eCommerce Know-How

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Voice of the Retailer

February 16, 2010

eCommerce Know-How spoke to Christina Callas, VP of eCommerce at Lord and Taylor

Lord and Taylor logo

Q. What is your company's main focus over the next 12-18 months?

A. We are looking to aggressively grow Lord and Taylor's online business, by both acquiring new customers and by improving the online shopping experience to increase conversion.

 

Q. What are the three most intriguing eCommerce trends right now?

A. 1) The opening up of websites to other retailers, as Sears and Walmart are doing with their marketplaces. 2) The battle of the private sales sites.  A lot of companies have entered that space recently. 3) That, despite the difficulties in the economy, eCommerce remains a strong growth area.  It will be interesting to see how different retailers capitalize on their digital businesses.

 

Q. What would be the best piece of advice you could give someone looking to build an eCommerce business?

A. Focus on the basics. Make sure you have the right team in place and that your operations are working effectively before you focus on the bells and whistles. Be certain that you have met your customers' expectations before you try to exceed them.

 

Q. What are some of the tips and tricks you've learned about
improving checkout?

A. 1) Shop your own site. I always ask my mother to shop it, too. She's not shy about telling me what I can be doing better. 2) Clean it up. Remove unnecessary clicks and buttons that just get in your customer's way. 3) Talk to your customer. Give her the information she needs when she needs it – such as promo codes, shipping guidelines and return policies.

 

Q. Can you share any lessons learned the hard way about
improving checkout?

A. You don't have to plan a costly and intrusive overhaul of your checkout. You can make small incremental improvements that can have a big impact.

 

Q. What was your first job?

A. My first job was hand-monogramming in gold the matchboxes at Macchus Red Fox, a fancy restaurant in my hometown. Incidentally, it was also the restaurant where Jimmy Hoffa was last seen alive.


Bottom Line: Mastering the basics and making incremental changes to checkout can get you most of the way.



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