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E-tailers mix clicks & bricks
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September 27, 1999: 8:10 p.m. ET
Retailing conference stresses combined strengths of stores and Net
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PHILADELPHIA (CNNfn) - Retailers who want to take advantage of the Internet should stop thinking about bricks and mortar and focus on clicks and mortar.
That is one of the messages coming out of NRF.com, the National Retail Federation's Internet and retailing and e-commerce conference being held this week in Philadelphia. Close to 5,000 retail technical professionals are attending the four-day event.
Several speakers discussed how retailers can, and must, use the virtual world to enhance sales and attract more customers.
"Leverage your brand," Guy Kawasaki, former Apple Computer Inc. (APPL) executive and current chief executive of garage.com, told a luncheon gathering Monday. "You shouldn't let two guys in a garage eat your shorts."
Kenneth Brame, senior vice president and chief information officer of Service Merchandise Co. Inc. (SME), said bricks and mortar retailers have an advantage over pure e-commerce businesses because they can spend more on advertising and branding.
"There's a large number of people who are still doing research on the Internet and then they go into a store and buy," he said. "If I can get more people to go to my site and then come to store and shop, I'm that much ahead of the game."
Srikant Srinivasan, founder and chief executive officer of online toy retailer KBkids.com said during his keynote speech Sunday that retailers should look at the Internet as a whole new enterprise with its own set of rules.
"At the end of the day, you should think of it as a new business, not as a channel for existing bricks and mortar stores," he said.
KBkids.com is a joint venture between BrainPlay.com, a children's product online retailer and Consolidated Stores Corp. (CNS), the nation's No.1 close-out retailer and parent company of K-B Toys.
Srinivasan advised retailers to move quickly into the virtual arena.
"You will make mistakes," he said. "Get over it."
He said retailers should adhere to the "three-click rule," where shoppers can obtain whatever they want within three clicks on their mouse button.
"Every click costs a lot," he said. "If people have to click a lot, you've lost half of them right there."
Deliver the Goods
Once the consumer makes the order, retailers have to deliver the item. That may sound simple, but experts at the conference warned that as online shoppers become more sophisticated with Internet shopping, they become less forgiving.
Consultant Patricia Seybold in her talk Monday said "fulfillment" is a potential iceberg threatening to sink retailers.
"It's huge," she said. "If you don't fulfill the customers' needs, they're never going to come back again."
Seybold said strong customer relations will be the issue as retailers face their shareholders or prepare to take their companies public.
"The question will be how many customers or subscribers do you know by name?" she said. "How many do you have a relationship with?"
Bill Bass, vice president of e-commerce at Land's End Inc. (LE), said online shoppers have become more mainstream.
"You're going to see a lot more people coming online and shopping who are not the geeky guys who have been floating on the Internet for the last few years," he said.
As the Christmas shopping season gets underway, Bass said, "people's experience of a great total shopping experience are going to go way up."
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