Case Study: The Importance Of Marketing In E-Tailing

First came the World Wide Web. Then came e-commerce, a concept defined as the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. E-commerce spawned etailing, short for electronic retailing, which is narrowly defined as the selling of retail goods on the Internet. A term once linked primarily to tier-one retailers, e-tailing has become a major revenue stimulus for small to midsize retailers. E-tailing has gained momentum over the years for many reasons. A primary reason for this gain in momentum is the implementation and execution of high-level marketing strategies.

To that end, a successful marketing strategy is dependent not only on creative thinking and market knowledge but also on cutting-edge technologies.

Buddy Smith, chief marketing officer and part owner of 9:24 Sports, knows quite a bit about the need for high-level marketing strategies in an e-tailing environment. The sporting goods retailer sells official licensed high school, collegiate, and NASCAR merchandise via its Orlando, FL location and its B2C Web site. Smith was faced with the challenge of finding a way to sell sports merchandise online without having to spend an exorbitant amount of money to brand the Web site. "I did not want to spend a lot of money on Internet advertising when even tier-one sporting goods retailers had trouble seeing a justifiable ROI," explains Smith. "I needed a platform that would enable us to get our gift cards into other retail establishments." Ninetyfive percent of the retailer's online orders come from gift card redemption. Therefore, gift cards are the retailer's primary marketing tools. To better market the gift cards, Smith wanted to put his gift cards onto the shelves of other retail stores. He worked with First Data to secure shelf space inside other retailers, including c-stores and grocery stores. First Data provides payment solutions, which facilitate merchants' ability to accept credit, debit, prepaid, and loyalty cards. In order to purchase, load, and redeem the cards, 9:24 Sports and any other retailer carrying his cards must be integrated with First Data. To date, the gift cards can be purchased at 9:24 Sports' Orlando location, the Web site, and 58,000 c-stores and grocery stores.