Skechers maintains online sales after killing its catalog
Since killing its catalog two years ago, footwear retailer Skechers U.S.A. Inc. no longer enjoys a direct spike in online sales from catalog mailings. But a shift to a web-based customer service system from RightNow Technologies Inc. has helped it make up for the loss of catalog-influenced sales, vice president of direct marketing Geric Johnson tells InternetRetailer.com. Skechers, which no longer takes telephone-based orders, has also increased overall profit margins while cutting customer service operating costs, he says.
Skechers decided two years ago to stop mailing 18 million copies each year of its catalog and taking orders over the telephone. Although the move resulted in lost sales from some customers who shopped only through the catalog, a web-based customer service system it implemented shortly after the catalog’s termination has resulted in the retailer’s ability to maintain the same level of sales activity from former catalog customers who also shopped online, Johnson says. "We haven’t lost any online sales," he says. "In fact, online sales have increased as we have converted catalog customers to online."
While Skechers has lost some customers who would only shop through its catalog, it has increased sales from the catalog customers who were accustomed to shopping through both the catalog and Skechers.com. Although this latter group of customers had relied on the catalog to browse and would often call an 800 customer service number to inquire about available fashions, Skechers has managed to increase their buying activity even though it discouraged customers from using the 800 number after it discontinued the catalog.
By vastly improving its online self-service information section, Skechers has drawn customers once reliant on the 800 number into getting their information themselves. The new features of its online customer service, including a revised section on FAQs, now are more intuitive and interactive, suggesting multiple answers to each customer question based on key words within the question, Johnson says.
And despite the loss of catalog-only shoppers, he adds, a sharp drop in customer service operating costs has led to a net increase in profit margins, he adds. "Our operating costs are down 75%, while our profit margin is up in the 20% range."
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