Somehow it should be all but anticlimactic to announce that another major retailer or cataloger has set up a Web site. There is the all-important concept of a “third revenue stream” to reach old and new customers. There are also seemingly endless reports that the most successful Web sites are those launched by marketers that operate stores, catalogs or both.
The latest cataloger to toss an elegant napkin into the Internet marketing ring is San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma, which specializes in cooking and dining products. A new site (www.williams-sonoma.com) opened Nov. 1, five months after the W-S gift and bridal registry hit the Web at www.wswedding.com.
Williams-Sonoma expects the full site to match the success of its first online effort. The company claims the bridal site averages more than 135,000 hits per day and generates some $150,000 a week in revenue. Total sales are around $3 million. Obviously, whatever plans W-S had for wswedding.com, they weren’t half-baked.
The site proper has cooked up several features that customers might find appealing. Gifts can be shipped to more than one address on a single order; the status of all orders placed – whether by catalog or via the Internet – can be reviewed; and up-to-the-minute inventory information about any product is available. More than 2,000 items are offered online.
Other features include seasonal theme tips, recipes and cooking hints.
In addition to its site, Williams-Sonoma has portal partnerships with Epicurious (www.epicurious. com) and Della & James (www.della.com). Epicurious, a comprehensive culinary Web site, features links from online recipes to Williams-Sonoma products. Della & James is an online gift registry that also provides direct links.
The W-S site shows that the cataloger is doing more than just stirring the pot. The home page offers such choices as “shop” and “seasonal features.” Click on shop and a page offers the visitor some 14 choices – food, flatware and furniture, for example. Select furniture and the next page displays chairs, stools or tables. Choose one of those, and the visitor finally gets to see products and specs.
This arrangement comes off a bit sweet and sour. The site is easy to navigate, but it’s slow to load and get visitors where they want to go.
Verdict? Despite the slow service, the W-S site passes our taste test.
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