Promoting online business by adding offline pick-up centre..

I am a small stakeholder in a small internet shop which sells
electronics (tv's, audio systems, etc.), washing machines and
refridgerators.
Considering the fact that we did not start up until approx. 6 months
ago, we are not doing too bad. However, a considerable percentage of
our online customers prefers to pick up their product rather than
waiting for our delivery service to deliver it at their homes. So,
basically they would like us to add pick-up centres (or you can call
it brick & mortar stores).
Since I am no expert at all in the field of e-commerce I have the
following questions for the experts in this group:

1. Is it a wise thing to add brick & mortar shops or should we make a
deal with, for example a chain of non-related (i.e. not selling
electronics, etc.) retail stores to act as our showrooms/pick-up
centres? Or do you have another suggestion?

2. According to your experience is this wish of our customers normal?

3. Will adding these stores/pick-up centres in principle be beneficial
in terms of creating value for our business? BTW we don't intend to
have a big showroom and many actual products on display. In my part of
the world (Europe), so far, only 5% of the consumers buy products
through the internet. By having our own (temporary = a few years) shop
we may be able to convince people to buy through the internet by
talking to them face-to-face and walking them through the purchasing
process on PC's in our offline shops.

4. Is there a general strategy with respect to the combination of
online and offline business that we should follow if we put the
creation of value as the top priority for our company?

Thank you in advance for your views/advice.

Sincerely,
Robet

On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 12:59:20 -0500, info.DeleteThis@inversioncapital.com (Robert)
wrote:

 >1. Is it a wise thing to add brick & mortar shops or should we make a
 >deal with, for example a chain of non-related (i.e. not selling
 >electronics, etc.) retail stores to act as our showrooms/pick-up
 >centres? Or do you have another suggestion?

Howdy Robert,

First off you need ecommerce software that will handle getting all of the
information you need. Most of the common shopping carts will need some
custom programming to handle pick up as well as delivery charges.

Not stocking everything yourself is done by many web sites. With a well
designed site, you should be able to do well locally and then expand to
national. The key is good E-Mail handling and contact tracking.

 >2. According to your experience is this wish of our customers normal?

Most people prefer things to just arrive. However, you are working more
expensive delivery items and folks with their own truck might appreciate
being able to save some money.

 >3. Will adding these stores/pick-up centres in principle be beneficial
 >in terms of creating value for our business? BTW we don't intend to
 >have a big showroom and many actual products on display. In my part of
 >the world (Europe), so far, only 5% of the consumers buy products
 >through the internet. By having our own (temporary = a few years) shop
 >we may be able to convince people to buy through the internet by
 >talking to them face-to-face and walking them through the purchasing
 >process on PC's in our offline shops.

With some computers available, your web site can be a way of expanding your
show room as well as handling taking orders. Very few web sites are
designed as show room assistance for the sales staff and yet that's the most
effective design for people shopping via the Internet.

 >4. Is there a general strategy with respect to the combination of
 >online and offline business that we should follow if we put the
 >creation of value as the top priority for our company?

Yes! A normal Brick & Morter would have a stack of loose leaf notebooks
with pictures and product facts. You'll want your web sites to be a more
effective version of that. The pictures must be very good and all of the
detailed descriptions included.

I rarely have clients that will spend the time and money to do things really
well. Of course, their on-line sales suffer as a result.

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