A lot of brands are refraining from direct online sales because they don’t want to bypass their traditional distribution channels. That limits their web presence to a marketing platform, rather than a marketing & sales & loyalty platform.
I believe there are ways to create a win-win situation for the brand and the distribution. Brands can sell direct to customers online, but instead of direct shipping, customers pick up their goods at one of the brand’s retailers. The consumer gets the convenience of online shopping and the service and personal contact of a retailer. The brand can deploy an online sales and CRM platform, the retailer can still offer his added value and contribute to the customer loyalty.
This will not work for any type of goods, but for small furniture, consumer electronics, equipment, etc. it would.
About a year ago I bought a new car. I wanted to buy it online, but found out that I couldn’t. I knew the make, the model, the color, the options, the interior and last but not least the wheel caps, I wanted. So why would I go to a showroom? For a test drive? Maybe. To make my choice? No, in a showroom they will not have the exact configuration that I would want and every brand has an online car configurator. To negotiate? No, online platforms have proven to be a much more effective marketplace.
Is their a market for online new car sales? A 2008 Dutch study by Opel, shows that 26% of women would buy a car online. They would rather not go to a dealer because they don’t like to negotiate and they don’t like car salesmen. (read about the study, in Dutch)
So apparently there is a need, but brands don’t seem to respond to it. I did a quick check on the official sites of many popular car brands in Belgium (Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Citroën, Dacia, Daihatsu, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Saab, Skoda, Smart, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo). None offer online sales. Only brands from the Volkswagen group (VW, Audi, Skoda) have an e-shop for accessories. All brands have a car configurator and some brands will let you request a quote at a dealer of your choice.
Why not add a next step and let the market do its job by comparing quotes from the dealers. And why not add a next step to that and let consumers order online? I guess because price transparency lowers prices. Anyway, the graph below shows how this could work.
