In my first year of university I wrote my assignments by hand, until a rather stern lecturer advised me to either buy a typewriter or get a 'word processor' - something to do with my messy handwriting I suspect. So, I went all out and bought a computer, it cost me three and a half thousand dollars and it did little more than basic word processing anyway.... Then suddenly it seemed everyone had a computer and they got cheaper, faster and smaller. And this happened amazingly fast. Then the internet was invented - I have tried to explain the world-with-no-internet concept to my son many times but he can't comprehend it. And then, suddenly it seemed you could get pretty much anything you needed online - from buying your groceries, to moving currency, to reading the news, or flicking through your favourite magazine.
So when I look back at how much things have changed it's quite phenomenal. Now the world is right at our fingertips - literally! I love shopping online; it's easy, comfortable, there are no crowds, it's instant, you don't have to trail people in shopping centre parking stations in order to find a car park and screaming children can be sent to their room. I can do it when I like, no rushing to beat store closing times and I get a sense of excitement when my order arrives at home - like getting a little present!
However, even though the world has changed and we can access products from around the world from the comfort of our lounge room - apparently some people out there are still sceptical and hesitant to purchase online. Why!? Why I ask - it's so easy.... go on, just try it once and see for yourself. No one is going to steal your life, or find out the code for your home alarm or know how much money you have in your bank account. You don't need to make a little tin foil hat to wear for fear of someone reading your thoughts. Just be sure to look for sites with the little padlock symbol so you know your credit card transactions will be safe.Or pay by PayPal to keep your payment details even more secure if you're still worried. I firmly believe this is the way of future retailing so you need to keep up - just like I had to stop handwriting assignments, sometimes in life we need to adapt and change with the times. You'll find it's not so bad, in fact, you may even enjoy it!
The other thing I am realising is that some wholesalers are also cautious about selling to retailers who are only online. They want old fashioned 'bricks and mortar' retailing. This doesn't make much sense to me at all - maybe someone can explain it to me? Everything in terms of business structure, management, stock control, processing sales and customer service is the same. Only it's not done face to face. In terms of building or maintaining a brand, a supplier holds the same risks in distributing to a physical store as they would an online store. Selling under RRP is a concern, but I would suggest a bricks and mortar store would be more likely to get away with this - when it's online it's very easy to monitor, plus supply agreements are always available to prevent unauthorised selling of stock.
I look to Net a Porter for inspiration - it's extremely successful, it retails designer brands, and it is only online. We'll get there, I guess it's simply a matter of being persistent.
www.maisonluxuryhome.co.nz
0800 001 479
PO Box 27095,
Christchurch NZ 8640
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