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COVID has brought the eCommerce conversation front and center. No more dancing around it. No more putting it off because it is scary \u2013 unknown, not the \u201cway\u201d you operate. Embrace it!<\/p>\nCOVID has brought the eCommerce conversation front and center. No more dancing around it. No more putting it off because it is scary \u2013 unknown, not the \u201cway\u201d you operate. Embrace it!<\/p>\n
As someone that has been part of the home furnishings industry for over 20 years I have lost track of how many times traditional furniture retailers have said \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t sell online \u2013 it\u2019s not the way we operate\u201d (or some strategically crafted variation of that statement). Enter COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Whether or not you ever actually do sell anything online \u2013 your website better be an „awesome“ and seamless extension of your traditional retail business; and it better have an eCommerce component. Let the customer chose whether they ring the online cart or ring the in-store till – they expect it. Either way you win!<\/p>\n
But as retailers run to now \u201cDo eCommerce\u201d \u2013 don\u2019t get caught not knowing what this all really means. Having a website with a cart DOES NOT<\/em> equal \u201cDoing eCommerce\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s topic.<\/em> If you are a traditional furniture retailer with a \u201ccatalog\u201d based website; meaning it magically \u201chas\u201d all the products from all the vendors you carry – have you checked if those catalogs are current with the COVID supply chain challenges?! Consumer expectations are such that you better be offering products that are ACTUALLY available in some respectable time frame from all those vendors. Trust me – there will be a negative impact to your retail business if you are showing products that are not available from your suppliers. The last thing you want to do is start your day with irate customers who found products that are no longer available! Watch how fast your merchant processor changes their tune when you are increasing cancelled orders. Don\u2019t get caught with chargebacks and negative reviews because you didn\u2019t ask the question! \u201cHow current is this catalog<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n Omnichannel eCommerce 101 tips:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ecommerce can be an exciting part of your retail model. It has to be!<\/p>\n Retail on!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" COVID has brought the eCommerce conversation front and center. No more dancing around it. No more putting it off because it is scary \u2013 unknown, not the \u201cway\u201d you operate. Embrace it! As someone that has been part of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,8,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecommerce","category-omnichannel","category-retailsystem"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n