Jon Bovard 2010

Taking Your Organisation Online

Issues and Challenges Faced byTraditional Retailers

Jon Bovard

Jon Bovard 2010

Agenda

How do you build an easy to use website for your audience?

How do you select an eCommerce platform?

Going online: The REAL challenges

Jon Bovard 2010

Identity Direct

Identity Direct – over 500,000 orders a year

60% of Orders international Personalised gifts – kids focussed Was 1% online – now over 60% and

growing. Fast. Current platform redesign in progress!

Jon Bovard 2010

How do you build an easy to use website for your audience?

HIPPO Eye tracking studies/ Usertesting

laboratories/Focus groups Analytics 3rd party tools

Jon Bovard 2010

HIPPO

Highest Paid Person’s Opinion“Whatever you say boss!”Intelligent guessSometimes a good starting point

Jon Bovard 2010

Eye Tracking Studies/Labs

“Interesting” Expensive Inconclusive “Ok” for landing pages Not holistic

Jon Bovard 2010

Analytics

Somewhat useful Screen resolution/Technical data Is purely objective Does not explain Can lead to dangerous assumptions If not “online” then you wont have any!

Jon Bovard 2010

3rd Party Tools – Usertesting.com

Is my website useable or confusing? Members of the public – get paid to test

your site For $29 you get a video of the experience A written summary of your site and what

they experienced Target specific ages or demographics

Jon Bovard 2010

Jon Bovard 2010

3rd Party Tools – OptimalSort

How should I categorise my content? Where do I (my customers) think my

products fit? How should I organise my website? Do my offline categories work online? Great for sites with a lot of products

Feedback from users where your products belong

Jon Bovard 2010

How do you select an eCommerce platform?

PedigreeFunctionalityCustomersPeopleStrategic vision and RoadmapBackingCultural Fit

Jon Bovard 2010

The ‘Australian’ challenge

The Forrester Wave™: B2C eCommerce Platforms, Q1 2009

Not all The “Big” ecommerce players are here

Limited local presence Limits options Time difference = pain

Jon Bovard 2010

Questions to ask your eCommerce platform provider

Have you actually built an ecommerce site?

Who are your other clients? Backing and funding Customer retention Who are the key people? Ask about the integrator - not the vendor. Are you actually doing the work? Find a client that they have lost in the

last 12 months. Speak to them directly

Jon Bovard 2010

Questions to ask your eCommerce platform provider

What is your smallest, biggest and average size client?

How close is your platform fit to my real requirements? (find out yourself!)

References, references, references Who is doing the work for you? Meet the

programmers and project managers Beware unproven platforms or

integrators

Jon Bovard 2010

How much?

Minimum $200k AUD and up…. Beware false economy

Lack of featuresPoor conversionHuman overheadDevelopment flexibility (or lack of)Lack of Roadmap

Jon Bovard 2010

eCommerce platform: What am I actually paying for?

Roadmap – the future. Will it evolve? Security Flexibility Extensibility – integration Merchandising and search Support and upgrades

Jon Bovard 2010

Going online: The REAL challenges

Structural Cultural Merchandising Strategy Technical Human Legislative/Legal Financial Warehouse and logistics

Jon Bovard 2010

Structural

Creating the eCommerce teamOption 1: Part of the main businessOption 2: Capitalised and executed

separately

Jon Bovard 2010

Structural - Part of the main business

AdvantagesBrand control/cohesion common

marketing“Shared” human resources/IT (beware!)Shared physical resources/equipmentShared warehousingLower capital injection

Jon Bovard 2010

Structural - Separate

AdvantagesMore agile/speed to marketOnline “culture” might differ to “offline”Lower risk of resource conflictRun as separate P&LVary marketing and operating strategyMerge into the main business when/if

successful

Jon Bovard 2010

Cultural

“this is how we do it now” eCommerce requires support at the

board level Your business is setup for retail. Not

etail Probably operating at capacity eCommerce stretches capacity An additional channel adds complexity

Jon Bovard 2010

Merchandising Strategy

Does Online = Offline?Price. Are online customers more/less

sensitive?Can you vary price of online to offline?

(without upsetting customers!)Audience/DemographicSuitability of productDo they shop the same way online?

Jon Bovard 2010

Technical

Web developers – unique breedHighly specialisedTechnical landscape in Australia

different to the UK/USRare skills – local talent difficultEven rarer for proprietary technologyHosting eCommerce is specialised

Jon Bovard 2010

Human Resources

Find a good eCommerce managerNot an IT ManagerNot a Marketing ManagerSome Senior Online marketing typesBring this person in at a Senior levelKPI this personKeep this person incentivised

Jon Bovard 2010

Human Resources

Other considerationsWeb Content/MerchandisingWeb Design/Interface designerEmail/Search/Affiliates

Jon Bovard 2010

Legislative

CompliancePayment and finance (PCI

compliance)Privacy (esp email marketing)Disability actForeign “eCommerce” laws (Duties,

Taxes, Safeharbour, Distance selling UK etc)

Jon Bovard 2010

Warehouse and logistics

Distribution modelIs you warehouse suitable for direct

dispatch?Centralised versus single store

versus multistoreMerits of having stock in one placeReturn rates. Apparel and footwear as

high as 40%Multichannel returns. Allowed or not?

Jon Bovard 2010

Summary

eCommerce is tough. Large scale eCommerce is not cheap High upfront cost and effort with long

term reward Find a good eCommerce manager Test your site and audience “Getting it right” is an going process

Jon Bovard 2010

Thank you…

Jon Bovard jon.bovard@gmail.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/jonbovardtwitter.com/jbovard