Any good online retailer should be giving customers information on the latest fashion trends and tips. Where are the articles on how to pick the best tie for a business meeting? How about an article on how to actually tie one correctly? Or what about articles on how to match a great pair of shoes with a dress?
Both retailers dabble in this, offering various articles on the “best hats for the season” and guides on various clothing items. But they’re buried in the site. They need to be in the foreground, front and centre, and constantly updated to make the site look fresh.
Retailers need to offer more than just products, they need to offer a rich well of information related to what they’re selling. Not only will it help in Google rankings, but it will keep customers coming back again and again.
The problem with David Jones and Myer getting on board with online shopping now is that they’ve given everyone else enough time to find their own favourite shops.
If you’re into fashion, you’re getting clothes from ASOS or Net a Porter. If you’re into electronics, then you’re shopping through Amazon or your own favourite websites. Everyone has their own preferred places to shop.
Myer and David Jones are attempting to get those people to stop shopping at their favourite stores. That might become easier as the dollar drops, but it’s going to take some impressive marketing to pull it off.
Younger shoppers already have their favourite sites, and the slightly older demographic the company is targeting isn’t necessarily that web-savvy anyway. A big marketing push will be needed to get both groups on board.
Bernie Brookes is right that Myer has a huge network of suppliers and distribution centres, and that puts the company in a good position to ship products very quickly. The only problem is that the department store hasn’t proven that it can do so yet.
On Myer’s own online frequently asked questions, the company says you can nominate a delivery week at the point of order, but it’s unable to ensure delivery on a specific date, let alone time slot. And while it offers free shipping on a lot of products, it still says users should expect a four to seven day wait for all across the country.
It’s not really good enough. Users want their products immediately and, at the very least, they should be offering next-day shipping. At this point, Myer and David Jones just can’t compete.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
