Retailers' Web Sites...Assets or Liabilities?

I am a computer moron. I admit it. Amazingly though, I do go on-line to research purchases I am thinking of making. In the furniture industry, research shows that 60% of potential buyers do likewise. I never thought I would develop such skills.I recently went on the web sites of four top 100 retailers to do a little research. I posed this proposition: “What if I were in the market for a living room set? Suppose I knew nothing about any of these retailers? What messages would I receive by visiting their web sites?” The answers were startling…two of the retailers’ sites effectively portrayed the stores as fashion-forward, value driven showrooms with outstanding selections of merchandise; two were woefully lacking. Follows are a few examples of what I perceived:

Retailer A with typical showrooms between 30,000 and 35, 000 square feet showed a selection of 146 upholstered living room groupings. In a full-line furniture store of this size, it is unlikely that they would ever have the space to show nearly that many. However, through double covering and other clever merchandising tricks, they made me think they offered the greatest and most comprehensive assortment of upholstered furniture on the planet. If I were a prospective consumer interested in furniture in the promotional to middle price points, I would begin my search here.

Retailer B with a typical footprint of about double that size presented 87 living room groups, again leaving the impression that an extremely large selection was being offered. The web site was clean, organized, and easy to navigate. Not a lot of glitz, but obviously professional and well maintained.

Retailer C with an average showroom of about 60,000 square feet, displayed a selection of reasonable breadth but with photographs so small that it was impossible to make out any detail and really get an idea of what the merchandise looked like. I literally was able to cover the photos with the tip of my thumb. It took “unimpressive” to new heights. This site definitely would not have enticed me to buy or to even visit the store.

Retailer D operates stores from 65,000 to 115,000 square feet with most in the 90,000 to 100,000 square foot range. It competes at the upper-end of the spectrum. On their web site, they showed a living room assortment of 19 groups. I know they actually display at least three times that on any given sales floor, and based upon their merchandising strategy assort closer to five times that in total. This web site portrayed the upper-end, fashion-forward nature of the company well, but the assortment was a great disappointment. The perception was that of a smallish, design studio with limited showroom space, but lots of panache. Unless strict design services were being sought, there would be no reason to visit.

Remember, the premise was that I knew nothing about these four retail establishments (many customers do not until they go out to shop). Remember again, that according to research, 60% of furniture buyers go to the web sites first to research the stores and their merchandise.

Clearly, my message is simple. Retailers should make absolutely certain that their web sites:

A. Are up to date, complete, and current. Web sites need constant maintenance and review.

B. Present the messages that the company wants them to present without ambiguity.

C. Define visually what the company is all about.

D. Are accurate and appealing.

E. Help, not hinder, sales.
If the company’s web site does not accomplish these things and potential customers get erroneous impressions of the company, sales that might have been made just might be lost, instead. I have a sense that some retailers simply pay lip service to the existence of their on-line presence. Once, the web site has been created and hosted on-line, the effort ends there. In fact, it just begins there. The web site can easily become the company’s greatest hindrance instead of its most valuable marketing asset.