Consumer Connection

An online presence is key for retailers

Monday, July 2, 2018

Retailers agree, Houzz is becoming increasingly important among today’s consumers.

By Teresa O’Dea Hein

The internet has changed a lot of things about the shopping experience. With social media, online reviews and a breadth of other information at the customer’s fingertips, shoppers are doing in-depth research before even setting foot in a brick-and-mortar store.

The most significant change in the past 10 years, said Jeff Shipe, owner of At Your Door Floor Store in Derwood, Md., is that now, the consumer has done their homework on the retailer as well as the products they’re interested in — and most of that homework is being done online.

“A week does not pass by that a customer will come into the showroom with their iPad asking, ‘Can I see this floor?’ They have looked online for days or weeks,” Shipe said. “Now they need to see the final selections in person. They need to touch and feel this floor and, in many cases, take a sample home to see it in their environment.”

Because of the depth of research being done online, having a well-monitored, robust online presence is critical.

Social Graces
For retailers, using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is a must, Shipe said. “If you do not have a great, up-to-date presence on all the social platforms, your competitor will.”

But it’s not enough just to have a Facebook or Instagram — those pages do indeed need to be updated daily. “Keeping these sites relevant and informative on numerous product categories is essential to bringing new and existing clients to your showroom,” Shipe pointed out. His store uses Facebook to stay in touch with current customers and the community, adding that posting the arrivals of new displays and products are ways to keep the pages relevant. “Keep on posting pictures from floors your company installed, customers like knowing what is being installed in your local communities,” he suggested.

Visual platforms like Pinterest and Houzz are also driving inspiration. “In the past, before the internet, you used to only be able to see what your friends or neighbors put in their homes,” said Cary Kelly, store manager for FCA Flooring Specialists in St. Charles, Ill. “Now, Houzz and Pinterest, as well as HGTV, make people more open to design; they see more pattern and color. It’s broadened their outlooks, beyond what they might’ve just seen in our area. That opens up your network and your circle of friends. Online, they might be following designers who work in California, for example.”

As a result, Kelly said, people’s tastes and willingness to try new things have definitely changed. Fifteen or 20 years ago, people wanted to stay neutral in their decorating. “Now, rather than just looking at a small swatch, which might seem intense in color, they can see photos online on Pinterest or Houzz of how things look in a room once they’re installed, and can see how attractive it can look.”

Gary Tallant, sales manager at Mill Creek Carpet & Tile, Tulsa, Okla., also sees widespread use of Pinterest and Houzz among his customers. “But everybody has a budget, so sometimes when we tell people how much that look would cost, they say, ‘Oh, I didn’t think it would cost that much.’ They like the look but not always the price — so then we work from that to find a similar alternative,” Tallant said.

Ratings and reviews
Review websites like Yelp, Angie’s List or Google reviews are also crucial for today’s retailer. “Out here, everyone lives on Yelp,” said Misael Munoz, flooring consultant/store lead, S&G Carpet and More, Santa Clara, Calif. “So it’s vital to have good reviews there.” The store includes customer testimonials on its own website, too, he added.

The majority of customers have already looked at your business online — including posts on review sites — before they ever stepped foot into your showroom, Shipe said. “It is important to keep those pages up to date, post job pictures often and respond to every review whether they are good or bad. Use bad reviews to win over customers — don’t be afraid to respond in a positive manner.”

Kelly said Google reviews are the most commonly mentioned, followed by Angie’s List and Shopper Approved reviews. “You want to be the store with lots of good reviews,” he said. “Because of that, we get calls from customers, realtors and even from out of the country, from people who will be moving into the area. Or from people who just relocated here from out of town who don’t yet know people to ask for a floor covering referral. Shoppers come in and say, ‘Hey, I saw your reviews online.’.”

Time to buy
With all the information available to consumers at the click of a keyboard, does it take people more time or less to ultimately make a purchasing decision?

“I have been in this business since 1991 and I never felt the need to close the sale within the first few contacts,” Shipe recalled. “However, that has changed with the advent of technology.” Today’s consumer has less patience once entering a store or calling for an in-home appointment, he said, and expects a much faster turnaround on things like estimates. “Today, the need to close the sale quickly is imperative. If you do not move at their faster pace, someone else will win their business,” he said. “The only time we see the process slowed down is when a consumer over-educates themselves and starts to second guess their final decision.”

Munoz pointed out that S&G Carpet and More is receiving more internet leads “because people are busy — I got someone today calling me on his lunch hour.”

Shipe said he’s had to make changes to his business in order to keep up with this fast-paced, very online connected world. “We assign three to four online platforms to each employee as their job to maintain and keep relevant,” he said. “Unless you have one person handling the online social media and review sites as their sole job, it is too much work for any one person to do. This takes time, creativity and a desire to make your sites a little better than the next guy’s.”

But the good news is, Tallant of Mill Creek Carpet & Tile pointed out, “These days, more people who actually walk into a showroom tend to be serious buyers. Traffic’s down but most of the people who do come in are buyers because they’ve done their homework.”