Experts offer suggestions on boosting Internet business
By Jeff Linville -- Kids Today, 8/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Speakers at Kids Today's sixth annual conference in June shared tips and strategies on how to best use the Internet to drive business. Suze Bragg, director of electronic media for Reed Business Information's home furnishings publications that includes Kids Today and Furniture Today, talked about how retailers can increase their Web presence and impact whether they're e-commerce sites or informational while Eric Dean, president of B2B firm Whereoware, focused on ideas for manufacturers.
Much of the information shared was applicable to both sides of the table. Bragg said one of the fundamentals of offering a Web site is optimizing the ability of search engines to find the site. Companies can do this by having a better keyword list. Search engines are deterred by words inside flash presentations, text embedded in frames or premium content pages that require user logins; content found in these areas are virtually invisible to search engines.
Providing site maps (guided tours of your site) and rerouting 404 Error pages to the navigation screen are ways to prevent user frustration, and Bragg also suggests updating your site frequently.
"Use your Web site to educate customers on your inventory," she said. "If you show them what they're looking for, they'll come to your store; otherwise they'll go somewhere else. Unlike many categories, customers generally start with style, then consider price. Show them what you offer to entice them to shop."
Web sites aren't limited by square feet, so retailers can use their sites to try out product online before giving it valuable floor space.
"Research shows that retailers see an incremental sales lift from those people coming into the store to pick up their online order," she said. "They're thrilled they don't have to pay shipping, plus they tend to buy something in addition to what they just bought online."
Manufacturers, too, can spruce up their sites to increase business. Dean said manufacturer's Web sites must cater to two audiences — its dealers and the consumer.
Sites for dealers require less "sizzle" and more substance in the descriptions and interactions should be fast and intuitive. Sites for consumers should reach out to shoppers to build brand equity, help narrow their buying decisions or validate a purchase they've already made.
These consumer sites should include a retail locator and Dean said manufacturers can play favorites here by listing stores that sell more product higher on the list. On the flip side, manufacturers should vie to be on retail sites as well and make it easy for the retailer to feature them in circulars, catalogs and ads by having images and information readily downloadable.
For the Holiday 2005 shopping season, Dean said 55% of surveyed buyers said they researched goods online first, and the top source for information were companies' own product Web sites.
For manufacturers who sell direct to the public, he said they should include a "wish list" on the site so consumers can save information on possible purchases and come back later to buy.
For more details from Suze Bragg's presentation, see the Kids Today Web site athttp://kidstodayonline.com/content/Bragg_Kids_Conf_06.ppt.
Suze Bragg, RBI
Eric Dean, Whereoware
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