Comments on: Searching within a store http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2009/03/searching-within-a-store.html A commentary on the search industry from a site search vendor's perspective. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:21:58 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: How an Online Business Startup Can Be Recession Resistant | NotWeb Network http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2009/03/searching-within-a-store.html/comment-page-1#comment-185 How an Online Business Startup Can Be Recession Resistant | NotWeb Network Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:29:56 +0000 http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2009/03/searching-within-a-store.html/#comment-185 [...] Searching within a store : SLI Systems Blog [...] [...] Searching within a store : SLI Systems Blog [...]

]]> By: shaunr http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2009/03/searching-within-a-store.html/comment-page-1#comment-183 shaunr Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2009/03/searching-within-a-store.html/#comment-183 Thanks for the comment - I agree with you Evan. Search within a store should help get credit with offline sales - especially if you can generate some stats showing how many people have searched within a store. In fact this functionality would make it easy to set up in store kiosks that allow you to search the contents of the physical store in which they're located. This functionality may have another benefit - it may encourage the owners of the physical stores to drive their customers to the website. Oddly enough a number of people who operate the bricks and mortar stores believe the website may be cannibalizing their sales. With this functionality they may feel more confident that the website is going to drive people to the store. Thanks for the comment – I agree with you Evan. Search within a store should help get credit with offline sales – especially if you can generate some stats showing how many people have searched within a store. In fact this functionality would make it easy to set up in store kiosks that allow you to search the contents of the physical store in which they’re located.

This functionality may have another benefit – it may encourage the owners of the physical stores to drive their customers to the website. Oddly enough a number of people who operate the bricks and mortar stores believe the website may be cannibalizing their sales. With this functionality they may feel more confident that the website is going to drive people to the store.

]]> By: eschuman http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2009/03/searching-within-a-store.html/comment-page-1#comment-180 eschuman Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:19:08 +0000 http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2009/03/searching-within-a-store.html/#comment-180 You make an excellent point, but there's an alternative interpretation. You said "One problem with this idea is often the people who are running the ecommerce store struggle to get recognition for the contribution they make to off line sales." That's absolutely true, but you then conclude that offering a search within store function would undermine E-Commerce efforts. To the contrary, it would be a gift to E-Commerce directors for precisely the reason you cite. BECAUSE E-Commerce often having a problem getting credit for helping in-store revenue, such a feature would generate concrete evidence of how the site was facilitating in-store revenue. The real fear among E-Commerce execs is simply that the CFO, COO and CEO will not be sophisticated enough to understand such stats and that they'll look at nothing beyond offline versus online revenue. That's what will cause E-Commerce directors to avoid in-store searches. You make an excellent point, but there’s an alternative interpretation. You said “One problem with this idea is often the people who are running the ecommerce store struggle to get recognition for the contribution they make to off line sales.” That’s absolutely true, but you then conclude that offering a search within store function would undermine E-Commerce efforts.
To the contrary, it would be a gift to E-Commerce directors for precisely the reason you cite. BECAUSE E-Commerce often having a problem getting credit for helping in-store revenue, such a feature would generate concrete evidence of how the site was facilitating in-store revenue.
The real fear among E-Commerce execs is simply that the CFO, COO and CEO will not be sophisticated enough to understand such stats and that they’ll look at nothing beyond offline versus online revenue. That’s what will cause E-Commerce directors to avoid in-store searches.

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