NetShops looks to add 30 to 50 online stores in 2008
NetShops Inc. is planning to add 30 to 50 web stores to its roster of about 230 niche stores in 2008, along with upgrading web content that will include more product images and Flash video technology, says president and CEO Carter Cast.
“We’re always interested in potential acquisitions of stores that fit our profile,” Cast tells Internet Retailer. “We concentrate on areas where customers have deep-assortment needs that are difficult to fulfill in the traditional retail world.” Current store categories include apparel, home furnishings and electronics.
Web upgrades planned for this year include better imagery, such as more product photos and the use of Flash videos across more web sites. Flash technology currently is in use on the Binoculars.com and Telescopes.com web sites. “We will continue to make it easy for customers to buy,” Cast says. “The better the content is, the easier it is to buy.”
The timetable for web site functionality upgrades is flexible, but all new features are expected to be up before the end of the third quarter, Cast adds.
Cast has been on the job since October when he replaced Doug Nielsen as president and CEO of NetShops, No. 104 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. Nielsen is one of the company’s founders and became chairman with the Cast hiring.
Prior to NetShops, Cast was president and CEO of Walmart.com, No. 13 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. Marketing at the two companies is similar, but each company’s objective is very different, he says. “The priorities are much different. When I ran Walmart.com the first priority was to make it easy to buy at Wal-Mart, by sending as much traffic as possible into the stores.”
Examples include a digital photo upload service that brought customers into stores to pick up their pictures and online prescription drug ordering. Much of Cast’s focus at Walmart.com was on multi-channel retailing.
NetShops, on the other hand, tries to make it as easy as possible for shoppers to choose from a broad selection of niche products online, Cast says.
Back...
