As Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and others fight it out in the Internet search engine market, the competition is bringing new opportunities to pure-play online retailers, but multi-channel retailers must work harder to fit search into their overall cross-channel marketing strategies, Joan Broughton, vice president of multi-channel programs at REI Inc., will advise on a panel at the Shop.org Summit next week.
Joining Broughton on the panel will be Allan Dick, general manager of pure-play e-retailer Vintage Tub & Bath, which sells restored bathtubs and accessories, and Kevin Lee, CEO of search marketing firm Did-It.com. Among the topics of discussion: how VintageTub.com has built its business primarily through Internet paid and natural search, and how other retailers–including multi-channel retailer REI—can maximize the evolution of search technology to grow.
Microsoft Corp. has been upgrading its MSN search engine to improve the display and paid and natural search results, and promises to continue making improvements in its search algorithms. Google, meanwhile, is raising expectations about how it will invest its initial public offering capital.
While keeping up with search trends is crucial to pure-play e-retailers, it can be more of a challenge for multi-channel retailers, Broughton says, adding that store-based retailers must include a broader mix of online and offline advertising media to stay competitive. “I want to bring out that Internet search is important for store-based retailers as well,” she says. “Thinking about search as a tool that works for only an online business would limit it,” she says. “But you have to weave it into an overall marketing strategy.”
Although REI, No. 81 in Internet Retailer's Top 300 Guide to online retailers, hasn’t yet developed a way to track how many of its store sales were generated by Internet search, Broughton figures Internet search is having a strong effect on store traffic. “You’d have a hard time convincing me that when a retailer shows up in search results, that it doesn’t increase sales in stores,” she says.
The panel discussion, “Preparing for the Upcoming Search Engine Wars,” is scheduled for 2-3 p.m. on Wed., Oct. 6.
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