Web sales up 48 percent

Online retail sales soared to $76 billion in 2002, up 48 percent over the prior year, according to The State of Retailing Online 6.0, a Shop.org annual study conducted by Forrester Research. Online retail sales are expected to approach $100 billion this year.

The study also shows that US online retailers are continuing their march to profitability. Last year, 70 percent of retailers reported positive operating margins, compared with 56 percent in 2001. Collectively, online retailers broke even in sales last year, up from a loss of 6 percent in 2001.

Shop.org is the online retailing division of the National Retail Federation (NRF). This year’s State of Retailing Online 6.0 research reports are based on data supplied by 130 retailers selling online.

The full study is available online at http://www.shop.org/research/reports.html.

Name: Mariah Hull MacGirr

Business: Hull’s of Frankfort & Manistee and Kennedy’s Up North

Web address: www.hullsoffrankfort.com

Products: 45 colors of dickies for men and women, quality women’s clothing

Years on web: 1 1/2

Percent of sales from web in current year: 1 percent

Increase in web sales from previous year: “372 percent increase in sales, comparing the first two quarters of 2002 and 2003.”

Website designed by: Gear It Up Marketing Communications

Main method of promoting site: “Search engines, all print media. We will soon have our URL painted on the store’s window.”

Best online retailing experience: “Getting weekly e-mails (and repeat orders!) from very good customers who live in other states. We’ve developed some good friendships.”

Worst online retailing experience: “A very large order placed on a stolen credit card. Luckily, we figured it out before we shipped 26 items to Nigeria!”

Biggest challenge: “Keeping up with inventory and the ever-changing products on the site as well as running three retail operations. Also, getting our busy webmaster at Gear It Up to make changes as quickly as possible so the products are current.”

Worst mistake: “At first we spent too much time getting photos and information to the webmaster for items that we do not normally stock or only carry in limited amounts. Now we have merchandise from less than 20 of our 300 vendors on our website. We needed to decide what people really look for on the web, and not bother with items that people can find anywhere.”

Web retailing tip: “Try to keep the product mix focused on the more unusual or hard-to-find items. People come to us for dickies, which are actually very hard-to-find items. That’s our niche.”

Future plans for site: “Adding more brand names that online customers have requested.”

Unique features of site: “We just updated the site in April, and our new site format is very user-friendly. We list the brand names we offer online, alphabetically, and cross-reference the brand names with merchandise categories. We also have a list of all brand names we carry in all of our brick-and-mortar retail stores, many of which are not featured on our website. We encourage people to e-mail us with inquiries.”

Comments: “There are lots of web developers out there, all so different. Shop around for a web developer that’s a good fit, one that wants to know about your business, wants to work with you and will create an attractive site that reflects your merchandise and style. Don’t settle for a website design that’s cloned from other ones the developer has done.”

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