STORES Magazine - December 2008 - (Page 66)

NUTS AND BOLTS / ONLINE STRATEGIES Revamped e-commerce platform boosts conversion rates for Atlanta Falcons BY CRAIG GUILLOT Changing the Game Plan rom hats and jerseys to flags and bumper stickers, football fans love to show their pride and support for their favorite teams. While merchandise sales generally represent a small portion of a team’s revenue, it can play an important role in building support among the fan base, which can lead to increased ticket sales and revenue from other sources. F Officially licensed merchandise is sold bring together disat all manner of retail outlets, but more parate accounting, and more, teams are driving sales logistics, marketing through their own websites. For the Atand web systems to create a seamless enlanta Falcons, optimizing its online presvironment where orders flow smoothly ence with an upgraded platform and from the web to the customer’s door. more interactivity has resulted in higher For the Falcons, that meant integratcustomer satisfaction and conversion ing the e-commerce store with Mirates and a better web experience. crosoft Dynamics GP, resulting in realThe Falcons run two shopping mall time information on merchandise availstores and more than 20 stands at the ability and order fulfillment. Georgia Dome, its home stadium in “It can almost create what we call downtown Atlanta. With the recent de‘zero-touch’ orders, where you actually cision to change internal processes and don’t touch the order until it is on the bring fulfillment in-house, the Falcons floor of the warehouse,” Walia says. needed a website that could easily inte“You just pick, pack and ship it.” grate with internal systems and present The Falcons’ marketing and promoan exciting, easy-to-use format for fans. tion departments can gauge merchan“We wanted a package that could prodise sales trends by using targeted provide that nice storefront but also intemotions, real-time inventory reports grate with the systems we already had and key metrics such as site visits, without doing development browser history, clickLess manual work,” says Don Norton, throughs and customer intervention in the team’s manager of busipurchasing patterns. order processing ness information systems The Falcons365.com results in: and executive support. storefront also has several Faster turnaround The Falcons enlisted the new features to induce retimes services of Cerritos, Calif.peat visits, including mulImproved customer based Ignify, a provider of tiple options for team apsatisfaction ERP, business intelligence, parel, direct-to-consumer Increased traffic CRM and e-commerce sopromotions and newsletlutions for mid-size busiters that alert fans to new Higher conversion nesses. President Sandeep gear and in-store player rates Walia says Ignify’s goal is to appearances. 66 STORES / DECEMBER 2008 Greater shopping interactivity A new “Coach’s Choice” feature highlights head coach Mike Smith’s favorite gear, and cross-channel features will allow for the purchase at participating retail stores of gift cards that can be used to buy Falcons gear online. Together, the new features “help us better serve fans by giving up-to-theminute details on the latest product lines and team promotions while delivering a much greater degree of shopping interactivity,” says Chris DiPierri, the Falcons’ director of retail. Benefits of employing the Ignify ecommerce solution include a reduction in the amount of manual intervention required in order processing, thereby improving turnaround times and customer satisfaction. Other results include higher traffic because of search engine optimization and higher conversion rates because of a better experience. The Falcons’ web sales tend to be seasonal — most purchases occur during the height of football season — and Norton says that the near auto-drive capabilities of the new web platform will allow the team to focus on other merStORES chandising opportunities. WWW.STORES.ORG http://www.Falcons365.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

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

STORES Magazine - December 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Wrap Rage Unraveled What Shoppers Think Courting a Comeback 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Navigating the Road Ahead Website Strategy Concept2Watch Online Customer Service International Marketing Green Retailing Online Merchandising Signage Operations Online Strategies Pricing Strategy Kiosks RFID Human Resources Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - December 2008

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