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What's That Smell?

There's an old saying, "If you're not the lead dog in the pack, the scenery never changes." Neither does the smell.

Now obviously we cannot all be the lead dog in the pack...or can we? We can all be the lead dog, or at least use modern technology to strive for the front of the pack.

Have you seen erosion in market share in addition to the downturn in sales volume? Have you had consumers come into your showroom and when the salesperson makes a follow-up phone call they discover the customer bought on-line?

So, here is the scenario...you provided the showroom for the consumer to touch and feel and get the warm fuzzies. Your sales staff showed the features, advantages, benefits of the product. And they bought on-line. And maybe even for the same price that you were selling it for.

They got free shipping, maybe you charge $60 to $125 to deliver. And forget about your opportunity to get add-ons like protection programs and lamps, wall art and other accessories.

The same price??? Why would they buy for the same price or maybe even a little bit more? Is it really more?

Your sofa
$1199
delivery 75
sales tax 84
Total $1358

Same sofa on-line
$1359
free freight, no sales tax because the website has no presence in your state.

Now there's nothing you can do about the sales tax...and that's unfair. And the fact is they are paying less on-line, but not by much. And they have no store to go for help if there's a problem.

So why did they do it? First, they went online looking for a lower price. When they found the same product for the same price they thought, "why drive back to the store, I'm already home and I will get that same price...click, click."

Now, if you only had invested in that e-commerce site, the convenience of shopping on-line would be there to save your sale. You can even have your salespeople register their customers so they get credit for the sale. And you can actually show a larger selection, especially add-ons such as lamps, accessories, etc by selling drop ship lines in your site.

Still not convinced? How's the view...and that smell!!!??? Maybe the smell of losing a sale needlessly. And that stinks!