A few short weeks ago, HMV Canada went online with its first full-service, e-commerce Web site, HMV.com. The timing seemed right, what with Internet penetration growing and more Canadian retailers than ever before on board. But while the decision to go online was an easy one, the process of getting things up and running was considerably more difficult. We asked Sara Ross, HMV’s Internet marketing manager, and the person responsible for integrating the online business with the bricks-and-mortar stores, to tell us how it was done.
The decision to launch a full-service e-commerce Web site was an important one for HMV. After all, if consumers were choosing to buy their CDs online, we would rather have them buy from us than from our competitors.
Launching such a site, however, was not without its challenges. What had taken the bricks-and-mortar HMV over 75 years to perfect as a market leader, HMV.com would have to overcome in a much shorter period of time. It was necessary to redefine HMV’s long-standing core values of superior service and selection, image, style, ‘streetwisdom’ and heritage for the online consumer.
While some of our competitors had been online for some time, building their sites incrementally, we decided to offer consumers what they want – Canada’s largest online selection, with over 300,000 CDs, cassettes, videos and DVDs – from the start. It remains an ongoing challenge however, to tackle the long list of additional functions and to stay ahead of the game.
In the planning and launch preparation stages, setting benchmarks proved difficult because there was nothing in Canada with which to compare our experience and there was a dearth of high-quality Canadian research (although, fortunately, that’s improving). It was also difficult to establish best business practices when, corporately, such an undertaking had never been done before.
Aside from being a key business advantage, it is extremely important to HMV to have synergy between HMV and HMV.com. However, accomplishing this is proving a test of the company’s internal communications.
To ensure a seamless integration for consumers, HMV’s traditional bricks-and-mortar departments have to work closely with HMV.com, integrating the site into day-to-day dealings, getting relevant information onto the site in a timely manner and including HMV.com, where possible, in every part of the business. For these reasons, having senior management buy-in is ultimately very important.
Not only are our stores strong advertising vehicles for our e-commerce operation, but store staff can be huge promoters of HMV.com. Bricks-and-mortar employees can talk up the online advantages of selection and convenience in order to keep customers shopping within the HMV family. With their knowledge and training, store staff are able to answer commonly asked questions about online activity including those respecting price differences, returns, Club Cards, and coupons.
Among the challenges HMV.com faces is redefining its relationships with HMV’s biggest partners – the record labels – to turn their Internet promotion and traditional advertising into online sales as well. This requires a shift in approach. It’s necessary to look at co-op advertising on more than a per-title basis, taking into account the database possibilities, increased sales of back catalogue items and specialty series, as well as the increase in new customers.
Partnerships with other Web sites are also important to HMV.com. While some of our competitors have already formed partnerships with other portal sites, our philosophy is to choose fewer but deeper relationships.
With HMV.com talking to a slightly older and broader demographic than our stores (across a wider number of genres and releases), the e-commerce site poses definite opportunities and challenges. We’re still in the stages of testing creative and working with different Web partners to ensure success.
Feedback from a number of focus groups showed that credit safety is still a big concern for many consumers. To HMV’s advantage, however, many people feel safer buying from a well-known retail brand, especially one with a bricks-and-mortar presence. As a matter of course, HMV feels it’s important to convince people of the safety of online shopping. To that end, we are taking a leadership position and working with other companies to make the e-commerce safety message more clear to consumers.
Overall, response to the site has been terrific. Initial feedback from focus groups was very positive, especially from those consumers who had compared HMV.com to competitors’ sites. Apparently, many consumers are pleased with the speed of their deliveries and the level of customer service they are receiving. To our satisfaction, they tell us the site definitely feels like HMV.
Technical glitches are always a given at first, but repeat customers have been a good sign and sales continue to increase. In addition, many customers are commenting on the massive selection HMV.com offers. This is also reflected in the variety of items people are ordering.
HMV.com will continue to further integrate with the bricks-and-mortar stores and strengthen relationships with our partners and future partners. The ongoing challenge will be to gather and use information to continue to give consumers exactly what they want.
Sara Ross can be reached by phone at (416) 620-6618 x 811 or by e-mail at sross@hmv.ca
Also in this report:
– Canadians slow to sell on Net: Despite evidence that the worldwide e-commerce market is booming, many Canadian retailers are still adopting a wait-and-see attitude p.D12
