John Mayer's hit song, “Waiting for the World to Change,” never sat too well with the 1960s generation who believed they could change the world.
And from the looks of it, it doesn’t sit too well with many Marylanders who became so tired of waiting for the economy to change that they decided to create their own businesses to employ themselves. That’s taking the bull by the bear.
Fear is not an option with entrepreneurs. Survival is.
Read more: Outside the Box: Unemployment awakens entrepreneurial spirit for many corridor residents
By Tim Maier - Mick Jaggar had it right. He just didn’t know he was talking about merging business web pages with in-store businesses.
“You can’t always get what you want,” could have been the motto for those who put up web pages to sell a product. Of course, finishing that line is crucial. “But if you try sometime you get what you need” by visiting our store.
Unlike other coffee houses in Columbia that didn’t quite make it, Mad City Coffee does exactly that. They created a community of local musicians with its Saturday night Music Matters Showcase. Mocha and Music, they call it. The coffee shop promotes events on its web pages to attract consumers to the store while also selling coffee online. In turn, musicians such as Bob Reilly promote the café through social networking. Free social media advertising for a coffee shop that gets it.
But too many companies have followed the failed newspaper model. Give it all away online. Take a lesson from Amazon.com. When they want to sell a book, they put a few chapters to hook the reader to buy the whole book. Imagine if a newspaper did that with a three-part series on “Who shot JFK?” They publish the first two parts online and tell the reader if you want the answer to the question, subscribe.
Retail stores can do the same thing, but too often they don’t and then wonder why their parking lots are empty. JC Penny’s rolled out a national ad campaign promoting its online store because it has EVERYTHING. Not once in the campaign do they ask anyone to visit their physical store.
If you don’t want to see those empty parking lots New York-based eCoupons founder Matthew Cheng says stores need to take a hard look on how they use their online strategies to bring in more store business. Cheng, who provides marketing for hundreds of leading e-commerce stores including Best Buy, Sears and Staples, says companies should implement “Buy Online, Pick up in Store.”
“Online brick-and-mortar retailers have been evolving by rolling out in store pickups,” he said. “During last year’s Christmas holiday shopping season, Sears reported that buy online, pickup in store represented 50 percent of online sales. Meanwhile, Best Buy said that in-store pickups were up nearly one-third of total online sales.”
Late last year, Apple, Kmart and Staples also rolled out this feature. This functionality represents the next evolution in online merchandising: Consumers will have increased options to save on shipping and skip checkout lines in stores, Cheng said. This versatility and convenience is a big reason why brick-and-mortar operations continue to do well despite not always having the lowest price.
Todd Ordal, a former Kinkos executive who founded Applied Strategies, a national firm that works with executives to maximize profits says businesses should be attracting customers by making an in-store experience a community event. “Use the store as the front end of the funnel to get customers into forums and clubs,” he said.
Robert Smith, CEO of Champion Media, a national marketing firm, says to get those online customers to visit the store they need to be enticed by creating those special offers, such as free samples, bonus gifts that are only handed out in the store.
If they purchase a product, they could get a coupon or gift certificate if they pick up the product in the store. “The coupon or special offer is only valid for in-store purchases. So, they get special offers online but they MUST redeem it inside the store. Pretty slick, huh?”
The key is to find ways to generate interest so they will provide e-mail addresses that allow you to keep in touch with them, Smith says. And more importantly businesses get what they need – customers.
Five tips to maximize both in-store and online sales:
1. You don’t buy fish online because you can’t smell them.
Make in-store shopping a tactile and unique visual experience. Look at Costco or Williams Sonoma and the way they display items.
2. Develop community.
I must become one of you! Use the store as the front end of the funnel to get customers into forums and clubs.
3. Drive in-store events with the web.
Whether it is free stuff, meet a celebrity or a wine and cheese party, think about driving store traffic through web presence.
4. It’s not “either or." Make sure that your internal organizational structure and bonus plan doesn’t punish one channel for the success of another. Create channel harmony.
5. Make sure the retail experience and web presence are not just aligned with your strategy but also complimentary.
(e.g. “You bought a new bike from us three months ago; is it time for a tuneup?”)
Source: www.appliedstrategy.info
-May 2010 Print Edition
By Tim Maier — Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. They fooled us again.
