Thomasville tests letting consumers buy online
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, November 16, 2009
THOMASVILLE, N.C. — Thomasville Furniture Inds. has launched a pilot e-commerce initiative that allows customers to purchase case goods on its Web site.
The company has been testing the concept on www.Thomasville.com for a few months. The program is running in 18 markets that have a combined 44 company-owned stores, said Kathy Devereux, vice president of marketing.
Those markets include Atlanta; Brookfield, Conn.; Charlotte, Raleigh and High Point, N.C.; Dallas; Greenville, S.C.; Overland Park, Kan.; Las Vegas; Madison, Wis.; Miami; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Seattle; Tampa, Fla. and Washington.
Devereux said that consumers who live within about 30 miles of stores in those markets can shop online. Proximity to the stores is important because the company wants to use the Web to drive traffic to those locations.
The site includes images and suggested retail pricing on each item.
To make an online purchase, the customer clicks on an item and the related link that activates the transaction, then provides credit card information.
Before the order is processed, a Thomasville customer service representative calls the consumer to confirm she has chosen the exact item she wants, and goes over the return policy.
Later, a designer at the local Thomasville store contacts the customer to answer questions and offer assistance. This contact allows the designer and the store to get credit for the sale. The store also coordinates delivery.
The company says it is limiting the online purchases to case goods mainly because they don't involve the more complicated custom options available in upholstery.
Ed Teplitz, Thomasville president and CEO, said the pilot program seeks to serve the large number of consumers who research products online before and after they visit a store.
“We know it is a tool they are using and have all seen the explosion of the Internet and e-commerce in our industry and other industries,” Teplitz said. “For us to ignore it would be foolish. It's not a replacement of brick and mortar; it's an enhancement.”
The concept is similar to an e-commerce initiative launched by sister company Drexel Heritage this spring. That effort is a pilot program that seeks to learn about online sales trends and improve the process along the way.
Teplitz, who also oversees Drexel Heritage, said that enhancements planned for the Drexel site in 2010 will improve its e-commerce platform.
He also said the program doesn't aim to compete with local Thomasville or Drexel stores. He added that the pilot programs could provide useful online sales data should officials decided to expand the concept to other markets.
“We all need to maximize sales through multiple distribution channels,” said Teplitz. “As we move forward, we want to partner with our dealer network. We don't want to take business from them.”
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