Olympics retailer Roots looks to expand custom orders on web

Roots Canada Ltd., the multi-channel retailer of apparel for Olympics teams and their fans, is turning to the web to increase U.S. sales through customized orders--the fastest-growing multi-channel strategy among specialty retailers, according to a study by LakeWest Group. “We expect a big increase this year,” says James Connell, manager of new media and e-commerce at Roots.

Roots, which operates 120 stores in Canada but only eight in the U.S., has focused its U.S. growth plans mostly on Roots-Direct.com, its U.S. web site. One of the major advantages that site has over stores, Connell says, is its ability to take special orders of bags and jackets that customers can customize in an online interactive feature. Shoppers can choose team emblems and colors for jackets, and colors and letters for their initials on bags.

“You can go to our web site and create a bag out of 68 color combinations and apply your initials in different fonts,” Connell says. “It’s a feature that lends itself to a web environment.”

Roots is not alone in seeing the importance of offering special-order capability on the web. LakeWest, in its 5th Annual POS Benchmarking Survey, notes that 33% of the 100 specialty retailers it contacted said they plan to implement special-order capability on the web within two years--the sharpest two-year growth among nine multi-channel functions ranked by respondents for importance. Special orders ranked fourth overall in importance, with 42% of respondents already offering it.

The next fastest-growing web function cited in the survey was placing online orders in-store, a service planned by 32% of the survey’s respondents--and one also being considered by Roots. “We’re exploring kiosks to let customers customize and order products in our stores,” Connell says.