A trader
commented on Friday - “That was a good
article about Amazon.” (Great – every editor loves to hear that.) Then he said
“But that bit about trader’s websites… you had it completely wrong” (Damn – too
early with the self-praise.)
The article
was about Amazon doing one thing really, really well, and that was being a one
stop shop through a website that had almost everything you could imagine. The
article concluded with the suggestion that some traders might consider adding more products to their own website in order to add a measure of Amazon
convenience for their customers. That was the bit that this trader didn’t like.
He believes
that traders are wasting their time with complex and time consuming websites.
He believes we simply don’t have the time or resources to do the job properly
and he asks the question “Are any traders making good money off the internet?”
He says our game is capturing customers who come to visit us at the market –
this is the core place for us to do business.
(Just on that
question “Are any traders making good money off the internet?”, we need to
understand that online is not huge for most retailers, except internet
pure-play operators. There are varied assessments of how big online is with
10-15% being the most common although some retail commentators suggest that it
is as little as 7% in Australia. The point is that online may be relatively small but it is growing at a fast rate.)
Our trader
is inspired by TJ Maxx the bold new retailer that has just opened over 20
stores in Australia selling what is called “off-price” stock. These are brand
names but one-offs or end of lines that can create incredible bargains for
customers. TJ Maxx pretty well ignore the internet. They rely on customers
visiting their stores to find that great bargain and they put all their effort
into finding on-trend fashion goods that are compelling buys. The thrill of the
hunt is what they aim for and it certainly appears to be working. TJ Maxx are
often seen as bucking the current trend in retail. In other words they are
kicking goals while many retailers, particularly department stores are
struggling.
The concept
is great - enthuse customers to buy while they are at the market and remove
that excuse that they will check out your website later. And that is fine for
traders who have access to something special, something that not everyone else
can get, just like TJ Maxx being able to access “off-price” stock. Traders who
manufacture their own goods or have sole rights to a product(s) qualify here.
For the rest of us we may have to keep on looking for the magic unique product
range or start packing our websites with more products like our original
article suggested.