Retailers remodel e-commerce

By Ken Ryan

The landscape for home improvement retailing is going through a transformation that has little to do with the current economic recession. Instead it has to do with technology and demographics, as consumers, particularly the 30-and-under group, spur the growth of online retailing.

“The younger shoppers don’t shop retail. They research everything online, they get all their news online, everything they do is online and we need to be a part of that,” said Steve Fusek, who operates a traditional True Value Hardware store and Ronshomeandhardware.com, which has more than 77,000 items listed on its site.

Some brick-and-mortar dealers are resistant to the changing landscape, Fusek said, but the reality is that retailers of all stripes need to get on board with the growth occurring online. Forrester Research reported in January that it expects U.S. online retail sales to rise 11% in 2009 to $156 billion. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar retailers will close 12,000 stores in 2009, according to Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates in New York.

“The winners in today’s marketplace are finding ways to reach customers through multiple channels,” said Bill Zielke, VP marketing and international development at Do it Best. “We want to offer our stores’ customers the easiest way to find and to buy the products they need, whatever and whenever.”

In the home improvement channel, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sears and others are enhancing their e-commerce businesses in 2009 -- some through acquisitions, others through more interactive Web sites and still others with new products and offerings. Smaller detailers -- and some larger ones -- are also tapping into social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to market and grow their businesses.

What’s in store for ’09 

At a time when many homeowners are pulling back from home improvement spending, Lowe’s and others are ramping up their online capabilities. Retail Forward published a report in January (“Lowe’s Giving Customers More Options with E-Commerce”) about the retailer’s quest to convert Web site visitors into purchasers, regardless of whether they shop online or visit the store. “Lowe’s commitment to its expanded e-commerce platform reflects an understanding that the way consumers shop is changing,” said Nick McCoy, senior consultant at Retail Forward.

Lowe’s marketing efforts are designed to leverage its online capabilities to maintain relationships with its customer base and broaden its appeal to women, younger shoppers and kids, according to Retail Forward. With newspaper readership declining, Lowe’s management has indicated it will continue to explore new media approaches in the future.

Home Depot, meanwhile, tapped into another burgeoning market -- Hispanics -- by launching a new Spanish-language version of its Web site. HD’s Spanish site replicates its English language e-commerce site, with 40,000 products available to online shoppers. Home Depot views Hispanics as a lucrative growth opportunity. It cites Forrester Research data that shows more than one-half of online Hispanics are underserved by English-language sites.

“According to research, Hispanic online spending is expected to reach $21.6 billion by 2011, which is an impressive figure,” said Lyne Castonguay, VP multicultural marketing at Home Depot. “We hope espanol.homedepot.com inspires our Hispanic customers to shop us online as well as visit our stores.”