Much of the talk at the Shop.org Annual Summit in New York this week was about multi-channel retailing and how far the industry has come since the days four years ago when some believed the web would drive bricks-and-mortar stores and catalog printers out of business. But the industry ain’t seen nothing yet, Michael Rubin, chairman and CEO of GSI Commerce Inc., told attendees at the Multi-Channel Retailing session Thursday. “We are in the prehistoric stage of multi-channel retailing,” he said. “Fast forward five years and we’ll be saying, ‘Wow, we had no idea what to expect.’”
Customer desires have defined and will continue to define multi-channel retailing in ways that retailers can’t anticipate, speakers said. “Our strategy is shaped by our customers,” said Chris McCann, president of 1-800-Flowers.com. In fact, he said, if allowed to, customers will move themselves to the web apart from any incentives that retailers undertake. 1-800-Flowers.com has moved away from advertising to get customers to shop online because it’s not effective, he said. Rather, he said, “Telephone reps ask customers if they want to participate in any of our programs by giving their e-mail address. Once you get the electronic dialogue going, they will eventually migrate themselves.”
With the web playing a central role in multi-channel retailing, a retailer’s site can never afford to be down, and that means preventing or dealing immediately with security and other problems, said Scott Bauhofer, senior vice president and general manager of Best Buy Co. Inc., which recently re-launched its web site. “Close to 50% of our customers visit the web site for research before coming to the store,” he said. “To have it not available would have a significant impact on store sales.”
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