Dec 02, 2007 - 13:14:01 CST
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Before Tammy Bohn moved to Bismarck from Chicago eight years ago, she did everything online.
She set her hair appointments online, her nail appointments, did her shopping, paid her bills. If there was a way to do it online, she did it.
So when she and her husband, Justin Bohn, moved to Bismarck in 1999 and opened a motorcycle dealership, she decided to design the Web site exactly how she thought any online shopper would want it.
Eight years later, and the KTM Cycle Hutt Web site is responsible for 95 percent of the store’s business, she said.
“People’s habits are just changing,” Bohn said. “It’s easier for them to get online, buy their stuff and get it delivered to their door.”
It’s true: while the day after Thanksgiving is known for the surge of shoppers descending on stores to snag the best deals in the latest trends, the following Monday has been recognized as a typically aggressive online shopping day.
It’s Cyber Monday. Last year, Cyber Monday represented the largest e-commerce shopping day of the year: nearly $650 million was spent online, according to ComScore, an Internet marketing research company.
This year, Cyber Monday fell on Nov. 26, earlier than normal. But reports still show a 26 percent increase in online shopping that day over last year, despite the early date.
Bohn said they typically follow that trend, but this year had a bigger spike in sales on the following Tuesday, Nov. 27.
“The Christmas season is the busiest time for us for sure,” said Justin Krom, Cycle Hutt’s “Internet guy,” or online manager, to be more professional.
To prepare for the season, Krom said they offer incentives to pull buyers to shop in their online store, just as typical bricks-and-mortar businesses offer sales and promotions. Right now, free ground shipping for shipments more than $100 is a good draw, as well as other Internet-only deals, he said.
“There’s too much competition on the Internet not to run some type of sale,” Krom said. “We do a lot of e-mail marketing to our internal clients, too.”
They also do extensive search engine marketing and optimize their site for Google.
It’s working. If a person looking for the KTM brand of motorcycles and ATVs were to type into Google, Mandan’s Cycle Hutt is in the top half of search results, as well as in the featured link on the top of the page.
Mike Rud, president of the North Dakota Retail Association, said a lot of the larger retailers in the state have already laid solid foundations for their piece of the online shopping pie.
Now the trend is expanding into smaller areas.
“You see a lot of small businesses, even in these small towns, that have a Web site,” he said.
This year, traditional stores are still seeing heavy holiday traffic. While the online trend is strong, particularly in men, Rud said, a lot of customers will simply browse online before making purchasing decisions in the actual store.
Paul Schable, manager of Kirkwood Mall, said they still have very strong traffic, despite online shopping trends.
He said numbers continue to be strong, adding that they can’t specifically quantify an online shopping impact. As Rud said, a lot of customers will look online to see what they want to purchase in the actual store.
Any sort of online presence for merchants this shopping season and the upcoming shopping seasons is absolutely prudent. Rud said it’s now simply part of doing business.
“That’s just a trend as a business person. You have to take a look at your method of doing business,” Rud said. “It used to be catalogues, now it’s e-shopping.”
(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@bismarcktribune.com.)
She set her hair appointments online, her nail appointments, did her shopping, paid her bills. If there was a way to do it online, she did it.
So when she and her husband, Justin Bohn, moved to Bismarck in 1999 and opened a motorcycle dealership, she decided to design the Web site exactly how she thought any online shopper would want it.
Eight years later, and the KTM Cycle Hutt Web site is responsible for 95 percent of the store’s business, she said.
“People’s habits are just changing,” Bohn said. “It’s easier for them to get online, buy their stuff and get it delivered to their door.”
It’s true: while the day after Thanksgiving is known for the surge of shoppers descending on stores to snag the best deals in the latest trends, the following Monday has been recognized as a typically aggressive online shopping day.
It’s Cyber Monday. Last year, Cyber Monday represented the largest e-commerce shopping day of the year: nearly $650 million was spent online, according to ComScore, an Internet marketing research company.
This year, Cyber Monday fell on Nov. 26, earlier than normal. But reports still show a 26 percent increase in online shopping that day over last year, despite the early date.
Bohn said they typically follow that trend, but this year had a bigger spike in sales on the following Tuesday, Nov. 27.
“The Christmas season is the busiest time for us for sure,” said Justin Krom, Cycle Hutt’s “Internet guy,” or online manager, to be more professional.
To prepare for the season, Krom said they offer incentives to pull buyers to shop in their online store, just as typical bricks-and-mortar businesses offer sales and promotions. Right now, free ground shipping for shipments more than $100 is a good draw, as well as other Internet-only deals, he said.
“There’s too much competition on the Internet not to run some type of sale,” Krom said. “We do a lot of e-mail marketing to our internal clients, too.”
They also do extensive search engine marketing and optimize their site for Google.
It’s working. If a person looking for the KTM brand of motorcycles and ATVs were to type into Google, Mandan’s Cycle Hutt is in the top half of search results, as well as in the featured link on the top of the page.
Mike Rud, president of the North Dakota Retail Association, said a lot of the larger retailers in the state have already laid solid foundations for their piece of the online shopping pie.
Now the trend is expanding into smaller areas.
“You see a lot of small businesses, even in these small towns, that have a Web site,” he said.
This year, traditional stores are still seeing heavy holiday traffic. While the online trend is strong, particularly in men, Rud said, a lot of customers will simply browse online before making purchasing decisions in the actual store.
Paul Schable, manager of Kirkwood Mall, said they still have very strong traffic, despite online shopping trends.
He said numbers continue to be strong, adding that they can’t specifically quantify an online shopping impact. As Rud said, a lot of customers will look online to see what they want to purchase in the actual store.
Any sort of online presence for merchants this shopping season and the upcoming shopping seasons is absolutely prudent. Rud said it’s now simply part of doing business.
“That’s just a trend as a business person. You have to take a look at your method of doing business,” Rud said. “It used to be catalogues, now it’s e-shopping.”
(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@bismarcktribune.com.)
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