Canadian Retailer - Summer 2015 - 24

MystoRE retailer'S Guide Vol. 11.3: online retail

1. the idea

So you've got an idea: You're going to expand
your business by setting up an ecommerce
platform. It's the right idea, but to move the
idea from dream to reality, consider formulating your thoughts on these important aspects
of your business.
* Know the customers you're targeting. An ecommerce platform should target the most profitable
demographic of your business. Casting a wide
net and trying to port your entire physical
store into an online web store is time consuming and sure to be counterproductive.
"Don't be a dog chasing every pigeon in Central Park," says Drew Millington of Demac
Media, a company that builds ecommerce
platforms. Rather, pick one group of customers and go after them hard.
* Clarify your value proposition. The Internet
is the largest market in the world and generalized businesses won't stand out. Develop
profile and attract the attention of customers by isolating the facet of your business
that distinguishes you in the market. What
problems does your existence help to solve?
What do you deliver that no other store can
deliver? This kind of thinking may require
independent retailers to step back, examine
their business data, and scrutinize the market to determine where opportunity lies and
where the store is successful, not where the
owners think the store is successful. The
gap between what we think is our store's
strength and the store's actual strength can
sometimes be enormous. Close that gap before leaping online.
optiMizE yoUR sEo
Search results matter. that's why the owners of high tide
bow ties put time into search engine optimization (Seo)
when they launched their online store last year.
high tide bow ties is a niche retailer that sells bow ties
designed by an ottawa designer. mackenzie king, co-owner
of the store, says the store focused on Seo because they
wanted their store's address to appear at the top of Google's
search results when a customer searches the store's name.
it sounds like a simple task but it takes work for a small
retailer to rank high on Google. an independent retailer can
improve their search rank by using consistent keywords
and phrases across popular social media sites, email, and
off-line. Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
has tips for retailers wanting to push their store high in a
customer's search results.

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canadian REtailER | Summer 2015

2. the planning

How long will it take to launch an ecommerce
site? You could do it in a week, or faster, if you
wanted to. But the smart path to success has a plan
to map out the needs, timelines and milestones.
* Find a platform for your site. Unless you're
gifted at coding and have time and the capital
to build an ecommerce platform from scratch,
purchase an ecommerce solution from one
of the many vendors in the market. When
choosing a vendor, keep in mind what you'll
need. First, you'll need a vendor whose platform can scale with your online business as it
grows, especially if you need to expand your
site quickly. Second, you'll need a vendor that
offers technical support so that you can focus
on the store operations and marketing. Third,
look for a vendor whose platform has been
tested. It's nice to help new businesses, but
don't be a Guinea pig. Lastly, budget the total
cost of ownership so you know what the longterm cost of buying an out-of-the-box platform
will cost you. For help developing your e-commerce platform, visit www.shopify.com.

"[Building an ecommerce platform is] not
complicated, just not to be taken lightly.
It requires work, it requires budget. Done
right, it is an essential part of the business
and can impact ROI drastically."
- JaMIe sCHreter, Demac Media
* Plan to start small. Conquer your neighbourhood before you conquer the world. When you
move sales online, start with a small site that
sells your bestselling products. If 20 per cent
of products generate 80 per cent of sales, you
want to concentrate on that 20 per cent. Give
those products the best photos and product
descriptions you can. The imperative to move
online is so strong-how else will your store
be found?-that starting with a business card
site that has no ecommerce is better than
having no website. It's small, but it's a start.
* Account for all the work involved, even the stuff
you haven't thought about. "The biggest mistake a company makes is that they don't realize
the amount of work involved in the day-to-day,"
says Jamie Schreter, Vice-President of Strategy
at Demac Media. Retailers don't always map
out the costs of each stage in the ecommerce
process. For example, a retailer might overlook

http://www.shopify.com

Canadian Retailer - Summer 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Summer 2015