still practice.

Consider that in part of any considered online shopping process, users can consult product specifications, product reviews and comparisons from multiple third party sources, testimonials about the online retailer themselves, location of service centres and precise service policy, etc.  With this kind of resource, do you as a shopper, need a salesperson?

Where online has trouble competing, is in the ‘touchy feely’ department.  Will those shoes really fit?  How does that silk jacket feel, and is it well made?  And with liquidations and sale or special items, the impulse purchase, meandering past them online is a bit more difficult.  And of course, besides size, fit, quality, there’s also smell, colour, sound, texture….

What does online have to offer:

Video
Zoomable and rotatable images
Virtual colour changes
User configurable options
and, virtual dressing rooms

So, this is the area where traditional bricks and mortar retailers still have the edge.  This is the area where they need to exercise their competitive advantage, because, the online retailers are closing the gap.  And a few years down the line, when the NBN brings superfast broadband to the Australian consumer, there will be even better solutions.

And still, what will stop the savvy consumer from going out to find what they want in a shop, then look for the best price online?

Virtual Change Rooms For Online Clothes Stores: Pictures, Photos

Matthew

We specialise in eCommerce, contact me today if you are interested in finding out what we can do for you.

We have solutions for small operators up through to B2B/B2C custom hybrid systems for corporates.  This is next generation eCommerce from experts in the field.  We can get you trading for as little as A$5,000, and small business can get into a fully featured Williams Commerce site for as little as A$15,000.  Custom B2B/B2C with back end integration and account management can be delivered for under A$40,000 in most instances.  Williams Commerce eCommerce software is driving several Million Dollar websites across the UK, we know eCommerce.

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Australian Retail is mired in doom and gloom, sales are down, even when the prices are down, nobody buys.  David Jones, an Australian retail Flagship takes a pounding in recent results.  And the complaints about eCommerce competition continue.

Well, JB Hi-Fi have one of the best online presences for a local Australian retailer, and they are coming through well, with a significant attribution to online sales.

“On the online front, JB says it has continued to refine its offer, with sales for the year up 51.6 per cent, in the second half 68.1 per cent. The company saw 800,000 unique visitors on the website in July and Smart says online is “increasingly an important generator for both in store and online sales”.

JB Hi-Fi weathers the retail blues | IR News | Inside Retail

As an eCommerce expert, its a no brainer.  There is a paradigm shift happening, and if you aren’t in eCommerce, you aren’t in Retail for long….

Even Harvey Norman, the electrical & household goods retailer who led the charge to try and tax out eCommerce, has converted, and gotten his own venture started.

“Harvey Norman Warms to Online Sales”

Harvey Norman warms to online sales but rivals far ahead | The Australian

Australian Retailers who don’t begin to look into eCommerce are going to face some tough challenges as online businesses set up to take them on without bricks and mortar to support.  Harvey Norman has invested 500k for this year, the budgets are pretty outrageous, being the William’s Commerce solution we are building B2C and B2B eComemerce will in most instances get you change from $25,ooo.

Yes, compete with Harvey Norman for 5% of their spend.  Maybe a few lessons in eCommerce yet for the big guys to learn.

Contact me about the New Generation eCommerce 2.0 solutions from Williams Commerce, and find out what one of the UK’s leading eCommerce experts can bring to your Australian or International business.

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This article basically highlights the difference between Aussie and US retail prices, attributing it to 4 factors:

Labour costs

Rental costs

Higher quality after sales service

Higher profit margins

It does not bode well for the Australian bricks-and-mortar concerns, that have to deal with the high rental rates and labour costs eCommerce doesn’t have to deal with as brutally.

Have Aussie retailers been ripping Us off? | IR News | Inside Retailing

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Great article on the use of social media and brand loyalty.  Insight for social media marketers.

Infographic: Why People Follow Brands | Digital Buzz Blog

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eCommerce is setting the new benchmark, retailers take note.  There are massive opportunities for niche and general retail to adopt the new paradigm.  Either as an additional channel, or as a sole channel, running eCommerce in this maturing market needs integrated CRM, Marketing and interoperability with back end systems.  SEO has to be a line item on your budget to get traffic rolling.  And, just like old school retailing, you have to reach out to the consumer, build your brand and market your services.

Right now, the opportunity still exists to get established in this category.  City rental rates, especially in high profile locations, are the defining advantage between online and ‘bricks and morter.’  Ecommerce isn’t just an offshore phenomenon, there are plenty of local efforts competing head to head with the big boys, and making it.

If you have any questions about eCommerce applications, we represent the Williams Commerce platform in Australia, and we would be happy to talk.

Investment in website pays off | IR News | Inside Retailing

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An good example of how NOT to do Search Engine Optimisation.  Black hat techniques can get you short term results, but if the indexes feel like you are deceiving them, they will bounce you.

How J.C. Penney Became The Number One Search Result For Nearly Every Google Search | Gizmodo Australia

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Following up on the previous article, here’s what Gerry did today….

Gerry Harvey retreats from war on online shopper | News.com.au

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Background:

http://www.news.com.au/business/online-sales-will-kill-jobs-retailers/comments-e6frfm1i-1225981373508

Currently in the news, eCommerce is all the go in Australia.  Our dollar is 1-to-1 with the American dollar, and Australian’s are reaching out, globalising their purchasing.  Add the cost of shipping, quite high to Australia, and the deals are still great.

There is however, no 10% GST on imported purchases under $1000.  The local market is calling foul.  The fact is, add 10% to the purchase price, and the Aussie market still can’t compete….

Remember, you are also already paying a big shipping premium,$20-$60?

A big part of the problem is retail rental rates.  So, you have to feel for the industry – rock, hard place, all that….

Issues to the public:

Retailers in Australia are naturally concerned, seeing their revenues going to overseas online competitors.  So, they are pressuring the government to protect their interests.  Recap:  They send the Aussie jobs overseas to China because they are cheaper, yet scream foul and ‘Un Australianism” when those now otherwise employed people purchase overseas because they are looking for a better deal.

Meyer can buy a pair of Jeans in China (because Aussie labour is too expensive) for $5 and sell them here for $120. Now, a consumer (who used to work in Textiles, but now has a lower paying retail job) can buy those same Jeans from the ‘States for $45, plus $25 Shipping.  Ain’t globalisation a bitch…

This fundamental hypocrisy of the local retail complaint is not lost on the public.

Additionally, watching the Aussie dollar go from .60 to 1.0 against the US dollar, and not seeing notable price reductions is an issue.  It lets us all know who is getting a sweet bite on the cherry.

Add the fact that most retailers are no longer hiring knowledgeable salespeople, but rather whomever will work for the part-time package they offer.  So, don’t even ask where something is, much less how it works.  They handle transactions OK though…

Their posturing about “Saving Australian Jobs” isn’t working very well in light of these realities.

Brand:

Harvey Norman has always had a great brand image, capturing the unique sweet spot in Australian culture, “The Battler.”  The little guy doing well against the odds.  Personable, approachable, just like us.  Our mates.  Same as St George Bank has carried well.

Problem is, Gerry Harvey has just burned his Brand, and with Web 2.0 you can see it happening before your eyes.  Gerry is in the news, and the commentary is blistering. Twitter is going off on him.

In his attempt to garner better revenue, he may have lost the baby with the bathwater.  He has just put himself into the same boardroom as David Jones, Meyer and Target, and low and behold, he’s the spokesperson.  Bad move Gerry.

Now, St George Bank, that’s an interesting counterpoint.  Now owed by NAB, one of the “Big Banks” the St George brand has been kept alive, not merged.  While NAB can boost rates above the Reserve Bank rate, and stand equal with the other big banks, sharing the damage.  St George never comes up.  Sure, St George rates go up, after the news cycle on interest rates passes.  St George brand is still “the Battler” even if it has long since ceased being the reality.

Gerry Harvey has always been the strength of his brand.  Can do man, sharp and compassionate, and the stores carry his name as the Brand.  He is banking his power as an Australian Icon will carry him through this battle.   The feedback from web 2.0 is that he is wrong.

It will be interesting to see if he steps back, or continues to push.  Its a battle that will be hard to win, in an unwinable war.

Consumerism in Australia is not ‘fundamental’ like other Western capitalist democracies.  Australian’s are more resistant to brand marketing, and conspicuous consumption – outside housing.  This resistance has relaxed with the booming economy over the last 10 years, and the influx of migrants with more comsumerist attitudes, but with the GFC, Aussies started saving and paying down debt, and lo and behold, looking for better deals.   Those values are not far beneath the surface, and rising.

Now is the time for innovation, not recrimination… eCommerce is here to stay.

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