PC World's website heroes

Ipod Cases
With Jason Turner, director, iPod Cases, Christchurch.

Who: www.ipodcases.biz What: iPods and MP3s, cases and accessories. Why: A business built on a product its staff uses and knows well.

How long has your website been operating?
We established our online store in May 2004, and it’s continued to grow since then.

What inspired you to set up a website?
We considered a website to be the best way in which to display our full range of products, including the different colours and styles of iPod Cases. Since we were initially dealing only in iPod cases, this was relatively easy for us. We examined a broad range of websites (I have a qualification in web design), but we had no particular role models.

What do you think brings customers back to your site?
Our repeat customers often buy items for their friends or family after making their own purchases and being satisfied with them. Presenting all the necessary information about our products encourages our customers to return to the website. On occasion, we offer vouchers or discounts.

What would you do differently if you were setting up a website again today?
A website is no good to anyone unless people can find it. I think spending time and money on marketing your website produces good results, especially if it’s new.

How important has your website design been to its success?
The design of the website and the ease with which customers can select their intended purchases has been integral to its ongoing success. In fact, if we didn’t have a well-designed website I don’t think it would be still operating today.

What were your main distribution challenges?
Oddly enough, our main distribution challenges are customer driven: given the rapid changes of our customers’ tastes, anticipating demand proves difficult. We try to get a general feel for what our customers want by paying close attention to the feedback we receive.

How does selling online help you to reduce costs?
Put simply, selling online reduces our overheads. We don’t have a showroom and, more importantly, the costs associated with maintaining one, which helps keep our overheads low.

What’s your main competition, and how do you differentiate yourselves?
Large chain stores such as Harvey Norman, Bond & Bond and Dick Smith represent our most significant competition. Many of our customers complain to us about these retailers and, more specifically, about receiving the wrong information or being sold an inappropriate product. We avoid this kind of customer dissatisfaction because, unlike chain stores, we’ve built a business on a product we use and know well. Our prices are highly competitive and our staff has an excellent knowledge of iPods because they use practically all the accessories we sell.

Summarise your plan for future growth.
We’re currently considering a similar, website-based operation in Australia. We’re also considering an additional website catering for new markets, including the gaming market for PSP, Xbox360 and PS2. However, this website would probably operate independently from iPod Cases.


Whisky Galore
Q&A with Michael Fraser Milne, proprietor, Whisky Galore, Christchurch.

Who: www.whiskygalore.co.nz What: More than 350 premium single-malt scotch whiskies, 50 blends, 30 Irish, 30-plus bourbons and ryes, plus whiskies of more exotic origin (such as Welsh). Why: To be New Zealand’s only dedicated online whisky seller.

What inspired you to set up a website and what were your web role models?
We saw the web as a very important feature of the business. My role is graphic design input and the overall look. In fact, we advise on every aspect and get the designer to put our ideas into action.

How important do you think your website design has been to its success?
Very important. Design is everything.

How often have you redesigned the site since its launch?
One full revamp in December 2005. However, we freshen it up all the time — at least monthly and often weekly.

What were your distribution challenges, and how do you store all the whisky?
Christchurch was chosen for many reasons, but distribution efficiency is one. As a small business, cost is always a factor. We have most whiskies in store, but our main warehousing system offsite allows us to bring in whisky every day and, of course, we do buy from other wholesale suppliers, as well. We can never have every whisky online all the time, as we might sell the last bottle at 5pm and get an order for it overnight before we update the availability. That does happen, on occasion.

What would you do differently if you were setting up a website again today?
Nothing I can think of. It was quite stressful and lots of work — it still is, but I can’t see any way around the initial headaches or the work behind it. It is, after all, an online store and stores need work.

What percentage of repeat business do you have?
Repeat business is around 45 to 50%. Quality and variety, information and price bring people back, also ease of use. However, by its nature, online business is often one-off.

What are the main ways in which selling online helps you to reduce costs?
I don’t think it does, actually — there’s nothing inexpensive about selling online.

What’s your main competition in New Zealand?
There are no dedicated whisky sellers other than us, although there are a few wine and spirits retailers that do a very good job with whiskies. We don’t really think about them. We wish them luck and get on with what we do.

Summarise your plan for future growth.
Just keep on doing the same and try to keep abreast of any upgrades or systems that might improve our response to our customers’ needs — and also keep the web design team onside!

Top ten tips for online success

We asked our website heroes to share their tips on how to survive and prosper in the aftermath of the dotcom crash. 1. Research the products and services offered by your competition and explore ways in which your business could do it better. 2. Make a business case for a return on the investment — if it doesn’t produce a direct revenue stream, can you demonstrate or quantify its benefits in other areas? 3. Be creative and unique. By doing things differently to your competitors, you’re more likely to be noticed and remembered. 4. Keep your website simple — you can always add to what you have as time and money allow. Also, keep it easy to use and attractive to look at. 5. Give customers a reason to keep coming back. Even if they aren’t buying, it’s good to keep them in the habit of visiting. 6. Spend the money on bandwidth and have an application that runs fully optimised — there’s nothing worse than a slow web application. 7. Be realistic about budgets and timeframes, and take care appointing a developer. Web development is a tricky business and always takes longer than expected, even if done right. 8. Seek excellence in levels of service. Great products plus great service equals satisfied customers plus expanding sales. 9. Have goods delivered within 24 hours of the order being placed. Retailing from the web means you have to try even harder than other retailers, as a certain stigma is still attached to what essentially is a mail-order service. 10. Remember you have a website and keep it fresh — even if only by changing a small amount of content on a regular basis.

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