Scenes from the Summit: Pacific Crest 2011

Friday, August 12, 2011 by Morgan Woodruff
The Pacific Crest Global Technology Leadership Forum for 2011 was again held in glorious Vail, Colorado. Blueport's third year at this event kicked off on Sunday with an investment-banker-driven, 7-mile run from the town (8,150 ft.) up to nearly the summit (11,428 ft.). What were they thinking? This was followed by a cocktail reception that night for the private and public companies attending. At this early stage in the conference, it was impossible to wrap your head around the event yet: It was a Sunday night and you were working with half the oxygen you’re used to. You spoke with tons of contacts, but there was no mention of the technology, localized e-commerce, social and mobile buzzwords that would be unavoidable in the remaining days.

The sun crested over the mountains at 5:29 a.m. and breakfast began at 6. Pacific Cresters fluttered around, effectively lining up 48 hours of ducks. You had to caffeine it up -- you needed it.

The summit had three modules --  two unique. At most tech summits, you end up in a room with Google or Gilt listening to egos roar as Sergey or Susan talk about how killer things are in ecommerce, search, social commerce and more. At Pacific Crest, these more generic types of corporate briefings were done throughout the two days and you slot them in as best you can. But most of the fun comes from the two more unique tracks of this conference: One portion is the roundtable discussions where industry focus meets opinion. Our CEO, Carl sat on the Internet Digital Media panel this year with Don the Tool King and the CEO of Beyond the Rack. The discussion is led by bankers and analysts who cover the e-commerce space. This year, logistics and inventory (Do you job it out? CAPEX it?) was among the hotter topics. Our market validation vis-a-vis panel discussions with these high-caliber attendees is flattering. When someone who runs a $17 billion fund nods in agreement -- well, nothing is quite like it.

This year, I spent most of my time differently than in the past. I focused on briefing investors interested in e-commerce platforms and, hopefully, Blueport.

Meetings were 25 minutes each (with 5 minutes for travel time to the next meeting lovingly factored in -- very 503, you know 917 wouldn't do that). They’re like those goofy Hollywood junket interviews for movie premieres. I did my best to not pull a Christian Bale, while sitting in a hotel room stripped of its beds (because THAT would be awkward), saying roughly the same thing over and over, changing it slightly for the audience and its reactions. They went something like this:

Them: Are you profitable?
Us: What's your average check size?
Them: Year-over-year growth?
Us: What are you looking for in your next portfolio company? 
Them: We typically would invest $25 to $50 million, but we did a round with Facebook at $200.
Us: OK, we want $5. Can we make that work?

Before you can imagine, there's a knock on the door. It's over and on to the next. It's a blast, and it’s exactly what I love about my career; that it's not a job or work per se, but it's fun. I'm insanely lucky. Events like this remind me of that.

Related posts:Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce
0 Comments »

Does Your Business Need a Franchise Commerce Solution for the Web?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010 by Morgan Woodruff

Ecommerce is an excellent way to bring a new stream of sales revenue to your retail business as well as to gain awareness for your brand. However, if your retail business is composed of franchises, you face a number of unique challenges. That means you need a unique franchise commerce solution for operating on the Web.

The International Franchise Association outlined a number of issues franchise companies may face as they consider ecommerce. Among them:

  • Who establishes pricing and the terms of purchase with the customer?
  • What are both the franchise company and the franchisee each responsible for when fulfilling orders? Customer support?
  • Who gets credit -- and revenue -- from the sale?
  • Who is responsible for billings and collections?

And because of these concerns, the International Franchise Association suggests that franchise companies looking to try ecommerce “consider adopting ecommerce models that…actively involve franchisees.”

Our Franchise Commerce Solution

Blueport Commerce embraces franchises. In a previous blog post -- “Ecommerce for franchise retail: Can it be done?” -- we discussed how our ecommerce solution specifically works for the franchise model. We are able to help you centralize much of the heavy lifting around merchandising, catalog, marketing and technology with the parent brand, while each independent franchise dealer retains local control of the online store content, pricing, marketing and fulfillment.

More than 900 independently owned and operated dealers use Blueport Commerce to offer their local customers a best in class franchise retail experience online. Find out why.
 

0 Comments »

Arhaus Furniture's Custom iPad App Aims to Drive Cross Channel Sales

Thursday, August 19, 2010 by Morgan Woodruff
Arhaus Furniture, a high-end furniture multi channel retailer with stores in 13 states in addition to a print catalog and an e-commerce site at Arhaus.com, will soon arm their entire delivery team with an iPad application aimed at not only enhancing the product delivery experience, but also driving repeat and incremental purchases from their customer base.

The application is designed primarily for customer use: customers will be handed the iPad at the start of the delivery, which will include a welcome and thank you message from the retailer, will be able to look at different furniture setup options and even browse the entire Arhaus ecommerce catalog. Customers will also sign off on deliveries using their fingers on the touch screen and will also be able to fill out a post delivery survey on site.

While the iPad application will certainly result in efficiencies in the retailer’s fulfillment and delivery systems, what is interesting here is how the company is adding another level to their customer service experience through a true cross channel retail strategy. For example, while a customer is having a sofa delivered that they purchased at their local store, they will be able to browse the Arhaus.com ecommerce catalog through the iPad app for the matching chair they recall seeing during their shopping trip. 

No doubt that we will continue to see more and more retailers integrate these type of mobile and tablet products into their multi channel strategy to enhance their customers' retail shopping experience, be it in-store or on the go.  And as retail channels become increasingly blurred and intertwined, the importance of having consistent content and product information for your customer no matter where they are shopping will be imperative and essential to driving sales.

How are your stores or franchises integrating technologies such as the iPad into their sales or customer service process?


Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce



0 Comments »

E-commerce for franchise retail: Can it be done?

Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Carl Prindle

While other e-commerce providers avoid the unique challenges of franchise retail models, Blueport Commerce embraces franchises.  We are the only e-commerce solution designed to handle the complexity of putting a distributed, localized franchise retail model online.

In this franchise retail model, the parent brand handles the "heavy lifting" of content development, catalog development and maintenance, overall marketing strategy, payment processing and technology management. Centralizing these functions guarantees a high quality e-commerce experience that is both highly valuable and affordable for their franchise's membership. Dealers then “localize” the e-commerce experience in their region, refining selection, pricing, promotions and delivery options. 

The independent franchise dealers reap the benefit of a fully functional e-commerce website they could not afford alone, but retain local control of online store content, local marketing, pricing and fulfillment of local orders. More than 900 independently owned and operated dealers use Blueport Commerce to offer their local customers a best in class franchise retail experience online.
 

0 Comments »

Overcoming Ecommerce Challenges

Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Carl Prindle

Many retailers face challenges when developing or purchasing online ecommerce software solutions. Such challenges include:

  • Products that are challenging to sell online because they are expensive, unbranded, not well understood or highly customizable
  • Products that have complex delivery requirements that can't be met by standard parcel services
  • Franchise or co-op models where brand, product offering and distribution is controlled locally by independent dealers

If you face these challenges, it’s important to look for an ecommerce solution provider that specializes in your area of business. When selecting an ecommerce software provider, ask how they can address your specific challenges.

Also, be sure that the vendor you select combines its ecommerce technology platform with relevant experience and real advice, consultation and support.  This will help you enable a seamless ecommerce business solution and a true multichannel strategy which will in turn allow you to better focus on your core business, drive results and create e-commerce growth. Contact us to see how we’ve solved your challenges for the largest of big-ticket retailers.

 

0 Comments »

Going Beyond Your Standard Ecommerce Platform: A Big-Ticket Retailer's Wishlist

Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Carl Prindle
Unlike most retailers looking to sell their products online, big-ticket retailers need an ecommerce platform that is specifically designed to address the "big-ticket" barriers that have prevented them from going online.

Unlike their mass merchandise counterparts, big-ticket retailers need a platform that will help them overcome challenges such as:

  • Merchandising products that are challenging to sell online because they are expensive, unbranded, not well understood or highly customizable
  • Managing shipping requirements and costs for products that have complex delivery requirements that can't be met by standard parcel services
  • Integrating franchise or co-op models where brand, product offering and distribution is controlled locally by independent dealers
  • Greater emphasis on cross-channel shopping

These retailers need a system that goes beyond just a standard ecommerce platform.  They need a business solution that integrates their ecommerce store into a seamless multi-channel strategy offering. 

Key ecommerce platform requirements for big-ticket retailers include:

  • Localization
  • Custom System Integration
  • Online Merchandising
  • Online Marketing
  • E-Commerce
  • Order Tracking
  • Franchise/Co-op Extranet
  • Store Intranet
  • CRM & Email Marketing
  • Inventory Management
The Blueport platform represents a decade of big-ticket learning in a specialize, comprehensive, hosted solution used by retailers representing billions in big-ticket sales. 



0 Comments »

Local E-commerce Websites at Lighting One

Sunday, February 21, 2010 by Betsy Miller

Lighting One’s business doesn’t fit the standard e-commerce model. 

As the nation’s largest independent group of specialty lighting stores with more than 140 showrooms, Lighting One faced the unique challenge of maintaining the company’s brand identity while empowering the individual showrooms with the ability to manage their unique local markets. Lighting One partnered with Blueport Commerce to take advantage of our powerful and proven e-commerce platform that enables each store to modify branding, pricing and selection in their local markets on the fly.

Through our unique franchise module, we developed fully-integrated e-commerce websites for each independent location, including store–specific URLs and site content, custom pricing and promotions, and order management.  

This integrated system enables every Lighting One store to maintain its unique local identity, while taking advantage of the massive scale of the Lighting One cooperative. For example, Brose Electric Shop, a Michigan-based Lighting One dealer, never had an e-commerce website of its own and began generating revenue almost immediately upon going live on the new Lighting One site powered by Blueport Commerce.
 

0 Comments »

Franchise Ecommerce: A Success Story

Friday, February 19, 2010 by Betsy Miller
Are you a franchise retailer wondering how you could help your franchise owners get online?  You’re not alone – here’s how we helped flooring franchise retailer Carpet One Floor and Home solve the franchise ecommerce problem.

With over 1,000 individually owned and operated franchise stores, Carpet One had physical locations covered but was lacking a comprehensive online marketing strategy. They understood that a web site could play a huge role in increasing revenue, brand awareness and traffic to their franchise stores but wasn't sure of the approach.  

We starting working with Carpet One in 2008 on a complete franchise ecommerce solution, and in Spring 2009 launched the new site. The Blueport-powered Carpet One sites reflect each store’s unique offering, generating leads as well as sample, do-it-yourself, and installed flooring orders fulfilled by these local dealers.  Providing both technology and ongoing management services, we allowed Carpet One to focus on what they do best – marketing, merchandising and operating their business. 

Soon after launch, Carpet One saw substantial increases in qualified leads, both in-store and online. In addition, they’re seeing an amazing return on investment – an ROI of $10 for every $1 spent online, cost per sale online is half of traditional media and the average order generated online is 50 percent greater than only retail-customers.

0 Comments »