E-tailing in SA - The need to understand e-relationships

For a big brand retailer to make the successful transition from brick-and-mortar stores in large shopping centres to online retail environments, the customer-centric database structure concept is a critical factor, says Internet retailing specialist Garin Toren of Digitalmall.com.

"It`s no longer about maximising the number of feet through the doors, it`s time now to know who your customer is and to turn every person into a personal long-term relationship," says Toren. "Developing a relationship is one of the most difficult parts of the e-commerce marketing process. It requires thinking about not only Web design, pricing and traffic generation but mostly about customer relationships.

"Many e-businesses are in too much of a rush to convert clicked-through traffic into rands and take no time to try and build relationships with their prospects and customers. Their sites focus on pricing and deals, and not relationships, and there is no attempt to build relationships or even provide some kind of value-add that might lead to a sale or an e-mail address, and better still, continued dialogue.

It is obvious that some e-business management teams view the Internet customer as an ethereal concept and many will fail because of it. Already the e-business space is overcrowded and those sites that do not convince visitors to return will find themselves wasting time and money on a re-focusing strategy.

Locally, Digitalmall.com, South Africa`s premier e-tailing site, gives retailers a total solution, says Toren. "We have the infrastructure, the fulfillment requirements, a customer interaction centre and many years of experience in Internet retailing, determining not only what customers want but ensuring that they get it."

Toren says too many e-shoppers are unhappy with the service they receive and of the millions spent on e-commerce last year, a vast majority of the people were unhappy in some way, indicating that more than half of the purchases were a once-off. These lost customers will be very expensive to regain. South Africa cannot afford these mistakes, our Internet shopping population is still very immature.

Web retailers are failing to initiate relationship-building programmes early on, overlooking the critical steps of consideration and preference building when buying.

To ensure Digitalmall.com customer satisfaction, each customer is required to register as a shopper on Digitalmall.com. Registering at one online store in the Digitalmall.com gives the customer immediate access to all other stores without having to re-register. Access to the Virtual Florist also means access to Look and Listen, Click & Pay and Incredible Online to name a few. "The advantage of a single registration is maximum convenience as well as enabling us to build a profile on each customer which allows us to track shopping patterns and identify trends across different locations while ensuring confidentiality," notes Toren. "Each and every purchase made from a Digitalmall.com store is linked to the customer profile, thus enabling us to accurately track purchase behaviour.

"For example, we can determine what music a shopper listens to, whether its rock, classical or opera, how many times a month they accesses their PC or things like how many children they have and their ages.

"This type of marketing requires customer permission which builds trust with the customer and targeted specials constantly reward purchases. Through escalated and more personal electronic dialogue, we are able to reward buying focus through eagerly anticipated marketing messages "

Backing up the sites is the Virtual Call Centre, a Digitalmall.com company. This Customer Interaction service centre has instant access to customer profiles and information and offers an alternative for those who do not want to order online. People still phone. Whether to confirm a purchase, enquire on the order status or to return an item. The Virtual Call Centre humanises the whole online process. We make outbound calls to ensure 100% successful deliveries and take this opportunity to learn more about each consumer through carefully scripted marketing enquiries.

"Ultimately, he who manages the database wins," says Toren. "The e-tailer who understands the importance of cleverly managing the information understands the customer and can therefore make better marketing and purchasing decisions. All of a sudden a customer is no longer just a person walking in to the store but a friend on the Internet with whom you have an extended relationship. But having access to this type database confers a huge responsibility. Privacy policies are of paramount importance. Digitalmall.com has ultra-strict policies of non-disclosure in all circumstances.