Flying somewhat under the radar in the last week was Sears' announcement that it was going to greatly expand the product offerings on its website (ala Amazon.com) to include books, customizable artwork, DVDs, music and software.
"We want Sears.com to become a key online resource for all entertainment and home needs, in addition to the quality appliances, tools and apparel for which we are already known," said Imran Jooma, vice president of e-commerce for Sears, in a company press release. "The expanded offering allows us to better serve our customers and offer a lot more products than we're able to provide in our stores."
Sears' new expanded assortment nearly quadruples the number of items sold on the company's website. To achieve this growth in selection, Sears has partnered with a number of companies including:
- Alliance Entertainment Corporation (AEC) for movies and music;
- ArtSelect.com for art and framing services;
- Baker & Taylor for books;
- Digital River for software.
"As a multi-channel retailer, we want every customer's experience with us to be seamless," said Mr. Jooma. "For example, if a customer is in a Sears store and is looking to buy a DVD, and the product is not available, the customer can order the DVD from a computer kiosk in-store, and the shipping fees are waived."
Sears received kudos from industry watchers for its online strategy.
Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, told the Trib, "It's the fastest growing channel in retail. And Sears has two advantages: First, they understand the catalog business. They ought to do well with online fulfillment. Second, they have stores everywhere. That is a huge advantage for people who may want to do store pick-ups or returns."
Sears website expansion comes at time when the retailer is gaining some traction online. According to ComScore, Sears' online traffic jumped 16 percent last month compared to the same period a year ago. A total of 9.6 million visitors went to Sears.com in April. As a point of comparison, Amazon.com attracted 58 million visitors.
Kelly Cutler, chief executive of Marcel Media, said, "This will be interesting to watch. Wal-Mart has been successful online. And look at Amazon. It used to be just books, but now they sell everything."
Discussion Question: What do you think of Sears' Amazon-like strategy for Sears.com?