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Article:
Online Retail Growth Requires Satisfied
Customers
With the growing
popularity of the web and rapid advances in
technology the retail sector provides an
obvious route for Internet development.
However, many online retailers have and will
perish because they did not have a business
model that will generate sufficient cash
flow.
As discussed in
previous articles, brick and mortar
retailers should be aware that they have the
advantage of a name that consumers already
recognize. A strong brand name provides
powerful benefits of awareness and
credibility for establishing a web presence.
Brick and mortar retailers also have several
relatively low cost mechanisms at their
disposal to get the word out about their
online shopping venues. They can include
their web addresses in advertising campaigns
as well as print their web addresses in
store-catalogs and on store receipts.
Moreover, they can also tie their store
loyalty cards and catalog circulation lists
to their mailing lists in order to increase
awareness and usage of the online channel.
However, integrating
offline and online store operations is a
complex process. The success of online
retailing is heavily dependent on two
fulfillment competencies; fulfilling orders
efficiently and providing an exemplary level
of customer service. E-Retailers that are
not able to effectively carry out these two
functions will ultimately experience a
decline in Web site traffic and sales.
Moreover, other
fulfillment challenges such as fulfilling
orders on time, lowering delivery costs,
managing peak season volume, staying in
stock, offering a wide assortment of
products, keeping up with order volume and
tracking orders make many a retailer wary of
establishing an online presence. Many of
those concerns can be alleviated with the
more powerful online merchandising and
ecommerce software’s available today.
Return policies can
also make the difference between a satisfied
shopper and a frustrated ex-customer.
Returning merchandise is possibly the most
annoying facet of the online shopping
experience, especially when it's the result
of a damaged shipment or an error by the
e-Retailer. For many shoppers, returning a
product is simply an extension of the
shopping experience. If the returns process
is difficult, the shopper assimilates that
information to complete their perception of
the entire online experience. E-Retailers
that economize on returns are in danger of
alienating their customers.
All retailers, whether
large or small, should try the
click-and-mortar strategy. After all, it is
an additional sales channel that addresses
the consumers' demand for having a product
when, where, and the way in which they want
it. In order to meet the needs of this newly
empowered consumer, retailers will also have
to integrate their marketing activities to
incorporate that differentiating value of
the physical store into their Web site.
Finally, you need to
maintain your website regularly. Regardless
of your type of website, there will always
be some information that will need to be
added, removed, or changed in order to keep
your website updated as time passes by.
Information like new services, specials,
news, policies changes, and so on should be
used to update your website so it keeps the
right information at all times. Even on the
rare case that your website information does
not need any maintenance, it is recommended
that you add some new features or at least
change the way data is presented from time
to time, so your website visitors don't get
bored and stop coming back.
Outdated information
and poorly maintained websites are some of
the major causes for web failure and poor
activity. In fact, a recent survey we
conducted of small hotel and retail web
sites resulted in us discovering that nearly
eighteen percent of their published website
email addresses were not valid. Don't let
this happen to you, get your updated
information and ensure that your website is
maintained regularly. -
John Shenton - October, 2002
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