Federated Department Stores is pleased with the success of its online bridal registry, 14 months after launching it, Dawn Robertson, president of Federated Direct, tells Internet Retailer. Online registrations account for 14% of all registrations at Federated stores, and the company expects that proportion to increase to as much as 30% within three years. “We felt that the web would be an important application for customers to shop in another channel, but we didn’t anticipate how popular the online bridal registry would be,” Robertson says. Registrations account for 30% of the traffic at Macys.com.
Brides and grooms can register at the sight by viewing merchandise at the site or by visiting a store to select merchandise. Once the couple has registered, a bridal registry consultant from a store follows up with a phone call.
Federated is marketing the online registry through the online wedding portal The Wedding Channel, marketing in the stores and on all Federated sites, presence at bridal events and e-mails to brides.
The service also permits brides to check online to see which items have been purchased. That has proven to be a popular feature, Robertson says. “We find brides access it all the time,” she says.
Federated expects that an easy-to-use bridal registry will be a couple’s initial exposure to Federated and that it will create loyal shoppers. Federated is considering other registries as well, including a baby registry. It also operates a wish list for all occasions at Macys.com. Among Federated’s department stores are Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, May, Bon Marche, Burdine’s and Rich’s.
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