Pier 1 Imports searches and finds a search engine marketing firm

To help turn around sagging total sales and help customers adjust to a new merchandising strategy, Pier 1 Imports Inc. is hiring an outside search engine marketing company.

Pier 1, No. 298 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites , recently retained Bizresearch, a Columbus, Ohio, national search engine marketing company, to provide a variety of organic optimization services to help improve its Google, Yahoo and MSN.com rankings, increase store and web site traffic and boost conversion rates. “We want to offer today’s busy consumers the option of an easy-to-use web site, convenient store locations and seasonal catalogs so that they can experience everything Pier 1 has to offer in whatever way is easiest for them," says Pier 1 executive vice president of marketing Phil Schneider.

In spring, Pier 1 launched a new catalog and branding initiative to bolster sales. But for the first quarter of the retailer’s 2007 fiscal year, total sales declined by 3.7% to $376 million from $390.3 million in Q1 2006. In Q1 2007, Pier 1’s direct-to-consumer sales, which are mostly e-commerce sales, grew 58% to $4.1 million from $2.6 million in Q2 2006.

To expedite multi-channel sales and drive traffic to Pier1.com, the retailer will be looking at ways to enhance its natural search rankings. "Organic is an effective complementary tool to a successful paid search campaign,” says Laura Thieme, president and founder of Bizresearch. “It has the potential to triple online exposure, substantially increasing brand awareness, traffic and sales."