Who else is best of breed?
Dick’s Sporting Goods, the nation’s largest sporting goods retailer, recently unveiled a radically redesigned and highly enhanced Web store, a key facet of its multi-channel offering. It is designed to bring a consistent look and feel of the brand across all channels, address the needs of the franchise’s key customer groups, deliver a rich online shopping experience, and drive additional traffic to the chain’s physical stores.
The first step, described on Retail Solutions Online, was to focus on Dick’s Sporting Goods customers — who they were and what they needed from the online channel. Through corporate interviews with store personnel, focus groups with customers, visits to the offline stores and analysis of shopping and demographic data, a needs analysis was constructed. From that information, a roadmap of features and functions was developed along with a cost analysis and timeline.
One of the results of this research was the building of special interest hubs on the site, each designed around a particular customer segment. There’s the Lodge, which focuses on hunting, fishing, camping and hiking; the Golf Shop, which focuses on golf; and the Perfect Season, which focuses on team sports. The hubs provide interactive shopping experiences and provide destinations that customers can frequent even when they are not making a purchase. This enhances communication, loyalty and shopping opportunities.
The site utilizes express shop and mini-cart features that make the online shopping experience more responsive and intuitive for consumers, as pages are modified dynamically based on a shopper’s interaction with a page. Once a shopper adds an item to the shopping cart, a mini-cart appears in the upper right corner of the main product category page, allowing the shopper to view the items selected
for purchase.
Effects of the new web store have been as designed and desired: consumers are synchronizing online and offline shopping to meet their needs. Some print product pages from the online store to bring to physical stores; others use their loyalty program cards to shop cross-channel. The ultimate goal is to sell more through both channels, and Dick’s Sporting Goods is a leader in the field.
Filed Under Retail Sports
Is this a big trend?
In-store pickup of products bought (or found in searches) online is definitely a major trend. Shop.org set up a web site during the holidays (cybermonday.com) for just that purpose, filled with retailers in all merchandise categories offering the service. Another interesting twist: search engines that let shoppers know the availability of merchandise at local stores. Such sites as nearbynow.com, slifter.com, yokel.com and shoplocal.com all offer the service; brandhabit.com does the same, focusing on small designers and boutiques. Others are sure to follow.
Some major retailers that let customers check inventories at local stores on their own Web sites (such as Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Target and Wal-Mart) are also starting to share that information with search engines. Some are not so enthusiastic. But evidence shows it can be a great revenue driver: at Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters LLC in San Francisco, year-over-year sales of rods, reels, waders and other gear have jumped nearly 50% since the shop began using the slifter.com service. We predict local search will become ubiquitous and necessary for all retailers.
Filed Under Retail Sports
Innovative Integrated Retailing
How does a manufacturer sell online without alienating the brick-and-mortar retailers who comprise its traditional sales channel? By partnering and coordinating with them, allowing consumers to place orders online and have them fulfilled by local retailers. Callaway, the manufacturer of golf clubs, accessories, apparel and other golfing equipment, has done exactly that.
A complete lineup of Callaway Golf products is featured at shop.callaway.com. When a consumer completes an order on the web site, a software program determines which retailer will get the sale, based on criteria like proximity to the consumer and inventory in stock. Retailers notify the consumer, who can come to the store, or elect to have the product shipped within 24 hours.
So far about 270 retail companies have signed up, including pro shops located on golf courses, as well as golf retail chains like Golf Galaxy and mass sporting goods chains like Dick’s Sporting Goods (see our November issue for a great profile of this retailer’s multi-channel workings). These retailers represent a majority of the more than 15,000 outlets that sell Callaway merchandise. Dealing directly with a manufacturer and its authorized dealers will be a major attraction for online shoppers concerned with safety, security, and merchandise authenticity.
Shop.Callawaygolf.com will supplement the prevailing brick-and-mortar golf shopping experience, not replace it. While e-commerce in golf is growing, it still represents only a small percentage of total golf equipment purchases. Through focused marketing, Callaway can ensure consumers who choose to shop online will receive excellent service and authentic products from trusted retailers. At the same time, Callaway is rewarding its loyal authorized retailers — the backbone of its distribution system — with incremental online revenue opportunities.
Filed Under Retail Sports