Putting The Genie Back Into The Bottle.
There are some things you just sort of take for granted that most (if not all) people see the same way. The sun always rises in the east. It only rains after you’ve washed your car. And the volume of online sales is only going to grow.
Then you find out about a company like Hunter Douglas.
Hunter Douglas is a manufacturer and marketer of high-end customized blinds. An article I read over the weekend reported that the company’s management recently made a decision to stop selling product online.
I have to admit this one has me scratching my head.
I understand the intent of the company to prop up the integrity of its dealer network, and the desire to not get booted for the sake of another exclusive brand. The fundamental problem here is that Hunter Douglas is not looking at its situation through the eyes and experiences of its customers; it is looking at it through the eyes of its distributors and retailers. The oldest rule in the marketing book is to “drop your line where the fish are,” and today the fish are online. More than 70% of consumers describe themselves as “web first” shoppers, researching product and price online before any buying decision is made. And once they decide to purchase, in most categories it is easy for them to comparison shop online with just a few mouse clicks. Even categories that one wouldn’t consider to be popular with online shoppers are showing explosive growth (one example would be women’s fashions).
And to this, Hunter Douglas simply says, “To heck with people’s preferences, we’ll go back to the way we did things in the 1950s.”
While I’m sure Hunter Douglas’s management would defend this decision to pull the plug on online sales by saying they are intent on “protecting the brand” (which is code for protecting retailers’ margins), they are doing it in a way that is only going to be detrimental to the brand. The “brand” is defined by the consumers’ experiences with it. And turning its back on consumer preferences and trends is the move of an organization that is company-centric, not customer-centric. Right now, Hunter Douglas customers might describe the company as “a manufacturer of quality, custom window treatments.” But by failing to listen to customer preferences, over time it risks being known as “a company that is a pain to do business with.”
Hunter Douglas’s dilemma is a problem that’s familiar to a lot of manufacturers these days: how do I grow my sales without cutting out my established dealer network? In our estimation, there are a few things you could do to add consumer value to the retail experience. Partner with retailers to certify installers. Provide exclusive higher-end product or design options that would benefit from a more hands-on approach and allow for increased retailer margins. You could even agree to pay a small commission on each online sale to a customer within the retailer’s footprint.
Our main advice to Hunter Douglas would be, if you are serious about growing the business, look out for the customer’s preferences first, not the company’s.
Posted by Mickey
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Hi there. Read your article.Here is some input. HunterDouglas products are ‘very’ custom, to the 1/16th of an inch. One of the hugest problem they had with online sales was ‘returns’. And more than likely that return cannot be resized for another customer order. It is a real loss of dollars. 70% of their online orders resulted in returns. They cannot be altered. People can still go to HomeDepot and get the special ‘line’ HunterDouglas supports for the ‘do it yourselfer. I am very familiar with HunterDouglas products. They are excellent. But, I would never attempt to order with my own measurements. The dealer is trained well and measurements are precise. It is the only way with HunterDouglas products. It was a wise decision on their part. Thanks
Great points, Lee. The challenge for HD now would appear to be, how can we take advantage of the fact that a good 80-90% of the folks we sell to are active online? Even allowing folks to schedule a measurement online would be a step in the right direction. The idea is to conform our business to our customers needs instead of expecting them to adapt to ours. Thanks for reading!