Do you sell online?

Artezen

Bloomington, IL

I sure do. We had more and more customers ordering online. Typically, they'd received a gift purchased from us, found us online and ordered more. We've now closed our store and sell entirely online. We only sell about 15 percent of what we did in the store, but it's less of a time commitment; so, in respect to return on investment, it's better. [Online retailing] is different, but it's not necessarily easier: it takes a lot of work. Some manufacturers are not good about working with online retailers, either from a fulfillment standpoint or because a lot of [other e-tailers] sell the same product line online, so it's too competitive. We're cutting our teeth with one [manufacturer]. They are willing to drop ship, though we keep stock here for some heavily ordered items. We work with a guy who developed a whole online marketing strategy system for us. We're going to modify our site to include “persuasive architecture” to talk to different personas of target customers the way they want to be talked to. It's a more personal way of selling, like talking to a knowledgeable sales person. That directly effects how many people convert from browsers to buyers.

Topiary

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that we have an online presence where we feature a lot of the product that we have in the store, and we will sell to people who contact us and want to buy from what they see on the website. Usually, we make a couple of sales a week that way. We also sell gift certificates online, which is a great way for people from outside the area to buy a present for people inside Halifax and have it mailed to their house. Our store specializes in service, and we would rather that they come into the store so they can enjoy the experience, and we can focus on that. We don't have a full e-business. We don't have our bridal registries online because I hadn't thought of it, but we probably will next week.

Paddington Station

Ashland, OR

No, I do not. We have a website, but it's informational only. We do not sell off that via an online shopping cart. However, Ashland is a tourist town, so what we do get are people who come through and then go home and say “aren't I silly, I didn't buy that beautiful thing.” They find us online because we're on a lot of search engines, find our contact information and email us. We do ship, and we have a 1-800 number. I'm surprised how much business we do that way. Those are some ways that we have skirted the issue. Our store is so large that the task seems daunting. We've thought of doing just one of our businesses online, just kitchenware or just jewelry, but we haven't felt comfortable enough to make that next step. Running a brick-and-mortar store is overwhelming, enough. Fortunately the gift business is so touchy feely. That whole experience of touching [the products], [experiencing] the ambience of the store and interacting with our sales associates, just doesn't come through online. We don't have plans to start selling online.