Providing a seamless cross channel experience, with physical stores and ecommerce retail sites working towards a coordinated selling effort, has always been at the heart of our strategy at Blueport Commerce. We get the importance of this approach in driving sales for big ticket items in particular, and so do our multichannel retail clients.
The Home Depot is another retailer that ‘gets it’.
Hal Lawton, president of Home Depot Online, recently gave a presentation at the Internet Retailer Web Design & Usability Conference 2011, focusing on The Home Depot’s successful integration of online and offline stores. At the heart of this is the understanding that Home Depot customers want to shop, browse or do research through their channel of choice – and they want that experience to be consistent, whether it is online or in-store.
Since 45% of Home Depot customers visit the retailer’s site first, providing a localized e-commerce experience is essential to making sure customers get the most accurate pricing and inventory information for their area. So the price and product selection customers see online is what they will see in store. This is a fundamental approach to the sites we build for clients like Carpet One and RoomStore.
One of the most interesting points of Home Depot’s cross-channel strategy is the fact that associates are responsible for sales in both channels. For example, a store manager’s compensation is based partly on in-store sales and also on online deliveries to the local area. This represents a seismic shift in the siloed approach we still see many retailers take towards their e-commerce site and store network, but it’s a powerful motivator in making sure all your teams are truly working together towards an end goal: the sale.
What are your thoughts on Home Depot’s strategy?
Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce
The Home Depot is another retailer that ‘gets it’.
Hal Lawton, president of Home Depot Online, recently gave a presentation at the Internet Retailer Web Design & Usability Conference 2011, focusing on The Home Depot’s successful integration of online and offline stores. At the heart of this is the understanding that Home Depot customers want to shop, browse or do research through their channel of choice – and they want that experience to be consistent, whether it is online or in-store.
Since 45% of Home Depot customers visit the retailer’s site first, providing a localized e-commerce experience is essential to making sure customers get the most accurate pricing and inventory information for their area. So the price and product selection customers see online is what they will see in store. This is a fundamental approach to the sites we build for clients like Carpet One and RoomStore.
One of the most interesting points of Home Depot’s cross-channel strategy is the fact that associates are responsible for sales in both channels. For example, a store manager’s compensation is based partly on in-store sales and also on online deliveries to the local area. This represents a seismic shift in the siloed approach we still see many retailers take towards their e-commerce site and store network, but it’s a powerful motivator in making sure all your teams are truly working together towards an end goal: the sale.
What are your thoughts on Home Depot’s strategy?
Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce
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How The Home Depot 'Gets It'