April 2025
ertonline.co.ukl
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The success of the Smiths TV website has helped the business grow amid a difficult economic climate, with Mr Wright and his team working closely with the specialist web team at Calculus to ensure continued growth on the platform. Mr Wright says his website is as important as a physical premises, and that it’s imperative retailers don’t treat their website as an afterthought… “It is your biggest organic advertising tool and can drive sales online and instore,” he says.
A digital signpost Elsewhere, in Bath, fellow independent retailer Coopers is also benefitting from having a fully integrated website with the NCompass system. And Director, Darrin Christan, agrees with Mr Wright that the importance of having an online presence should also not be overlooked… “A website is a digital signpost, a fluid advertisement for your business, and even if the transaction doesn’t take place on the site, a lot of customers will be steered by what they see on there,” says Mr Christan. “We live in an age of online shopping, and despite remaining quite a traditional store at heart, moving with the times to facilitate what has become the social norm means we can compete with other online retailers and make
sure that business isn’t lost – or at least, it’s fought for.”
The Coopers integrated epos system helps
to streamlines the business; it takes human error out of the equation and allows staff to focus on other tasks. The maintenance of the Coopers website would effectively be a full-time job, and one that would need constant care and attention.
Having the website integrated with the
in-store system not only allows for pricing to be kept accurate but gives Coopers the opportunity to show supplier stock on the site in a quick and easy way. One of the most frequent questions Mr Christan and his team get faced with is regarding delivery times, so accurate supplier stock information is integrated into the NCompass system and pushed to the Coopers website to negate this question and allow the customer to make an informed decision.
A worthwhile investment Like Smiths TV, Coopers has also seen the benefit having a website can have on customer service, as Mr Christan explains: “It enables our business to communicate with customers in an entirely different way.”
Although, he did have some concerns about aspects of having a site and how that may affect his business: “We were concerned about
showing our in-store pricing online where there isn’t a chance to explain the difference with our competitors. However, almost everyone checks pricing online anyway, and I think not showing the information would do more harm than good, as it would push people to other websites and we would possibly lose their custom entirely.” So what is Mr Christan’s main reason for investing in his website and online presence? It is a hugely worthwhile investment, he says… “It opens up a new avenue of revenue, but it also shows the intent of a business to move with the times. And from a consumer point of view, it’s often a red flag if there isn’t a website available to buy from full stop!”
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