How to deal with channel-hopping

Why do customers buy from my competitor and not from me? What's the response from customers to my new products? How do I get my customers to buy more in my pet store? Questions upon questions, which all have the same answer: retailers and manufacturers need more information about their customers and what their wishes and expectations are. Customer relationship management is the discipline that focuses on maintaining a company's relationship with its customers. At the International Pet Conference in Berlin, the speakers and delegates were agreed upon one thing: that a better knowledge of what customers want and expect is becoming increasingly important in the Internet age, because the purchasing behaviour of shoppers is becoming more and more unpredictable. It is getting harder all the time to second-guess why a customer buys a certain product or chooses a particular distribution channel for making a purchase. Catherine B. Crowden, marketing manager of the Swiss company BSI, spoke in this context in Berlin about channel-hopping by consumers. Some would order online, some would pick up products from the store, other consumers would have goods delivered and some would find out more online and then buy in store. Like Crowden, other speakers at the International Pet Conference made it clear that bricks-and-mortar retailers must not lose out in competition with the online trade. Traditional stores still have their strengths compared with e-commerce, but these have to be fully exploited. What is most important now is that retailers cover all distribution channels and ensure good interaction between these channels. This is called multichannel retailing, and some retail groups are already well positioned in this respect, as practical examples from various countries demonstrated to the audience in Berlin. In spite of the current focus on e-commerce, it must be borne in mind that an online shop is not a guarantee of success in itself. Retail companies must be equally well positioned in all distribution channels. Fressnapf boss Torsten Toeller summed up the situation most succinctly at the conference: "We must grasp that the customer no longer thinks in terms of channels, but simply buys where it is made most convenient to shop." Ralf Majer-Abele
Contact detailsPhone +49/72 43/575-230 • E-Mail r.majer-abele@daehne.de