![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.retailsystem.com\/za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/home-furnishings-ecommerce.png\")
Online retailers (e-tailers) are still the black sheep.<\/em> <\/strong>I say that tongue in cheek as it is far better today than just a few years ago. There was a time when e-tailers were simply \u201cturned away\u201d! We weren\u2019t even \u201callowed\u201d at markets (I was an e-tailer for over a decade \u2013 many showrooms would simply turn us away). Today e-tailers are welcome \u2013 but other than few select vendor showrooms, most vendors had a whole team of 1 dedicated to their entire online channel. You can imagine the experience for us. This in comparison to the 100\u2019s of reps supporting the traditional brick & mortar channel. Certain vendors did let the \u201clocal rep\u201d also assist (get credit for) the e-tailers in their area so we had better (some) success during those visits. I was very pleased to see a few of these \u201cmulti-channel\u201d reps do awesome, but most were at a loss as to what the e-tailer needs. Unfortunately, this is not only a blow to e-tailers \u2013 it is also a knowledge and support gap for the traditional dealers that need a lot more support in their online efforts from vendors.<\/p>\nLocal dealers could \u201csee\u201d products before e-tailers.<\/em> <\/strong>Certain vendors \u201chold\u201d new product releases exclusively for their traditional channels for a period. However, that is not what I am referring to. When new products become \u201cavailable\u201d, stocking dealers may have a huge advantage in actually \u201cseeing\u201d the products before the e-tailer gets what they need to get the products on their ecommerce websites. For example \u2013 we were in 2 showrooms with new products on the showroom floor. These products were in stock ready for shipment to the dealer. However \u2013 to the non-stocking e-tailer, it was going to be weeks before the images were ready of the new products for their website. FAIL! If I was a stocking dealer, taking possession of these new releases \u2013 I would have my iPhone out the minute those products hit my warehouse and I would get them on my website pronto. First mover advantage – you! You could (will) have a tremendous jump on most others. Write this one down.<\/p>\n E-tailers rely on vendor inventory.<\/strong><\/em> (Insert captain obvious commentary). Think about the consumer journey for a new sofa or mattress. Unless it is an impulse buy, or the relatives are on their way type of moment \u2013 the consumer spends months \u201cpinning\u201d and pining that major purchase. Months\u2026\u2026 So just imagine the consumer experience when the item they’ve dreamt about for months and months is \u201cgone\u201d. Worse yet \u2013 still on a e-tail site and no longer available from the vendor (yep heard that as well a lot at market). Enter the local stocking dealer. You know what you have, always \u2013 and can capitalize on this awareness and proximity. Use it to your advantage. If you know items are no longer available, call that out if you have stock. Ask your reps if certain items or any SKU\u2019s in particular are absolutely crushing it. Don\u2019t be afraid to order a few more and go after that online awareness. Scarcity. It\u2019s a powerful thing. Stocking dealers \u2013 know this angle!<\/p>\n My intent in capturing and highlighting these takeaways was not to \u201clevel\u201d the channel playing field; but to point out that in all the noise and dust \u201conline\u201d seems to kick-up in various conversations, there are many areas that the traditional bricks and mortar dealers can leverage in driving success at the local level. You just need to find them and maximize.<\/p>\n Retail on!<\/p>\n Jesse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like many of our readers I am a frequent market \u201cparticipant\u201d. At markets – I have had the fortunate experience to meet with countless retailers and manufacturers over my 20+ years in the home furnishings industry. At High Point…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[39,41,31,42],"class_list":["post-9780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retail-strategy","tag-bricks-and-mortar","tag-furniture","tag-retail","tag-vendors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n