Debating on perusing online business? Need Feedback

[thesofaking]

Hello, I am the owner of Sofa Creations. We have 3 retail locations in San Francisco bay area. We sell custom sofas that are made in California. All our models can be made to any measurement down to the inch. And all models are made within 10 days. Plus they come with a 7 year warranty. We do well because of our quick turnaround time and because our models are made down to the inch at affordable prices.

I don't have my site setup for eCommerce and I never persuaded it because I find it hard to believe someone would spend over a thousand on a sofa they can't sit on but I could be wrong. The other major reason I do not sell online is the shipping costs. Yes I would charge the customer, but what happens if they want to return it. Do I eat the shipping costs both ways? Or say they have to pay to send it back? We have shipped out of state to family or past customers about 7-8 times now with no problems so maybe this is something I should do. Also, I was thinking instead of changing my whole site to eCommerce. At first to have my staff leave comments on social media and blogs to try to offer our sofas to see how it goes. They have a ton of downtime during the week so I was trying to think about ways to keep them busy while also trying to create new business.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[Fulcrum]

I can't help with your original question, but I would like to commend you on the 10 day turnaround for custom product using multiple material types (I don't see that very often).

[Harold Mansfield]

That's a tough one. Obviously people do order furniture and other custom products online . There's even at least one online mattress company.

I'd probably study those who are already doing it to determine if you are capable of setting up that kind of eCommerce infrastructure and customer service. I'm sure you don't want to do it if it's going to tarnish your brand in any way.

I think it could be done and done well if you truly committed to doing it properly. Things like returns can be worked out. The most important thing is can you make the experience of doing business with you online a good one? You won't really get any feedback on that by just asking people online if they want to order something. Especially family and friends. Sometimes people don't know they like it until someone does it and it's a good experience.

Honestly, if others can do it and are doing it... why can't you?

[thesofaking]

Thanks Harold, I appreciate the feedback. I guess the big question is if I want to make the investment for an eCommerce site and advertising. Along with other expenses that come along with it.

[turboguy]

One thing you might think about is how many returns you get now on your local in store business. If it is very low then the odds are the returns for online sales should be very low as well. If you get a lot of them then however you handle the freight it will be a big problem for you and might be a good reason for not taking that route.

Life and business always has options. Yes, the investment in an ecommerce site could be significant but to some extent the choice is yours. Yes, advertising can be expensive but a web site is a form of advertising and over the long haul can be the cheapest and most effective advertising you could ever find.

You could start with a site but without the ecommerce. Then if you find it worthwhile you could add ecommerce. You can benefit from having the site without spending money advertising your site. Yes, spending money on pay per click can increase your traffic and sales but just having the ecommerce site if the SEO is half decent can pay off quickly. Once your site is up the cost to keep it going is nearly nothing.

I do sell products on my site that may cost as much as 20 grand or more. In my case they usually have questions and call and order but we do have some that use the ecommerce. We do get a lot of online orders for smaller items however. I spend nothing advertising my sites. I did a bit of pay per click 8 or 10 years ago but nothing since. Even without spending a penny on advertising my sites generate sales in the millions all together.

Unless returns are an issue currently I think you should do the ecommerce site, just my two cents worth.

[thesofaking]

Hi Turboguy, I actually hardly ever have returns. I have had 2 in the last 2 years and both of them paid a 20% restocking fee. Since everything is custom I don't usually allow returns. Plus we never are pushy with customers to get sales. Instead we make sure to assist and guide them through the process. We never rush them.

[turboguy]

If you have only had two returns in the last 2 years I would not worry about it then. You could state on your website that the items are custom made and not returnable. If you do get an irate customer then charge him a restocking fee as you have done but the odds are that it won't be an issue. You could also jack up your prices a bit to cover any problems.

I am glad to hear you are not pushy with your customers. We are the same way but in an industry where although we don't have a lot of competitors a few of the ones we do have are both pushy and cut throat. With my prior business all of my competitors were a pretty good lot. It took some getting used to.

[Harold Mansfield]

... Plus we never are pushy with customers to get sales. Instead we make sure to assist and guide them through the process. We never rush them.

This would be a good attitude to keep with eCommerce. It's all about making it easy for people to do business with you. Letting them know what to expect, what the process is, what their rights are, and how you handle issues. Give the confidence that you're there for them throughout the process and you will gain their trust to try you out. After that it's about delivering the promise.

[Alexcook]

Another good idea would be of listing your services on some popular E-commerce platform like Amazon, E-Bay etc where chances are that you can get instant orders. The issue there is that after listing you are obliged to there rules & conditions like COD & return policies.

[ThomasD]

Hi thesofaking,

This is a very interesting topic to me as I do exactly the same type of business as you. I am based in Johannesburg, South Africa. I too have thought of the same thing and have not yet found a solution, I think turboguy is on to something though. If you average your returns out and some how try to compensate for them through your average sales by adjusting your price some how while simultaneously adding to the perceived value.

I have had orders for custom sofa's through Google's Adwords before, but the customer collected themselves once it was complete. Maybe you can focus the reach of your ecommerce site to a smaller area such as your state?

I would like to hear how you solved. Like wise I'll keep you posted if I discover anything new..

[HooktoWin]

Hello, I am the owner of Sofa Creations. We have 3 retail locations in San Francisco bay area. We sell custom sofas that are made in California. All our models can be made to any measurement down to the inch. And all models are made within 10 days. Plus they come with a 7 year warranty. We do well because of our quick turnaround time and because our models are made down to the inch at affordable prices.

I don't have my site setup for eCommerce and I never persuaded it because I find it hard to believe someone would spend over a thousand on a sofa they can't sit on but I could be wrong. The other major reason I do not sell online is the shipping costs. Yes I would charge the customer, but what happens if they want to return it. Do I eat the shipping costs both ways? Or say they have to pay to send it back? We have shipped out of state to family or past customers about 7-8 times now with no problems so maybe this is something I should do. Also, I was thinking instead of changing my whole site to eCommerce. At first to have my staff leave comments on social media and blogs to try to offer our sofas to see how it goes. They have a ton of downtime during the week so I was trying to think about ways to keep them busy while also trying to create new business.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.


Hi SofaKing,

Well done! That 10 day turnaround is incredible, my wife and I waited 2 months for our love seat to be finished and delivered.

Your thinking makes a lot of sense. You know your customers well, some of them would prefer to buy in person. But there's more at play here; here's what I can see.


Some customers may state they're "just looking" only to buy online later.
Other customers may want to try things out in person but buy online later at their convenience.
A few may feel it's better to buy something online and return it if something goes wrong (a flexible return policy is what they're looking for).
Many, many customers will want various color swatches. My wife compared color swatches over and over, trying to determine what looked best in our house. She showed family, friends and neighbors - looking for an opinion.

An ecommerce store can accomplish this presenting education and information customers need before the sale. If it's structured properly, your ecommerce store can even act as a motivator or urgency trigger, encouraging customers to buy soon. One way to use this would be to limit options (e.g. This color, size, configuration available until 10/17/15). Those that miss the deadline could request it. All of this of course depends on the details of your business.

Your objection about customers spending more than a thousand dollars online is also legitimate. But there's evidence showing that customers are willing to do so.


$2,099 Ellsworth Neutral Tufted Sofa at Neiman Marcus (http://www.neimanmarcus.com/Old-Hickory-Tannery-Ellsworth-Neutral-Tufted-Sofa/prod145240152/p.prod?srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=36-94656424-2&ecid=NMCIGoogleProductAds)
$2,293 Lounge II 2-Piece Sectional Sofa at Crate and Barrel (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/autourl/s303255?b=1?affiliate=1552&adpos=1o2&creative=44761147496&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CLvs66iG7ccCFQMbaQodUGgAug)
$1,379 Valencia Leather Sofa at Wayfair (http://www.wayfair.com/Valencia-Leather-Sofa-500681-CST1152.html?)
$1,199 Gordon Sofa in Blue at the Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Gordon-Sofa-in-Blue-0849400310/203195555?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cG%7cBT3%7cPLA&gclid=CLea-8eG7ccCFYU6aQodh-UB7A&gclsrc=aw.ds)

So the question isn't necessarily about whether people are willing to spend a thousand dollars online to buy furniture. My wife and I have done it, and these links show that others are willing to as well. It seems to me the issue may be "why" people do it. In this sense, there's a mix of ingredients customers will need to feel comfortable enough to buy. If you have those ingredients, I see no reason why customers would be unwilling (though there may be one).

You'd need the right ingredients to make it work, but I believe it can work. Here's a short list to help you get started.


Spend time building brand familiarity. Customers should know your business well.
You're asking for higher dollar amounts so trust is key. Work to share the trust you've built via your stores to your site.
Use your ecommerce store to create a relationship with customers.
Focus customer attention on your uniqueness.

You could always launch an ecommerce store and limit your marketing activity to statewide, regional, local venues.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

[HooktoWin]

Also SofaKing,

Eating the shipping costs both ways will have a dramatic impact on trust. It shows that you believe in, and are willing to stand by your product. But what about the return costs? Won't this eat into your profits? Think about this from a customer's perspective. How many customers, after dealing with the shopping, delivery and setup hassles, are willing to repack, carry/load, and return large amounts of furniture? It's a considerable amount of work, even if you pay for shipping both ways.

Returns should be the exception not the rule. If a customer is motivated to do all of that, it's prudent to find out why. Returns are your early warning systems, they warn you about the key issues (in a customer's mind) that threaten to disrupt your cash flow.

Hope this helps,

Andrew