Canadian Retailer - Winter 2013 - 21

4. Look at launching a basic site

Another stage in planning to move online
is launching a basic website. The website
doesn’t need to have the capabilities of Amazon, but it does need to exist. Even the smallest, most independent of independent retailers need a website.
“Here’s the thing: you can have social
media, but if you don’t have a website you’re
losing credibility,” says Skerry. A retailer today without a web presence is like the man
selling stereo speakers from the trunk of his
car. “It’s the same thing. You’re selling products from your car rather than having a place
where people can go,” she says. “You’re losing credibility.”
Silver says the best plan for an independent retailer is to start with a basic site—a
five page website that includes store hours,
a link to Google Maps, a phone number, the
store’s philosophy, and other details that distinguish the store, like a store history or the
store’s contribution to the local community.
Retailers might also want to post their customer service, return and shipping policies.
These policies are a selling point, lend credibility to the store and help to make customers comfortable.
Once a retailer has a basic site, they can
look at adding to it over time.
“We often run into trouble with clients who
think they need everything from the get-go.
Maybe they’re looking at a competitor who
is much further ahead. It is often the case
where they will exceed what they are capable
of doing,” says Silver. “That may not be the
best first step for that retailer. Getting a simple website with a simple online presence so
you come up in Google—that is square one.
People aren’t going to the phone books anymore. They are going to the Internet.”
So the message: start small and be realistic, but have a vision for where the site will
go. Independents should always refer back
to their business goals as they think about
expanding the website. Ask: What are my
business goals? How can I use my website to
realize these goals?

5 DON’TS FOR THE WEB
1. Don’t forget the local traffic. “It’s a huge misconception that
you only want to go online when you’re a global player,” says
Silver. “Local businesses need to have an online presence.
They need to have a growth strategy to service their clients
online as they would in-store.”
2. Don’t forget what consumers do on the web—they
research what they buy. “The local consumer is looking
online. Whether they buy online is an open question, but they
are doing their research online,” says Silver. “You want to
come up when they research stores online, you want to play
in that field. That all happens at a local level, regardless of
what a consumer buys.”
3. Don’t overestimate time or budget. “Make realistic projections of how much time you can spend on social media,” says
Skerry. Retailers don’t want to flash and disappear—to start a
blog or twitter account and then become too busy to keep it
fresh. Constancy is key.
4. Don’t freak out over the technology. Silver says managing the technology is easier and more affordable than ever
before. The costs associated with building an online presence
today are labour costs. “It’s the staffing to keep your product
catalogue populated and up-to-date—that’s often the most
time-consuming piece. That’s where we recommend retailers
hire even an entry-level person to keep the product catalogue up-to-date.”
5. Don’t fall in love with yourself. “Social media is not about selfpromotion,” says Skerry. “It’s about having real dialogue with
customers and using it as a customer service tool.” Use social
media to talk about product, category news and customeroriented store news. Talk about what will benefit customers.

To get them onto the website, never let it go
stale, and never let the investment into online
promotion lapse. Here are two reasons why.
1. Retailers with old content look old. That’s
the first reason to put resources into keeping the website or the social media presence
active. Effective online communication and
customer service needs a line item on the
budget and a column on the time sheets,
and the investment needs to be continuous,
not when it is convenient or when there is
budget. It needs to be in the budget.
2. The web works differently than it used to.
That’s the second reason for staying active
online. “Being on Google used to be about
stuffing keywords in meta tags. Now it’s
really about the social element,” says Silver. “Are people talking about you? Are
you talking about yourself?”

5. Plan to stay active online

“It used to be about getting them in the showroom. Now it’s about getting them to the website, engaging them on the website and then
getting them in the showroom,” says Silver.

www.retailcouncil.org/training/retailersguides

How often does a website need to change?
It should stay current with customers, seasons
and promotions. Retailers should budget to
keep social media updated daily.

www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer | winter 2013 | canadian retailer |

http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer http://www.retailcouncil.org/training/retailersguides

Canadian Retailer - Winter 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Winter 2013