On the occasion of its 15th anniversary, online marketplace Buy.com, which sells everything from fine jewelry to wine to shoes, has predicted trends for the future of shopping online, Michelle Graff says in her article posted on www.nationaljeweler.com.
Bernard Luthi, chief marketing officer of the company, discussed the forecast and how trends could impact brick-and-mortar retailers in a recent interview with National Jeweler.
Launched in June 1997, Rakuten’s Buy.com culls merchandise from a wide range of suppliers, including some brick-and-mortar retailers, and then sells it online to its member consumers, who earn redeemable points with purchases made through Buy.com. Japanese company Rakuten acquired Buy.com in May 2010.
1. The consumer’s tailored digital experience gets better. Luthi said online shopping used to revolve around the swiftness and ease of the transaction as well as finding the lowest price. Today, consumers expect online shopping to mimic the in-store experience, forcing retailers to provide enhanced content. Two examples include Amazon.com’s flash-sale site MyHabit, which features 360-degree live videos of models wearing the clothes, and online marketplace Daily Grommet, which provides how-to videos on products it sells. “It’s become more so about bringing the in-store experience online,” he said.
2. An increasingly global online marketplace. What happened with Buy.com in May 2010 is evidence of this trend, as the California-based company was acquired by Rakuten, a global Internet services company based in Tokyo. Rakuten also bought operations in Europe, Canada and South America. “The world is becoming a smaller place. It’s very cliché, but it’s very true,” Luthi said.
3. Mobile as the primary way to shop. Consumers are increasingly mobile, and they want to be able to search for and possibly purchase the products they want when and where it is convenient for them. Luthi said brick-and-mortar retailers need to have a solid mobile strategy in place that likely needs to include both a mobile version of their website and an application. “You have to have the ability for people to find you,” he said.
4. Reinventing the online purchasing model with social and peer recommendations. “It’s truly being able to shop together,” Luthi said. “That trend won’t slow down.” Shoppers want to read or view consumer reviews of products they are considering purchasing and discuss them on the retailer’s website, or on Facebook and Twitter. Merchants also need to take part in the discussion. For jewelers who feel they don’t have enough to staff to cover both the counter and the computer, Luthi suggests setting certain hours to be available online to chat with customers, or delegating a salesperson to get online and chat with customers when there’s downtime in the store. “If the sales are there (online) to support it, then the headcount can follow,” he said.
5. Significant partnerships between brick-and-mortar resellers and e-commerce stores. In September, Buy.com, which started as an electronics retailer, began powering the online marketplace for electronics giant Best Buy, which operates brick-and-mortar stores and sells online. ShopRunner is another example. Retailers that become members of the ShopRunner network are able to offer free two-day shipping and connect with the consumers who are members of that network. Retailers that belong to the network include Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us as well as Lord & Taylor and Reeds Jewelers.
