Bombay Co. Leaps From the 19th Century to the 21st
The firm plans a demographic study to see who shops by catalog and who prefers the Web
The Bombay Co., a marketer of 19th-century furniture reproductions, plans to study its customer base to determine who’s buying in stores, by mail and via the Web.
“We’re going to look at the customer base as a whole,” says spokesperson Cathy Pringle. “We’re using a psychodemographic overlay with encoded data to see how the channels differ and who likes to buy what though which channel.”
And why? Because the Fort Worth, TX-based marketer, which is owned by Tandy Brands, Inc., wants to increase its e-commerce sales, which now account for 2% of its total corporate revenue.
“Catalog and Internet shoppers have different expectations,” explains Pringle. “People who get a catalog expect to get inspired and to receive good customer service. With the Internet expectations change – it’s more personal.”
The firm upgraded its Web site (www.bombayco.com) late last year. It acquired a new e-commerce platform based on an enhanced AS400 running IBM’s net.commerce software, which has allowed it to add more products and to speed up the whole process.
Web sales have since exceeded industry growth, reports Pringle. Although there may be no direct correlation with e-commerce sales, the company reported revenue of $139.6 million in the quarter following the launch – an increase of 7% over the same period the year before.
The site was launched three years ago in an effort to reach customers who didn’t want to travel to malls.
What’s next? The site will be modified so that if a customer wishes to specify faster shipping, it can be done without having to click through to another section of the site. In addition, Bombay Co. is deciding what to do with the international customers now flocking to the Web site. So far, the firm has resisted international expansion because of the difficulties in shipping.
