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myLocalStore.com
Creating a low cost, yet robust, e-retailing solution for small to mid-sized retailers
The Challenge
For many years, small to mid-sized retailers (SMRs) have experienced increasing pressure from “Big Boxes”, large competitors with huge economies of scale and low-margins. This new environment has required SMRs to focus their on specialized or higher end products. Increasing market reach has become important to their survival. However, traditional advertising strategies have been word of mouth and location. The can not typically afford large advertising campaigns to draw customers from outside their local area. On a second front, Internet usage has been in constant growth. Shoppers have quickly realized the value of being able to browse and shop from home, and SMRs are just now seeing the Internet as an additional sales channel that can help them expand their business and serve the customers they already have. They want to meet their customers’ expectations but most do not have the necessary funds, technical knowledge, or time to build, market and manage an online store alone. They fear that eventually, without an Internet presence, they risk being removed entirely from the buying cycle of most consumers.
The Solution
We developed myLocalStore.com as a fully functional online shopping mall. The solution integrates product setup, catalogue management, shopping, shopping cart, e-commerce transactions, order fulfillment with automated shipping communications, intra-/multi-national tax calculation, grocery delivery, communications, advertising and multi-regional deployment. The system is easy for retailers to use, including a merchant manual with quick checklists to serve as an easy reference. We also fax orders to retailers who do not have Internet connections in their stores. Retailers have full control over their catalogue. A retailer management tool, accessible through any Web browser, allows the retailer to change prices, put items on sale and even remove items from the online store easily. The tool also provides the retailer with purchase orders, delivery information and sales statistics. In addition, we provide additional services, including product catalogue set-up and maintenance, payment processing and shipping.
The Results
What myLocalStore does is use the strengths of the Internet to provide an alternative sales channel for retailers to increase the convenience offered to local shoppers. Building a single solution for a mass of retailers will allow us to achieve tremendous economies of scale. Through its use of technology, the myLocalStore system manages most aspects of running the online store for the retailer. This means retailers can run their online stores with very little change to the way they already do business. The catalogues of all the retailers using the service are displayed through a central portal: myLocalStore.com, which allows shoppers to find products easily through all the stores. This, in combination with a single shopping cart, increases the convenience for the shopper. The local focus means consumers get same-day/next-day delivery on most orders. The shopping experience is consistent from retailer to retailer. Currently, myLocalStore operates in Southern Manitoba, but has been developed to allow seamless expansion to different geographic regions.
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