E-retailers are concerned about missing out on potential online sales over the Christmas period but the fear over high upfront costs and consultancy fees are preventing them from taking steps towards capturing readily available market share.
With the recession still affecting IT spend across the board, many retailers and marketers have had to clamp down on external spending, particularly when it comes to developmental projects and there is a tendency for people to view anything to do with boosting online sales as likely to be one of these hugely expensive and timely projects they desperately have to avoid.
Unfortunately for many it is a catch 22 situation as they clearly realise that online sales are one of the most cost-efficient sales channels and really want to raise their visibility in time for Christmas, but are too scared to explore the possibilities because they fear it will cost too much.
The good news for retailers is that product listing strategies are incredibly cost effective (and we are talking only a few hundred pounds a month on average) and can be implemented and working in just 48 hours. For those who have taken the time to explore boosting online sales through better product feed management, the results have been well worth the investment.
Inkntoneruk decided to explore how improved product listings could help make his site more profitable in 2008. Despite operating in a competitive market with wafer-thin margins, the solution he opted for (Feed Manager) was able to make subtle but significant changes to the way their products were listed online and most importantly, manage any price changes instantly. As a result, Inkntoneruk now generate up to 75% of their overall business turnover online and founder Steve Hari says he is now making a lot more money from the site as a result of focussing on finding a solution to improve the effectiveness of their product listings.
And It’s not just small retailers and brands that are reaping the benefits, Signet have also experienced a tremendous rise in online sales thanks to a greater focus on improving their product listings, so much so that the investment in product feed management seems almost laughable in comparison to the increased revenue they’ve got as a result, but I’ll talk about this more in a future blog.