Retailers up in arms over online sellers

The hot topic at present, according to our latest issue of our industry rag, the KBB Review, is the frustration of showroom retailers towardsthe appliance manufacturers who deem the internet appliance sellers with similar importance. A number of showroom retailers claim that because appliance manufacturers do not offer them greater discount than the internet sellers, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to selling appliances from their showrooms. One retailer even suggests that manufacturers should not supply the internet traders, claiming that certain manufacturers now favour their internet traders at the expense of the High St kitchen retailers.

I do find all this perplexing and perhaps even short sighted especially on hearing one showroom MD suggesting that because he displays the products in a showroom, he should have a right to greater discount than the internet traders. Another retailer states that a price advantage should be offered to those who display the product "because without this the consumer wouldn’t see the product in the flesh therefore the sale might not happen at all"
What has happened to these resentful lot? Don’t they know that we’re living in an age when the consumer got wise to the huge margins that were placed on appliances long before the internet retailers arrived.

What was very evident from the article was that the internet traders were not offered a right of reply and this is indicative of how insular and narrow minded the industry is. They remain dinosaurs in a consumer-savvy age. Anything without a showroom and with ‘www’ in front of it is seen as exploitative and they regard most internet sellers as having an easy time of it "sitting in their dining room in front of a computer" whilst reaping in the rewards for doing little other than a click.

Well as they don’t have a right of reply, I will offer one for them and I must point out here that this website does not offer appliances for sale because we could not compete with the internet traders yet I applaud them for allowing the modern online consumer to achieve the savings they deserve. As with showroom retailers, internet traders fall into two catgories, good ones and bad ones. To determine this you only have to visit the number of review sites or forums available on the internet as most consumers now do.

You stand or fall by your reputation now, more so than ever before; by your quality of service and your ability to deal expediantly and effectively with issues that will undoubtedly occur when selling goods or providing a service. Bemoaning the Internet seller is akin to BT resenting Mobile Phone companies – do they? No – they adapt their market to compete with the sellers rather than waste their time trying to persuade the consumer not to use mobile phones.

Some years ago I met with the then marketing director of BSH, the appliance manufacturer of Neff, Siemens, Bosch and Gaggenau group. Our website was in it’s early stages and I hit upon the idea of only selling products I knew were cost efficient and that offered a good service back-up and longevity. Neff, from my experience in the trade as an installer of the product and as a purchaser of appliances for the projects we undertook, provided me with the least headaches, greater ease of installation and the best feedback from the end user.
At the time, internet trading was in its infancy yet Neff advised us that they had recently completed research which showed that the consumer was willing to spend up to "£500 when buying products via the internet" which appeared in stark contrast to previous research which showed that people were not willing to spend any money via the internet. This research carried out by Neff, suggested they were fully aware of the impact that the internet would have on their sales.

It was also suggested, at our meeting, that we could offer, with all sales, Neff oven gloves and aprons to distinguish and assist in the selling of Neff-only products from the website. We never were able to offer Neff appliances over the site but at this meeting Neff were happy to support our promotion of their products via our website and we had an association with them up until 2006 when it was decided by a new marketing team not to continue supporting our aims in conveying the advantages of purchasing Neff to our site visitors who at the time were averaging 700 per day. My assumption is, that pressure was brought to bear on them not to associate with internet kitchen companies and another assumption is that it was brought about by their retailers.

Since this time I have kept the link to their website and still take many calls asking my opinion about the products. I still respond in glowing terms about the product and bear no resentment to those who decided not to continue supporting our efforts to promote the Neff brand. What does stick in my throat a little now are Neff’s comments regarding this issue and made in the same article I have been referring to.

In it they state that "three years ago they had finally had enough of dealing with people with no passion for the product who were diminishing the value of the brand and we now give a net purchase price according to a retailers support"
Neff products are now available from a variety of internet appliance traders, without oven gloves or aprons I hasten to add, and all to the benefit of the end users, this I applaud but the hypocrisy of Neff in now stating that they vet the sellers into those who have a passion and those who don’t comes as a shock given that their product sits alongside most other brands that I regard of lesser distinction on a large number of internet reatailer sites.

My message to retailers resentful of the internet traders is to compete with them by adapting your business and placing additional investment in your internet presence as many have already successfully done so.
To offer some further advice, sell only the products you have a passion for and that offer the best cost efficiency and always remember to check the price comparison websites because that’s the first port of call for those wishing to buy your products regardless of your location.
It is true that appliances can now be sourced cheaper from an internet seller than can be bought at a trade price from a distributor but that’s great news for the consumer who will always be led primarily by the cost.
The training and years of experience in selling from a showroom will stand you in good stead to secure more sales if you can meet the second criteria a consumer looks for, product knowledge and selling it with the same passion you have for it.
As ever, this forum offer a right of reply and we welcome the views of our members, be they trade or consumer, on this topic.