2011-07-07

Local retailer websites

On a hunch, I went online to see what local kids' stores may be offering, if they had specials, that kind of thing.

What a waste of time that was. The local sites that I visited, were nothing more than splash pages of brand name logos and random photos of clothes and stuff. Zero information on prices, specials. It's a common refrain on my part, and with the apparent exception of Gibbons Co. (AS Coopers seems to have limited online shopping, so it counts for something I guess), the norm for retailers.

Meanwhile, retailers complain that people are spending less and less. I'm not saying that local retailers need to become as web-ready as a Target or Walmart, but if they want to hopefully get the word out that they may have deals for potential customers, putting more information, let's say once a week, on the web, of whatever product they want to promote (with the *price*), is a good way.

Mind you, the conspiracy theorist in me is also thinking that if they actually did put their prices up online, people would be turned away instead of being drawn inwards.

The same goes for TV spots. Maybe showing pictures of "glamourous" stuff and saying a company motto is good enough for most ads on the island (especially with the expensive tastes of some folk), but if you say "this week, X products are on sale at Y price" it may make more people take notice. I may slam the Marketplace for a bunch of things, but I at least appreciate their committment to telling the customer what they're selling and for what price.

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