The Relyant Group`s Beares BedZone web site, at www.bedzone.co.za , has met management`s expectations since its launch in July. This is according to Beares Marketing Director Andrea Bell who said that the decision to establish the site was taken mainly to gain the brand a foothold in the online world and to act as a learning exercise.
PQ Africa`s KZN office developed Bedzone for Beares and it is hosted at PQ`s ultra-modern computer centre in the La Lucia Ridge Office Estate outside Durban. The site is secured by "Verisign" and the payment gateway is provided by PQ Africa Group company ECnet. "PQ Africa has a long standing relationship with the The Relyant group and it is by continually delivering successful projects such as this, that we will continue to grow the partnership" says Tom Denysschen, Regional Executive, Business Development at PQ Africa KZN.
Not only did the site succeed in its primary objectives, but says Bell, it has generated a number of online sales and an even greater volume of enquiries from people who visited the site, some of whom later bought the items they wanted from their nearest Beares Store.
The most encouraging thing for management about the site is that it is working to expand the brand`s customer base and this is being shown, says Bell, by the fact that most of the enquiries it has generated have been from consumers outside its traditional customer base.
Due to the nature of the furniture, bedding and appliances market, it is not anticipated that Beares online presence will ever replace brick and mortar stores but Bell believes that business volumes will increase as more and more consumers gain Internet access.
The launch of the Bedzone site forms Phase One of the Beares Internet strategy and will be followed up at a later stage by an expanded online presence with a very much wider selection of available merchandise.
One possible future strategy for overcoming the low rates of Internet penetration among the Beares customer base is to provide access to the site through in-store kiosks.
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