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C a p i ta l Learn to See Differently Just browsing: Canadian Footwear owner Brian Scharfstein and Metric Marketing  CEO John McDonald are in sync online. Photo by Darcy Finley ABC's of E-Commerce Gain Perspective Learn about CMU's Redekop School of Business Bachelor of Business Administration (4-yr. & co-op option) Majors in Accounting, Business Management, Human Resources Management, and Not-for-Profit Management Bachelor of Arts Lure window shoppers online as you do on the street (3- and 4-yr.) Major in Business and Organizational Administration by Pat St. Germain Business Entrance Awards available upon acceptance T aking your bricks-and-mortar store online? Then Metric Marketing CEO John McDonald has a few words of advice. "Treat it like any other outlet," McDonald says. That means creating a solid business plan, a realistic marketing budget and a reliable delivery system. Online shoppers have low tolerance for delays, so websites must be easy to navigate, with adequate staff and efficient checkouts. McDonald points to Canadian Footwear as an example of a client who walks the walk. Owner Brian Scharfstein says the company's services are replicated online, and its philosophy translates to the website, as well. For example, Canadian Footwear stores are located where shoppers don't have to navigate crowded mall parking lots. "And I think with our site we use the same kind of thought process. You want to come in, you want to get what you need and you want to get out." Scharfstein, a certified pedorthist, says staff would rather establish a relationship than sell a pair of shoes, and that attitude dictates how the e-commerce business operates. 30 MBiz November 2012 Every customer gets a handwritten note with shipped orders and the company maintains an enormous backup inventory, so it will never face the type of crisis that hit electronics giant Best Buy last year, when it cancelled many online orders just before Christmas. "Customers understand if you have to say no, but not if you say yes and then don't deliver,"Scharfstein says. Many customers window shop online and then visit the store in person, and McDonald says detailed product information and multiple-angle photo views are musts. "There are two types of shoppers basically online," he says. "There's the quick sort of knee-jerk client that skews a little bit more to male. And then you have the ones that really want to research and want to read, and that skews a little bit more to the female side of things. "So you want to satisfy both, and more or less that means that you've got to give a lot of content and you've got to simulate that experience of someone that's actually in your store and looking at the product." www.canadianfootwear.com www.metricmarketing.ca www.cmu.ca REDEKOP SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Legal advice you can count on. At Taylor McCaffrey, we understand your needs. Whatever question you may have, we'll work together with your business to provide sound guidance and focused solutions for your legal matters. Let our knowledgeable Taxation, Estate and Business Law Departments handle your questions with advice you can count on. Taxation & Estate Department Frank Lavitt, B. COMM (HONS), CGA, (HONS), LL.B., TEP Phone: (204) 988-0438 email: flavitt@tmlawyers.com Business Law Department Douglas Finkbeiner, Q.C. Phone: (204) 988-0414 email: definkbeiner@tmlawyers.com 9th Floor, 400 St. Mary Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 4K5 Phone: (204) 949-1312 Fax: (204) 957-0945 www.tmlawyers.com

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