10 Signs Your Home Furnishings Brand Has an ‘Accidental’ Ecommerce Business
As the world has moved online, so have home furnishings brands. But all too often, this is more of an auxiliary effort than anything else: you post some of your brand’s products online and see what happens.
We call this an accidental ecommerce business.
An accidental ecommerce business is more of a casual effort than a conscious one. It’s more stumbled upon than strategized around. More incidental than intentional. And frankly, it works with some success, given the buy-anything-anywhere nature of today’s shopper.
But ecommerce is no longer the future of retail—it’s the present. Brands need a thoughtful, deliberate strategy for ecommerce to stay competitive.
So how do you know where your business falls? Here are 10 signs your company’s ecommerce business may be more accidental than intentional:
Sign #1: Sales are weighted heavily (and unhealthily) between 2-3 retailers.
Why this matters: A healthy online business is a diversified one. If your ecommerce sales are concentrated between 2-3 retailers, that likely means there are untapped opportunities with other partners or retailer types that are worth considering.
Sign #2: You lack strategic sales support for the ecommerce channel.
Why this matters: Selling online is simply different than selling in brick-and-mortar or on other channels. It requires a unique strategy that is tailored to winning the digital shopper, and someone needs to lead that charge.
Sign #3: You aren’t having regular conversations with your major retail partners.
Why this matters: There is much more to your partner relationships than getting your products up on their website. Retailers are your partners in success. Engaging with category managers and buyers on a monthly or quarterly basis will help you understand their business, use data they can provide and collaborate on solutions that will drive your sales.
Sign #4: Products are developed with only the brick-and-mortar customer in mind.
Why this matters: Some products are better suited for online than others, where things like price point, trends, size, options and packaging can have a big impact on how well something sells. You don’t have to have a design department dedicated to ecommerce products, but these things should be a consideration in the development phase to maximize the success of your assortment.
Sign #5: Product images do not extend beyond your hard-copy catalog.
Why this matters: Especially for home furnishings, product images are a critical conversion piece, and the images from your product catalog alone won’t have the most impact. It’s OK to have the same imagery across channels, but ecommerce requires more—alternate angles, lifestyle imagery, showing lighting lit and unlit, etc. To convert those customers, you need an ecommerce image strategy that delivers information, inspiration and aspiration.
Sign #6: Product data is manually updated in a spreadsheet and sent to retailers.
Why this matters: A PIM (Product Information Management) system is a key piece of driving efficiency in the ecommerce channel. A PIM stores, manages and shares your product data with partners to ensure accuracy and thoroughness for every SKU in your catalog.
Sign #7: Product releases or updates take too long to get live.
Why this matters: If products aren’t live, they aren’t selling. Without someone who understands the data needed by each individual retailer, making changes to your product listings can be tedious with a lot of back and forth.
Sign #8: You’re struggling to keep up with programs, promotions and contacts for each retailer.
Why this matters: It’s imperative that you know what’s happening on your ecommerce channel, from your retailer agreements to your marketing calendar. It’s easy to be overwhelmed without someone dedicated to doing this, but a lack of organization around the channel will slow down growth initiatives, lead to missed opportunities and often frustrate your retail partners.
Sign #9: You would do more if you had more hands on deck.
Why this matters: Many brands we talk to are aware of the opportunity within ecommerce, but there’s only so much they can execute on. Human support is needed to execute on merchandising, online content and sales strategy, but building a full ecommerce team isn’t an option in the budget for many.
Sign #10: You feel the void of expertise for this channel.
Why this matters: At BrandJump, we talk to many brands who know exactly what’s missing from being able to take their ecommerce business to the next level: The know-how. Knowing how to navigate relationships with major online players, what sales strategies will be most effective, and how to make your brand stand out online in a sea of home furnishings products.
The good news is that an accidental ecommerce business means there is opportunity. The consumer’s investment in the home has created incredible demand for home furnishings manufacturers. But those who are not part of the digital transformation in a methodical way will be left behind.
Creating a successful ecommerce strategy is no accident—it takes the right product, the right retailers and the right team to bring it all together.
BrandJump provides home furnishings manufacturers with a full-scale team across merchandising, content and online sales strategy to drive growth online faster. If you’re ready to accelerate your ecommerce business, learn more about what we do best.