How to Run a Successful Multi-Channel Retail Presence for Small to Medium Businesses

For a small to medium business, it's hard enough to maintain a single channel of sales, whether it be in retail, online, or a catalog.  Each channel poses its own unique challenges, but ecommerce-guide.com offers practical advice from two small businesses that have successfully managed their multi-channel retail business.

1. Orient Expressed

They've been in business for 30 years.  They sell a wide range of products from children's clothes to antiques.  After its humble beginnings,  it opened its first retail store in the early 1990s and established their online presence 10 years after the fact.

Orient Expressed is known as a "cozy" place to shop.  Its marketing plan is to unite their retail store, website, and catalog under that style.  Attractive, but simple design for each channel makes it easier for all their customers to buy what they want without too many distractions.  They also use multiple channels to advertise their products and attract new customers.  For instance, when people see their catalog, they will want to see if they can purchase the same items online.

2. Karmaloop

They're in an urban/streetwear clothing company.  They have a retail and an online presence.  Since their retail environment limits them to showcasing 10-15 percent of their actual stock, they have to pick and choose which of their products to display to maximum sales and awareness.  They do provide computer terminals in their store when customers do want to shop online and see the rest of their inventory.  All of this is centered around a hip, urban store personality that shines through their TVs, computers, and decor.  On the flip side, they're slightly less flamboyant on their website.  Rather than pile on video and animations on their site, they focus on simplicity and uniqueness on their design.  Adding too many bells and whistles on their website will distract from the overall shopping experience and potentially deter sales.

3. Conclusion

The bottom line is that multi-channel stores should focus on simplicity across all channels so they don't distract customers from what they're looking to purchase.  As we see from Orient Expressed and Karmaloop, they each had their own distinct personalities.  But they do not make the ambiance the focus, but rather their customers and their needs.