James

Our Website pricing keeps the retailers end price in mind so as not to be in direct competition, but I am looking into whether to only sell part of our range to retailers, with the other designs selling exclusively online…but then this limits sales!…any feedback/experience on this one??

Our Site Stats do not state what country/state/county visitors are located; do others have Stats that show this? This would help us by knowing where to research further to market to a more targeted audience, especially overseas.

I agree with Jan, E-commerce Sites do take up a lot of time; I tried to do too many things (hmm…I still do!!) & thus did not have a fully populated or search-engine-friendly Website in the beginning. I have now taught myself some SEO etc, & make the time to work & update the Site – Frocked can now be found at the top of Google, but this does take time away from other things in the business. Jan’s final paragraph is so apt…one of those ‘I-wish-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now’; newbie’s take note, that is such real-experience advice that I definitely relate to!

Q: Does anyone have any experience of selling higher-priced womenswear online? Any info would be gratefully received!

As for competing with them by selling online…I sell to my customers directly via my site, although I never compete with my retailers prices. I don’t see how I could survive without selling direct, and I like to think that my wholesale accounts understand that. If they love my product, they’ll want me to succeed and they’ve got to know that an internet store could never in a million years compare to a boutique. The bottom line is that people really prefer to try something on before they buy!

Many large department store websites have many of their manufacturers drop ship for them. Their standards are set across the board so that all shipments comply with the same specs. Honestly, as a consumer you may never have noticed since the department stores have locations in nearly every state, you may have just thought that the website had different distribution centers.

As far as shopping cart software – I am not sure what this person is asking. An internet store has three basic components – a web page, database (catalog), and secure checkout pages. I would assume the shopping cart software handles the database and checkout pages. The web page should be redesigned or updated on a frequent basis so that visitors do not get bored and surf past it.

The guy who asked the question is way past that point. He’s not a newbie, he’s dealing with more of a strategic issue.

I know you don’t have the frame of reference that I do, but they already have a pretty good ecommerce website and he’s basically at the crossroads of deciding if they should redevelop the B2C side, or focus on the B2B side.

Honestly, I would tack on retailer support to the existing website. Add the obligataory stuff, contact info, sales rep and trade show info, maybe a password protected area to download line sheets, a media contact, that kind of thing.

My concern was that they would technologically overhaul the website just because they could, not because their business necessitated it. I think they suffer from the “everything-has-to-be-in-place-itis” (don’t be offended, I do too) where you overthink and overestimate what you need to provide.

Here’s the thing: what if it took 1 year or more for retailers to even use the retailer portion of your website? Would it have been worth it? That’s likely to happen. Honestly, I think you need a better website to impress consumers than you do retailers. Why? Well it’s still a bit old school. Most line sheets aren’t even in color, a full color website, well that’s like the Escalade when everyone else is driving the Ford Focus.

Snazzy sites are great for media, consumers and trade show jury panels. I have just heard too many reps say that they can get only a few of their buyers to use the internet to encourage someone to just go whole hog on an internet B2B strategy.

As far as shopping cart software – I am not sure what this person is asking. An internet store has three basic components – a web page, database (catalog), and secure checkout pages. I would assume the shopping cart software handles the database and checkout pages. The web page should be redesigned or updated on a frequent basis so that visitors do not get bored and surf past it.

I don’t know the ins and outs of why or what clothes pop up on Penney’s site but do keep in mind that if you sold to them, then you’d get bogged down into the whole 6 months payables thing. As I’ve said many times, it may be prestigious to sell to department stores but you may not want to.

Also, would your recommendation to not sell directly to the consumer also eliminate selling to online-only businesses?

I don’t think I said I wouldn’t sell directly to consumers, just that I would’nt take advantage of my retailers in doing it.

I have been selling from my website BUT do not have my website on my hangtags (I have just a few wholesale accounts). There’s a time trade-off with this, too. Shopping cart sites require a good deal of babysitting. I used to love it, now it’s just something that takes me away from what I should be doing. Positive side: I have found great ways to keep my name out there in the virtual world & have steady traffic from meta tag analysis/google rankings. Tracking traffic geographically provides a targeted nugget of information I can use to approach potential retailers….a backwards approach, I know, but I’m trying to take advantage of what having a website has yielded for me, in addition to revenue.

I realize NOW that I was much too eager to get out there with my wares; that I should have slowed down, planned a little bit more methodically; focused on design/manufacturing and finding sales reps. (Thanks to FI.) So, I’m trying to transition now from web-based retail to b&m wholesale. Slow going….hope this helps someone out there.

Also, would your recommendation to not sell directly to the consumer also eliminate selling to online-only businesses?