Rising expectations prompt stores to enhance Web sites
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, March 1, 2010
HIGH POINT —
Realizing that 80% of consumers research products online before making a purchase, retailer Furniture World moved to make its business more productive a few years ago by establishing a stronger Web presence.
“We went with a very large Web site (provider) for retailers nationwide. It just never got where we wanted it to,” said Bill Turner, owner of Furniture World in Petal, Miss.
“We felt it was not user friendly, it was complicated and was really hard to get the catalogs right from vendors.”
He added that the site had a lot of maintenance issues and that he didn't have any ability to analyze traffic.
Likewise, Kevin McDonald of McDonald's Fine Furniture in Lynnwood, Wash., contracted to have a Web site built several years ago to boost the store's $5 million in annual sales.
He operated under the assumption, “Build it and they will come.” But two years later, the Web site content remained exactly the same and the process, in McDonald's words, was “dysfunctional.”
Both dealers turned to a new vendor. Experiences like theirs are not unusual, especially when it comes to smaller dealers who have neither the time nor staff to develop and maintain an effective Web site with strong content. And content is a major tool in driving sales.
According to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, 77% of 650 women and 350 men said their interest in buying from a particular merchant is influenced by the quality of content (descriptions, copy, images and tools) on a particular site.
In addition, 91% of those surveyed said they “always or frequently” click to learn more when they find a product of interest.
So what happens when a consumer visits a site and the content is stale, promotions have long expired, and product images and descriptions are unclear? They go elsewhere.
To improve their sites, both of these retailers turned to Banner Marketing, a company that provides everything from retail circulars to showroom signage. A key component in Banner's business model involves connecting traditional media with the Internet to create “a tool for driving traffic on a very local level,” said John Dresel, CEO.
Dresel was once responsible for 120 franchised stores and $60 million in annual business, and knows “what it's like to try and drive traffic,” he said. “That's a very difficult feeling. I've been that guy.”
The goal at Banner, he said, is to take “the complexity out of marketing for our dealers.” The company takes care of almost everything on a retailer's Web site — including designing the site, updating product, writing descriptions and overseeing promotions.
The company also provides analytics so that dealers can see who's visiting their sites, how often they're there, and what they interested in buying.
Both Furniture World and McDonald's conduct online promotions. Furniture World currently offers coupons for $25, $50 and $100 off, depending on the size of the ticket. And McDonald's offers a free LCD TV with certain purchases. Banner calls its customers frequently to ensure that prices, promotions and products remain up to date.
“A lot of dealers who've switched to our program said they'd purchased a Web site before,” Dresel said. “But if you look at it, they haven't changed it in a year or two. We've seen special offers on their sites from 2007.”
Dresel said that dealers, especially those who do $1 million to $5 million annually, “are extremely busy people. One of the toughest things to do in today's environment is to find the time to integrate your marketing site and change all the different SKUs you have to continually offer. (But) anyone in retail knows that if you're not delivering something fresh, you're dying.”
Turner, of Furniture World, said his previous site had no updating capabilities. “That's the worst nightmare for a retailer — when we can't get our discontinued items off. People get mad at you because you don't have what you show.”
Among other improvements, Banner offers access to a number of manufacturers' online catalogs, which makes updating product changes on the Furniture World site much easier.
A big plus of Banner's approach, according to Turner, is the Web site analysis it provides.
“We're in a college town and I feel we have a stronger presence,” said Turner. “We're seeing a younger person come into the store. They'll come in and say, 'Oh, I saw that bedroom suite for $999 on the Web, so we get direct feedback.”
“I know (the site) increases sales and, in part, I feel that's why we're having a record February,” Turner said.
Likewise, McDonald's implemented the Banner program late last year and, within four months, McDonald said he felt he could compete with the “big boys” in site effectiveness and increased sales.
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