Web site seen as key part of marketing strategy
Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, March 2, 2003
Waterloo, Ontario — The Internet is the most powerful marketing tool ever created, says Stan West of Home Fashion Market. He believes that, in time, every furniture retailer will have to have a strong Web presence to survive.
"We're just scratching the surface of its potential," West said. "With the power of the Web, consumers are equipped with more knowledge than ever before. For the first time, furniture shoppers have a comprehensive research resource and it's right in their own home."
Home Fashion Market has what is perhaps the easiest-to-remember Web address for a furniture retailer in Canada, www.furniture.ca. It's not a selling site but provides existing and potential customers with a wide range of information about the products and services HFM offers.
It not only gives directions to the store, but tells consumers what to bring when they visit for the first time. In addition to a virtual tour of the store, the site features a catalog with many of the 25,000 items in the store's lineup.
"I think resource sites like FurnitureFan.com and the like eventually will have a very significant effect on a store's traffic," West said. "The Web has only been popular for about five years. Give it another generation and we're going to see some evolutions that will demand every store have a major Web emphasis.
"I believe it's very possible that furniture-buying decisions will be made before the customer ever sets foots in the store to place their order."
Home Fashion Market constantly revises and improves its Web site.
"Our immediate plans are to improve a few navigational issues and overhaul our product updating procedures," West said. "We'll also add an HTML option for slower connections and provide a wider range of resource tools for do-it-yourself home decorators."
HFM isn't waiting for customers to find its site. The retailer recently began creating and distributing e-flyers and electronic newsletters.
"This will be the biggest area of development for us in the immediate future," West said. "Currently, we're operating from a single database of existing clients and sign-ups from our site. We've just initiated a program to split into three databases: existing clients, store visitors and outside prospects that may never have been to our store.
"This involves a variety of address collection strategies and cross-referencing techniques, but it will allow us to publish distinct messages tailored to each of these different groups."
He said initial results have been very encouraging.
"Our experience has been the e-flyer has greater impact than a letter sent by regular mail," West said, noting it's also more cost efficient. "By building the letter in an HTML format, we're also able to bury sub-pages with additional articles and special offers in each mailing."
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