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Is your virtual store online yet?
Back in the day, a picture used to be worth a thousand words.
Today, in the fast-paced Web 2.0 world, a picture can be worth a thousand bucks or more, specifically if you’re selling home furnishings on the Web.
But in order to reap the reward, you need to provide an e-experience that virtually allows your customer to replicate her in-store impressions while in the privacy of her home. When she’s shopping your merchandise online — and this applies to both retailers and manufacturers — she wants more than just a one-dimensional image of your line.
I know from talking to consumers that this is an issue. I also know from talking with a number of retailers that they are equally hungry for ways to make their Web sites as robust, interactive and virtual as possible.
Before you accuse me of pie-in-the-sky thinking, I am here to tell you that other retailers are already well down that road.
One example that comes to mind involves a collaboration between Sears and IBM that debuted at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show. What attendees got to see was a prototype 3-D showroom that was billed as the Sears Virtual Home. The purpose of this virtual store was meant to showcase the possibilities of using a virtual world to create a new customer experience.
A consumer who “enters” the virtual store has the ability to change the color of the cabinets and countertops in the virtual kitchen, create three-dimensional home-office configurations and change the size, color and shapes of ovens, television sets.
During the launch, Paul Miller, Sear’s vice president of direct commerce, said that the goal of this venture was to empower the consumer, in part by allowing her to experience Sears’ products in a way that closely replicates real life.
Since that time, other retailers, including Circuit City, have moved forward with strategies designed to incorporate virtual selling into their business plans.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a story detailing how Kohl’s had launched a new line of youth apparel that debuted not in Kohl’s stores, but on Stardoll.com, a virtual community for teens. Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121910159887951221.html to see the story.
Other industries already get the picture. Will we?
Undetermined commented:
Ross: You make some very good points! Thanks for taking the time to share your thinking with us! Ray
Undetermined commented:
Ray, I would like to thank you for bringing up this very timely topic. With some exceptions, very few of our corporate industry leaders understand the power (and potential) of the web. Many treat their site as digital catalog, and while the information (content) they put up on their site is important (to them), it often has a similar effect that one would get by reading a phone book. It works when you know exactly what you are looking for. You’re right. The video game industry gets it. The car industry gets it. And your mention of a virtual model sporting virtual clothes is another great example of a \"traditional\" company selling \"traditional\" products - in a non-traditional - but very cool way. They are creating excitement through instant gratification and personalization – and a level of anticipation in a way that transports the consumer out of the \"how much does it cost?\" frame of mind to the \"I want it now – when can you deliver it?\" mindset. If they know what it COULD look like before they bought it, they\'ll buy it faster, buy more of it, and more often. But, in order to do this effectively, we need the product vendors to understand the potential of this concept, and the have the desire to help their retailers. But I would like to qualify a point: I sincerely think that while a store\'s site should be exciting, captivating and cool – its main goal should be to act as a \"traffic generator\". It should direct ready-to-buy consumers into the store (to a \'virtual\' design center) where, they can be assisted in their many design options, by properly trained experts. This is where they will derive the benefits of what our industry can offer – knowledgeable staff guiding (not selling) the consumer in their lifestyle choices. Do get me wrong, having an ‘online’ virtual store is great, but it shouldn\'t be considered a \'silver bullet\' for fixing our current situation. If we give the consumers all the tools – what would they need us for? Let\'s capitalize on the \'online consumer\' by bringing them into the store. We have something to offer in the stores that they can\'t get online – SERVICE. We need to recognize that. Ross Barlett ViewIT Technologies www.3dream.net
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