Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 28

MYSTORE RETAILER'S GUIDE VOL. 10.2: OMNICHANNEL

might work better in-store. An e-commerce
site is like a laboratory. Retailers can test new
sales strategies to see where there's chemistry.
* Test new products. Online retail has unlimited square-footage. Retailers can experiment
with product selection and test new products.
* Try out new vendors. Before retailers let a
new vendor take up valuable floor space, they
can put them in the online store. E-commerce
offers an expanded product selection and another way of vetting products and vendors.

"The point isn't to be overly rigid, but
to make your online store experience
dynamic. Some things will work and
some things won't. You can change
things on the go for no money. That's
very different from in-store."
- HARLEY FINKLESTEIN
Shopify
Tip: Say no to cross-channel unity

A school of thought on omnichannel retailing says that retailers should have uniformity across the channels. The store should look
the same-the same colours, branding, messaging-at every customer touchpoint. That's
good advice, but it doesn't have to be gospel.
What retailers might want to avoid is a precious approach to branding, suggests Harley
Finkelstein, Chief Platform Office, at Shopify, a
company that provides e-commerce platforms
for retailers. The idea that the retailer might
ruin the brand if the online store isn't perfect
is false. "You can add your logo and take inspiration from your in-store colour scheme, but
I don't think your online store has to be identical to your offline store," he says.
One idea retailers might want to try-and

this runs contrary to the advice that retailers should always have convergent branding
across channels-is to host multiple websites.
Different websites featuring different product
selections targeted at different demographics
can deliver more sales, if done well.
"The point isn't to be overly rigid, but to
make your online store experience dynamic,"
says Finkelstein. "Some things will work and
some things won't. You can change things on
the go for no money. That's very different from
in-store."
Tip: Don't be shy about "Webrooming"

Showrooming is the phenomenon of browsing products in a store and buying the product
through an online retailer. Webrooming is the
phenomenon of browsing products at a Web
store and traveling to a brick-and-mortar store
to make a purchase.
One way of leveraging an omnichannel
strategy is to use the Web store like an extensive menu of the in-store product selection.
Don't ask customers to buy online. Instead, get
them excited online and get them into the store
to complete the purchase. This tactic is easier
for some retailers than others because some
purchases are best made in-store, like apparel,
jewellery and other products that need fitting
and alterations.
"The commodity is no longer who has the
most money," says Finkelstein. With social
media, e-commerce and mobile retailing, the
person who can close the sale is the person
who can tantalize and educate the customer.
How much product a retailer puts online depends on what is right for the business. Starting small, with one line of products, might turn
out to be most profitable.
"Everybody needs to determine what their
own mix is. There is no right or wrong model,"
says Finkelstein.

LA BOTTEGA: A SUCCESS IN TWO SPHERES

Residents of Ottawa know
La Bottega. It is a 50-year-old Italian
grocery store located in Byward Market. The store is iconic and famous for
its fine foods and customer service.
When the store decided to open
an online store, they had a challenge:
they knew they wanted an online
presence but what should they put online? The store knew its demographic

28 |

didn't want to buy groceries online,
and online grocery sales wasn't a
space they could master. So what the
store did was open LaBottega.ca, an
online store that gives customers details about the store, the store's hours,
catering services and lunch counter.
The site also has a well-written blog
that shows the store's knowledge of
its products.

canadian retailer | spring 2014 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

But the key decision the store made
was to limit the products that it sold
online strictly to the online environment. The store sells gift baskets
through the online store, something
not available in-store. The store now
sells gift baskets across the country,
expanding its customer base from
its home turf in Ottawa to customers
across Canada.

http://www.LaBottega.ca http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014