Webinar Replay - More for Manufacturers. What is the Meaning of Your E-commerce Life?

If you missed last week's webinar with Elastic Path, From Manufacturer to Retailer: Expanding Your Brand Through E-commerce, you can view a recording of the webinar here

You can also check out my guest blog post on getelastic.com highlighting a portion of the webinar: Getting Your Product Content Ready for the Consumer

Still hungry?

A critical decision manufacturers face when establishing their e-commerce presence is "What is the meaning of life?", or more practically, "What is our site's role in e-commerce?"  The obvious answers of "we want to sell more product" and "we want to build our brand" immediately surface, but the subtleties of how you choose to do that can be much more interesting and complex.

While manufacturer websites are cited as one of the first places shoppers go to get product information (source: Forrester Research), these sites, while growing, aren't getting a lion's share of the online sales. See the below chart from e-Marketer:

It may be that the commerce capabilities on these sites are limited. It may be that consumers simply want to research on manufacturer sites, then go to the retailer (bricks or online) to buy.

Whatever the case, manufacturers can win by determining where they can add value to the shopping experience and how they can best facilitate the transaction, even if it's on a retail partner's site instead of their own.

Here are a few note able examples from the webinar showing distinct approaches to handling the transaction:

First, online powerhouse Nike.  Great site, well executed shopping process with extensive imagery and product information.  This is all about Nike capturing the transaction and customer relationship themselves, and they do it well. Note that access to retail partners is hardly noticeable at the bottom of the page and the store locator is utilitarian at best, no indication of whether or not those stores even carry the product I'm looking at.

 

Contrast the approach above with Patagonia, who offers a choice of seamless options to purchase, either on their own site, or at a retail partner.  They let me know that the item I'm looking at is available from a variety of partners, and take me right to the appropriate product page, with identical product descriptions to assure me that I am indeed getting the item I want.

Callaway Golf offers a good shopping and transactive experience, but then passes the order to a nearby retail partner for fulfillment  - a nice way of servicing the customer and adding value for retail partners: 

 

Samsung does the ultimate in combining great decision tools for both product selection and retail selection.  The shopping tool helps me choose the dimensions, price and specifications of my TV. Then, I can see what retailers have the item in stock and even do a price comparison.

 

Whether it's one of the above or somewhere in between, the options for taking or transferring the transaction should be  carefully considered, factoring in:

• Your brand's pervasiveness online and offline - how easy is it for customers to buy your product somewhere else?

• The size/scale and capabilities of your retail partners

• Your relationship with your retail partners

• Your own capacity/infrastructure for handling fulfillment, service and direct customer relationships

• Your brand and business objectives: is it about building a direct customer relationship? Or helping your retail partners sell more of your product? Or both?

Above all, think creatively: where can you add unique value in the customers research and purchase process? And, where can you bring value to your retail partners?

Comments

[Elton]

Good post. Part of the reason Mfr. only represent the % of overall retail is 1) A lot of mfr still haven't put a lot of emphasis on B2C Ecommerce. 2) Brand name only matters on a select group of products, not all retail is "brand preference"....lots of people buying "commodity products" or somewhere in-between. 3) RE: #2, not a lot of brands have the equity to pull people to their sites...e.g. if someone is looking for dress shoes at Nordstrom's, they don't necessary have brands in mind and if they see a Jimmy Choo shoe, they might have no interest going to their website....but buy off of Nordstrom's recommendation.

[Shopping Cart Software]

While some manufacturers do a great job in BRANDING their product, it seems there are e-commerce small to medium size businesses that have a better grasp on the ONLINE MARKETING of the product. Such as Web design, SEO, etc.

[Communion Dresses]

It was nice reading your post. I needed to know such kind of information to update myself. I work in my friend’s boutique of flower girl dresses and also help in the online promotion.

[ecommerce websites]

I think the best online stores are the ones that are easy to navigate and are not too cluttered. Transactions need to be fast and not time out in the middle of a transactions. The sites I purchase from on a regular basis are the ones that make shopping convenient.