The retail format is the store - Indian Institute of Management ...

Personalised displays: on line technology allows personalising the items advertised to
the customer during navigation which can be done based on the customer preferences
or demographic information (if membership is an option) or purchase history.
Personalised reminders: members or previous customers can be sent or presented
reminders about coming holidays or popular items (best sellers) in categories they
have expressed interest or made purchases in, in the past.
Personalisation opportunities: customers can easily be presented with opportunities to
personalise common products (e.g. print a name on a cup) that can initiate impulse
purchases.
Advanced visualisation techniques: graphics technology (animation, sound / image
effects) gives many opportunities to present a product in a way that will impress the
consumer and motivate them to buy it.
Purchase expediting: on line retailing allows on–click purchasing (for registered
customers or members) which leaves virtually no time for second thoughts or
reasoning about the purchase of product.
In case of the Serious Shopper Approach, the e-tailer builds a relationship based on
service levels and quality of products. The e-tailers have to proactively anticipate and
handle consumer expectations and ensure that what’s being delivered is better than
what users expect 53 . So retailers constantly need to analyse their product/service
category’s relationship with consumers and ensure that their own business isn’t
becoming disconnected from general expectations 54 .
5. Customer Retention
E-business is redefining the way the e-tailers manage customer relationships and place
new demands for customer support throughout the sales cycle and thereafter. This task
has been made more complex by individualisation of customers. The e-tailers cannot
afford to ignore even an individual customer because word -of- mouth spreads very
fast on the Internet. User groups, communities, web chat and e-mail each have enough
individual power to drain away revenues or create bad publicity. Only personalised
support and sophisticated customer interaction can help the e-tailer convert more
‘browsers’ into buyers, resulting in higher revenues per customer 55 . Also, it costs
about five to eight times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.
Therefore, it is essential for the e-tailers to build loyalty, aim to achieve zero error
operation, to create continuing excitement at the stores and have a mix of impulse and
need based products to induce customers to visit the site often 56 . Some notable
consumer-driven e-commerce site content already in use 57 :
i. Testimonial pages: Testimonials are a powerful tool to establish credibility,
which is especially important for a website in the early stages of existence
and/or in the early stages of developing any individual consumer relationship.
A web site can also request feedback for testimonials from happy customers
and opinion leaders.
ii. Awards: This is another credibility tool as well as a tactic to increase traffic.
iii. Extensive and useful links or resource pages.
53 Ibid.26
54 Ibid.21 p.67
55 Ibid.26 p.194
56 Ibid.30
57 Ibid.23