It’s scary how many established brands that do well at a retail level still struggle online. Walk down the street and you’ll be walking past brands that are doing millions per store in brick & mortar, but would be lucky to make a thousand dollars a week online.
There’s a simple common thread between consumer brands that sell well online and those that don’t. Its so simple in fact, that you dismiss it at first.
Good online retailers respect online.
Good online retailers:
- View a $20,000 online store as an investment, not an expense
- Are usually addicted online shoppers themselves
- Understand the value of data and know that looking the part is only 10% of the battle
- Tinker with every tool and channel, seeking to learn all that they can
- Constantly keep their site fresh to give you a reason to come back
- Are 100x better at hiring than traditional retail
When I decided to move on from Online Store Guys and seek a fresh challenge, I looked around at traditionally powerful brands that were showing signs of going stale and that were shit online.
I liked the challenge of reinvigorating one of these brands and safeguarding them in an age of disruption. I looked at their career pages. None of them were hiring for eCommerce roles. I reached out to over half a dozen of them. Not one responded.
These are the same brands that spend $600k on a shop fit-out amid declining sales.
To do well online, you need to respect online.