Local EcommerceBlueport.com

In The Geography of Transport Systems, Hofstra University’s Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, along with colleagues from Canada and around the world, examines how the emergence of ecommerce has affected logistics. Effectively, they say online retail has changed the supply chain by deemphasizing the importance of location, and the online retailer needs to function both as the retailer and the distribution center. This is all well and good for easy-to-ship items, but what are the ecommerce logistics for bigger ticket items, like furniture? Not to mention that as of yet, these academics have not addressed how mobile commerce, with its emphasis on localization, will affect transportation and logistics, or how this change in logistics impacts the customer experience.

At Blueport Commerce we've been practicing localization - not just theorizing - for over a decade, while making ecommerce work for big-ticket purchases for over a decade. Learn more about the Blueport model here.
 

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.
 

What is the big win in a consumer being able to find a product at local stores that has always been easy to find? Sure, it’s fun to be able to do a local inventory search right from your smartphone. It’s also a lot of fun to update your Twitter and Facebook accounts on-the-go as well.

But this StorefrontBacktalk article points out that the true value of local inventory search is really yet to come, and that most of what could be found is already findable via numerous search engines’ regular search platforms.

“If the consumer already knows the manufacturer’s name -- or a specific model and make -- the manufacturer’s site is generally quite helpful,” reads the piece. “Certainly if the store is already known, that store’s site can deliver those answers. The value -- and extreme value it is -- comes from an engine finding products that simply cannot be found otherwise.”

So if you're a retailer selling unique products or hard-to-find items, running the gamut from private-label furniture to antique radios, local inventory search won’t necessarily help consumers find you. And for the folks looking to buy your product, local inventory search will be that more frustrating.

When Local Inventory Search Works

Here's what does work: at Blueport Commerce, we’ve been providing our customers with fast, accurate local inventory search as part of our core localization strategy since 2001. In our case it works, as the search is specific to the customer's location and is tied right into the retailer's inventory systems. For the customer, and the retailer, that's a very big win indeed.

Learn more about our ecommerce solutions.
 

We’re thrilled to share with you the new site for RoomStore, a long-time customer and one of the largest furniture retailers in the country with more than $325 million a year in sales. We launched the first RoomStore site more than five years ago and, since then, we’ve continued to evaluate and make changes to the site on a regular basis. 

But with this major re-launch, we have leveraged our unique B2B e-commerce solutions to improve the online customer experience to drive cross-channel sales. Among the new features:

• Precision Localization: The site automatically adjusts based on a user’s location, dynamically providing inventory, pricing, promotions, delivery details and more create a seamless cross-channel shopping experience.
• Live Chat/Click-to-Call: Shoppers can now choose how they want to communicate with customer service representatives -- via online chat or phone. Dynamic icons reflect real-time availability of customer service reps including when they’re able to chat, connect via phone or request a call-back.
• Collaboration Bar: Social media and other enhancements are available via a single tool on product pages, giving customers the additional resources they need for big-ticket purchases, like sharing an item with a friend, live chat or printing a store-ready page.
• Shoppable Images: Interactive information tags are displayed on room settings, allowing shoppers to get information on the items in the room and add them directly to their shopping carts from the image. This feature allows customers to be as few clicks from purchasing the items they want as possible.

That is just a taste of what the new RoomStore.com offers. To learn about all of the innovative features, check out the press release.

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

E-commerce 1.0 = World Wide Web (only):  Typical e-commerce does not accurately reflect how multi-channel chain retailing is done in-store.  Just as “all politics is local,” all big ticket chain store retail is local, too.  Through local selection, local prices and local promotions, stores battle local competitors for local customers.  Most e-commerce solutions aren’t built for localization – one site offers the same thing to every visitor, regardless of where a customer resides.   Retailers who adopt this approach for big ticket e-commerce hamper both their online efforts and their stores.

Big Ticket E-commerce = Localize!  Remember that e-commerce supports your overall multichannel retail strategy and your websites should be as localized as your stores.   Some big ticket retailers have hundreds of localized, micro-branded sites with content that resonates with local consumers.   Others use IP mapping to localize prices, offers and product selection, directing customers to local stores with products on display.  All have checkout processes that reflect that delivery times may be 48 hours in one area, two weeks in another.  Make sure your e-commerce platform embraces the complexity of local e-commerce – when done correctly it’s a powerful sales tool online and in your stores.


Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

The rules for big ticket e-commerce differ from first wave, ecommerce 1.0 practices.   More often than not, big-ticket ecommerce problems occur when retailers apply first wave e-commerce solutions to second wave challenges.

E-commerce 1.0 = E-commerce Island:  A common mistake occurs at the outset of many big ticket e-commerce efforts – big ticket retailers organize their e-commerce business as an ‘island’, isolated within a department or wholly outsourced.  A departmentalized approach, isolated from a company’s overall retail operations, is typical of (and may work for) simple ”first wave” e-commerce categories, but the local, multichannel complexity of big ticket e-commerce makes this structure at best ineffective, and more likely detrimental to the chain.

Big Ticket E-commerce = Embedded E-commerce Strategy:  Launch your e-commerce operation as a coordinated, multichannel commerce effort, ideally with the head of e-commerce having a seat at the management table.  This structure allows e-commerce to become what it should be in big ticket categories– a force multiplier for chain-wide initiatives – and optimizes e-commerce results.

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

The term ROBO (Research Online, Buy Offline) was coined by Yahoo! to describe the growing number of consumers who research online, but buy offline.  Online ‘pre-shopping’ has become a common activity prior to a variety of purchases.  According to Forrester, online research will influence $1 trillion in offline sales by 2012, making it imperative that retailers understand the full impact that their online presence—as well as those of their competitors—may have on consumer in-store behavior.

Understanding Research Online, Buy Offline (ROBO) behavior is particularly important when selling ‘big-ticket’ items - online or in-store.  Big-ticket purchases require more research and consideration due to higher price points and their high degree of personalization.  Furniture, mattresses, appliances, flooring and home décor are all examples of products that consumers are spending a significant amount of time researching online prior to purchase.

What should multichannel retailers be doing to better understand and meet the needs of ROBOs while they are in this ‘pre-shopping’ mindset?  Whether the ultimate purchase is made at ecommerce store or at a local store, a multichannel retailer needs to take the necessary steps to ensure they are providing a seamless cross channel customer experience that ultimately makes a sale.  When executed well – and with ROBOs in mind – ecommerce sites can become a critical tool to help stores compete both locally and chain-wide.

By understanding how the ROBO shops, and synchronizing your online presence with your local stores, retailers can provide the seamless cross-channel experience these shoppers seek and capture their business - through whichever channel they ultimately choose to buy.

Put focus on these key areas:

1. Localize online merchandising to match local stores
2. Build credibility through rich, synchronized information
3. Provide accurate, local delivery information
4. Integrate local in-store and online offers and promotions

Continuing with our ecommerce email marketing efforts, as we move the consumer from inspiration to purchase, here are a few ideas for content that will keep them on this path.

Localize: The importance of localized content in your email marketing cannot be underestimated for ‘big ticket' purchases.  Give your ecommerce customers an option to get more information about the product, drive traffic into stores, and provide reassurance that their order will be handled by a local store team available for assistance if needed.

Cost: Product cost comparison invariably plays a critical role in the decision making process for big ticket items, so don't forget to highlight any promotions or offers in your email marketing that may be available for customers at this point. 

Purchase: Finally, use your ecommerce email marketing to entice the customer in the final steps of the buying cycle by offering a discount, coupon or incentive to bring the sale in. 

Beyond relevance, giving customers a wide variety of meaningful and interesting email content can be key to guiding them through the sale and establishing a deeper relationship.  With this approach, email marketing quickly becomes an integral component of a holistic sales cycle and not just the closer.
 

At Blueport, we pride ourselves on being different from other e-commerce companies. We’re more than simply a back-end system that retailers can plug into. We believe that technology and integration only opens your online store. Expertise in managing that store is what drives results.

Blueport's e-commerce services team ensures you get the benefit of our ten years of experience in big-ticket retail when marketing, merchandising and operating your online store. We know the unique aspects of these considered purchases, from imaging to marketing to customer support, and we'll work with you to develop those programs for your e-commerce efforts.

Our mission is to help you capture the e-commerce opportunity as part of an integrated multi-channel strategy. At Blueport Commerce, we're a turnkey solution specialized for big ticket that ensures your transition to e-commerce is easy, worry-free and profitable. By combining the industry's most advanced technology platform for localized, big-ticket retail, dedicated integration services and personalized service packages, Blueport Commerce can port your unique business to a ready and willing online marketplace.

We like to think we’re the complete e-commerce package. Let's talk.