E-tailing Week 4

E-tailing  E-tailing is the selling of retail goods on the Internet.  Short for "electronic retailing," and used in Internet discussions as early as 1995  The term seems an almost inevitable addition to , e-business, and e-commerce.  E-tailing is synonymous with business-to-consumer (B2C) transaction.  E-tailing began to work for some major corporations and smaller entrepreneurs as early as 1997

1997 Examples  Dell Computer reported multimillion dollar orders taken at its Web site.  The success of Amazon.com hastened the arrival of Barnes and Noble's e-tail site.  Concerns about secure order-taking receded.  Auto-by-Tel reported that they had sold their millionth car over the Web.  CommerceNet/Nielsen Media reported that 10 million people had made purchases on the Web.  Jupiter research predicted that e-tailing would grow to $37 billion by 2002.

How it Works

E-tailing software  E-tailing has resulted in the development of e-tailware -- software tools for creating online catalogs and managing the business connected with doing e-tailing.  A new trend is the price comparison site that can quickly compare prices from a number of different e-tailers and link you to them.  E-tailware is software for creating online catalogs, ordering forms, credit checking, and similar services for Web sites that sell goods and services to consumers.  A number of e-tailware products claim to provide a complete range of support so that a company that already has a Web site can easily add e-tailing capability to the site.

Practical E-tailing  Launching an online store is easy, but setting up a successful shop is another story entirely.  Offering appealing products on an attractive site in no way guarantees that your e-business will succeed.  There are a large number of factors to consider when setting up shop on the Internet, factors that go far beyond the act of adding a shopping cart to an online catalog.  All of the services that customers have come to take for granted in brick-and-mortar shops -- from processing credit cards to extended warranty service to accepting returns -- need to be duplicated in your online shop.

Strategies for e-tailing success  Focus on well defined micromarket  Select a market niche  Focus on e-fulfilment  Make sure you can deliver  Reduce abandon rates  People who give up part way through an order  Maximize local knowledge  If you have targeted a local market capitalize on local knowledge  Be a concerned merchant

Strategies for e-tailing success  Don’t drive the last mile  Minimize delivery costs  Retailers must fight back  They will emphasis bricks and mortar and personal service  Know when it is too late  Push e-tailing into new sales ventures  Define a global strategy  Execute better than the next e-tailer

Customer Service Advice  First Time Visitors icons are a great way to welcome new users by giving them that in-store salesperson feeling that help is just around the corner.  Provide easy to locate 0800 customer service phone number, fax number, and customer service hours.  Make user registration an option instead of a requirement.  Ensure that the shopper can purchase on their first try as time is of the essence.  Specify bill to and ship to on the order form at the beginning of the ordering process, so the customer doesn't have to go back and re- do.  Be sure to include item price, shipping/handling charges, all taxes, gift wrap costs, and the grand total for a quick read, as the order summary is an essential part of the ordering process.

Customer Service Advice  Deliver a real-time order confirmation so the customer has a confirmation number at the end of the ordering process should they not receive their item or need to change their order.  Send an confirmation including relevant shipping information and/or order status.  Make gift wrapping a service as opposed to another step in the process, as harried, last minute shoppers are especially fond of this service.  Be sure the shipper includes a return label, a gift card (if applicable), return receipt information, and instructions to facilitate good customer service.

The Age of E-Tail  The Future of Shopping Is Online "Studies show that the uses made of the Internet become more varied the longer a subscriber has had Internet access."  Electronic Shopping Is Rewriting the Rules of Competition in Retailing "The question should not be how to uses the Internet to grow existing business, but how to use existing business to develop an Internet presence”  Competitive Struggles in Electronic Shopping "The Internet is allowing a very fundamental re-segmentation of what have been long considered by physical-world retailers as well established segments."  E-Commerce Success: Survival of the Fastest "Darwinism rules in e-shopping and forces you to reconsider your competitiveness constantly. Rapid adaptation to a quickly changing environment will become the critical competitive edge."

The Age of E-Tail  Building Killer Brands for E-Tail Success "The Internet enables you to market in real time, building unprecedented flexibility into 'campaigns'. It allows companies to establish individual dialogues with specific customers."  The Online Store: A Major Component of the E-Tailer's Brand Essence "Context is what makes great web sites stand apart from the rest, and provides the online shopper with benefits beyond those available in physical stores."  Building Individual Customer Relations: An Investment for E-Tailers " One-to-one sales to individual customers is a trump card that every e-shopping player needs to hold."  Create Customer-centric Business Processes for E-Tail Success "Companies who manage to influence and change the value chain of the whole of their industry will have the greatest opportunity to create new sources of profit and growth."

E-tail trends to watch  Auctions  Reverse Auctions  Name your price – airlines  Buyer Aggegation  Create a database of what people want  Shopping Agents  Comparison tools  Rating Services