Adam Schrier has been down the e-commerce technology road a few times, but figures he’s finally found the right formula for building a website.
And it’s adding up to a sharp increase in sales for his Creative Co-Op, a designer and wholesaler of home décor products and women’s apparel to some 15,000 small retailers.
“Our new site dramatically increased sales over the third and fourth quarters” of 2017, he says.
Adam Schrier, president, Creative Co-Op
Schrier, the company’s president, says last year’s relaunch of CreativeCoop.com has resulted in double-digit percentage increases in online sales. The site, built on the Episerver e-commerce and content management platform with the help of digital design and development firm Whereoware, outperforms Creative’s former two sites—one home-grown, the other built on AspDotNetStorefront technology.
For one thing, the new site makes it far easier for Creative’s merchandise managers to display products online without the help of I.T. experts, Schrier says. And it is designed with site search and navigation that do a better job in assisting customers to find the particular type of pendant lamp, hanging plant or linen dress line they want to sell in their retail store.
More important, he adds, the relaunched site has helped drive up revenue through Creative’s sales reps as well as through self-service web sales at a time when Creative customers want the flexibility to order either online or offline and with consistent product information.
“Silos are dead,” Schrier says, adding that suppliers can’t expect to please customers by selling through separate sales channels that don’t share information. “Our best customers are those that buy across channels with us.”
Creative’s sales reps, he adds, use a Spotlight mobile app from Whereoware that integrates with the Episerver platform to let the reps view a customer’s order history, available inventory and recommended products. “The reps can put together a suggested order to show a customer,” Schrier says.
Customers can view the same kind of information when using the website for self-service product research and orders. Creative, in turn, can view combined online and offline sales data down to SKU levels, helping them to better plan inventory, product displays and promotions.
Average order values, he adds, are over $1,000. Going forward, Creative is expecting to push up sales with site content more personalized to customers. A test conducted in January and February of the new site’s personalization technology is showing promise, Schrier says. “We added about a half-million in sales” as a result of that test, he notes.
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