Do you sit and wonder why your competitor’s site is doing better than yours?  Do you even know how your competitor’s site is doing?  Do you even know who your online competitors are?  If you are a typical brick and mortar retailer you may be surprised at whose “sandbox” you play in with regards to your ecommerce channel.

Take this test: write down your five biggest competitors.  Now log on to each of their sites.  For many industries – especially apparel – you will see that the companies you deem competitors may not even have an ecommerce channel, which should eliminate them from your radar when it comes to your ecommerce strategy.

When you are considering an online channel you must start fresh, as if  it is a completely new business (and industry) that you are stepping into.  You need to research and investigate from an elementary level.  There are so many differences between an online store and a traditional brick and mortar store – and competition is one of them.  For every apparel B&M retailer we have talked with regarding an ecommerce channel we have found at least one big online player  that  the traditional B&M retailer didn’t even know existed.

As you start to plan your ecommerce strategy make sure you identify the key online players in your space, research their key search terms and try to learn as much about their traffic patterns as possible.  By analyzing the competition you can learn a lot about what is working and what is not.  In the end it just may save you time, effort and money…