STORES Magazine - September 2008 - (Page 78)

NUTS AND BOLTS / E-COMMERCE Local Ace New e-commerce strategy paying off for independent operators BY FRED MINNICK information only,” Kevish says. “We were not selling. We did allow consumers to research just a handful of our products, not our full warehouse stock products. It was really just to have our name out there.” Ace website re-launch Ace hired GSI Commerce in 2003, attracted by GSI’s holistic solutions and portfolio of retail clients, which now includes Toys “R” Us, GNC, Dockers and Polo Ralph Lauren. The new AceHardware.com launched this past February. Ace Hardware has more store locations than Home Depot and Lowe’s combined. The owner-operated stores tend to have smaller footprints than their big-box rivals and, more impor- generation ago, before the era of big-box home improvement centers, most communities had hardware stores. Some were fatherand-son operations, even if they carried a nationally-recognized sign over the door. What they all seemed to share was the ability and willingness to deliver quality customer service. A “Everybody has their Ace story,” says Dana Kevish who, as Ace’s ecommerce marketing manager, is charged with revamping the iconic brand’s web presence. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace Hardware is a cooperative of more than 4,800 independent stores of Ace’s online sales are picked up in stores web is a new place for people to shop and that most consumers don’t think of Ace when they’re looking for products online,” Kevish says. Ace didn’t intend to be late to the ecommerce game. In fact, nearly a decade ago it entered into a $100 million joint venture with OurHouse.com, giving the e-commerce-focused company access to its 1,000 vendors and 17 distribution centers. OurHouse.com sold the merchandise online and handled returns. At the time, industry analysts praised Ace for the move, but OurHouse.com went out of business in 2001, forcing Ace to bring its website in house. At that point, the website “was just for tant, are as distinct from one another as they are from their competitors. The competition “can essentially issue orders from headquarters and people do what you say,” according to Fiona Dias, executive vice president of partner strategy and marketing for GSI and a former chief marketing officer for Circuit City. “It just doesn’t work that way when you’re running a buy-in cooperative: The store manager is the store owner and he or she can do whatever they want.” Ace’s website was not built to compete with its stores; rather, it is meant to enhance the brand and work in concert with the stores, and GSI wanted to convey Ace’s “helpful” image in its online brand positioning. WWW.STORES.ORG 70% in 50 states and more than 70 countries. J.D. Power and Associates ranked its stores “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Major Home Improvement Retail Stores” in 2007. Even though there are countless loyal Ace customers, Home Depot and Lowe’s hold the majority of the hardware and home supplies market share. Today, Ace Hardware faces the daunting challenge of competing with the big boys on the streets and, perhaps equally important, on the web. “Our struggle being a co-op … is just getting [store owners] to understand the 78 STORES / SEPTEMBER 2008 http://acehardware.com http://acehardware.com http://OurHouse.com http://OurHouse.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - September 2008

STORES Magazine - September 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Office Depot Unveils First Green Store Dunkin’ Donuts Debuts DDSMART What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Are You a Facebook Fan? RFID Concept2Watch E-commerce Supply Chain Marketing ERP Credit Web Optimization LP Vantage Point Newsbeat Cover Story LP Program Building Biometrics Industry Perspective Customer Service Site Selection E-Commerce LOEB Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - September 2008

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