MANSFIELD — More and more businesses–including local companies–are giving customers the option to buy online.
For some, this makes perfect sense.
Take the Renaissance Theatre, for instance.
From August 2015 to January of this year, approximately 54 percent of ticket sales were box office sales, while 45 percent were internet sales, according to Renaissance president and CEO Mike Miller.
Miller said how tickets are purchased varies from show to show. For the Tracy Lawrence performance in January, about 70 percent of tickets were sold online and 30 percent at the box office. But when it comes to symphonies, that percentage is flip-flopped, with almost 70 percent of purchases made at the box office, Miller said.
“I think, especially with the younger demographics, we get more internet sales,” he said.
Another downtown business, The Boot Life, sells some of its products online via Shoptiques, an online retail platform.
“It’s a good way for us to have an online presence as a brand new start-up, but I do think the best avenue is for us to have our own online store,” said owner Holly Troupe.
The Boot Life opened its doors in October 2014.
“A lot of people ask us to have an online store, and when I do it, I want to be able to do it well,” Troupe said. “We’re trying to be in it for a marathon and not a sprint.”
With over 20 years of experience in e-commerce, Jay Miller of DRM Productions knows just how involved of a process it can be to sell online.
“I’m leery to take on an e-commerce project just because I’ve seen so many fail–not because of the software and not because the products weren’t good, but because of a lack of commitment from the person behind it,” he said.
Those looking to set up their own online store need to be prepared for a hefty upfront time commitment, Miller said.
That’s especially true for businesses that have a large inventory of products they’d like to sell online.
“People don’t realize that when you have to enter each product in, you’ve got to put the description in, you’ve got to load the pictures, you’ve got to put pricing, shipping information,” Miller said. “It takes about five minutes a product.”
Another thing to consider is shipping. As Miller pointed out, “Say it does take off, but you’re losing money on every product in shipping.”
It also takes time and effort to draw customers’ attention to a business’s online store.
Some think that if their online store is up and running, customers will automatically start using it to shop.
“I call it the ‘field of dreams,'” Miller said. “So many people build it and no one comes.”
Miller got his start with e-commerce at the age of 16 while working for Richnet in Mansfield.
One of his first projects was creating an e-commerce package for Gorman-Rupp Company.
As e-commerce is getting easier and less expensive for companies to take advantage of, Miller thinks more and more local companies are jumping on board. “But we still don’t see a ton of them,” he said.
Even nonprofits are using e-commerce.
Element of Art, a nonprofit art gallery that showcases the artistic talents of individuals with developmental disabilities affiliated with Richland Newhope Industries, Inc., offers a portion of its artwork for sale online.
According to Kathy Goodwin, art coordinator at Element of Art, there are over 80 contracted artists participating in the programs and services offered by the gallery. The artists receive a percentage of the sale price of every item they create after it has sold. The remaining money generated after a sale is used to help cover materials cost, programming and services for the artists.
Goodwin believes customers prefer seeing the artwork in-person rather than via the website in most cases, which could be one of the reasons why in-house sales are more prevalent than online sales.
However, she said the website does serve as good attention-grabber, drawing people into the gallery, especially for events.
“I think the part of our allure at Element of Art is the community we’re based in–the downtown,” she said. “I think the website does represent our business, but to really get that community feel you have to come downtown.”
While some local businesses and organizations have latched onto e-commerce, Jodie Perry, president of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, said, “There are still many businesses locally who have tried to stay off the internet. I think they manage by a great word of mouth, providing great customer service and advertising in other means.”
Along those lines, Jay Miller commented, “I think we have such a strong buy-local movement that people don’t necessarily need to reach out to the web for more sales.
“It just depends on the business–whether the model works to take it online and the time and commitment that the person that’s going into it has.”
