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| OneCoast Expands Online Showroom | | Company Shifts Showroom Investments to Reflect Where Retailers Want To Buy |
June 12, 2007 – OneCoast, the largest and only national provider of sales and marketing services to vendors and retailers of home décor, gift and collegiate products, announced the launch of its new Online Showroom for independent retailers at www.onecoast.com. This “always open” showroom offers several of the top lines found in OneCoast’s physical showrooms across the United States.
In Fall 2006, OneCoast introduced business-to-business e-commerce capabilities for independent retailers with Special Buys. Now the online product selection has been greatly expanded with full product lines from leading vendors that OneCoast represents on both a national and regional basis.
Retailers will discover a completely redesigned website that features:
• An increased number of top product lines with an expanded number of products, numbering over 10,000 SKU’s
• The industry’s only excess product website, called Special Buys, which contains thousands of products at 30-60% off original wholesale prices, giving retailers the ability to grow their margins
• An expanded library of resources to help independent retailers succeed, including articles, books, videos and podcasts.
Website traffic has been growing steadily throughout 2007, and now averages close to 1,250 unique visitors per day. The majority of this traffic is retailers who are buying in increasing numbers, as orders nearly doubled over the past month alone. Just as significant, about one third of the buyers are first-time OneCoast customers.
“Our retail store keeps us busy throughout the day,” said Cheryl Lagodna from Country Traditions in Ray, Michigan. “The OneCoast online showroom has terrific product lines, and we can visit and buy at whatever hour is convenient for our busy schedule. That’s usually Sunday night! We also love the wealth of business and industry resources that are available on the site, such as monthly tips for holding events.”
OneCoast’s vendor partners are also very pleased with the online showroom. The national division (ND ONE) vendors – C.R. Gibson, Mud Pie, New Creative, and Woodstock Chimes -- as well as other vendors represented through our regional groups including Beatriz Ball, SIA and Yakety Sak, are enthusiastic about the opportunities the online showroom provides for them to showcase their products and grow sales.
States Bob Levin, President of decorative accessories company Clay, Metal & Stone, “The OneCoast sales team represents our products in 15 states and in 2 physical showrooms. Even though we are not a represented nationally by OneCoast, we see obvious benefit in participating in their online showroom. Simply put, it is another showroom that is on the internet instead of in a physical location, which greatly benefits our independent retailers who may not be able to travel to markets. We added our entire line to the website because we know that our customers appreciate the convenience of buying online, as well as at shows and from sales representatives.”
OneCoast has been investing in its online showroom for 18 months, as well as examining its expenditures in its physical showrooms around the country.
“We know that many of our buyers still want to view and buy products at market, so we plan to continue to maintain and, in some cases, expand our showroom presence in many of the nation's largest market centers,” said Ted Teele, CEO of OneCoast. “However, I believe we all recognize that we are in an ‘over-showed’ industry, where traffic is sliding, particularly in some regional markets. Accordingly, we are making some adjustments in our showroom focus.”
Reflecting the company’s strate |
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