The Edcon group has gained a shop front with “virtually unlimited growth potential” and the ability to reach customers anywhere in SA, it says.
The retail giant has added a digital dimension to its portfolio of retail offerings with the opening of an e-commerce platform for CNA.
One of SA's oldest retail brands, having been established in 1896, CNA has revamped its Web site to include an online shopping option, allowing Edgars and Jet account-holders to buy goods on credit using their store cards.
David Gibbons, Edcon's e-commerce executive, who is spearheading the group's online retail project, says the new site opens up online shopping to the approximately 3.9 million active Jet and Edgars accountholders.
Prompted by the recent growth in broadband access and what Gibbons says is a healthy adoption of e-commerce in SA, CNA's online retail solution is first in the line of more to come. According to Gibbons, his team is in discussion with other Edcon chains on the timing for launching shopping sites. He says more details will follow later this year.
Edcon, which acquired CNA in 2002, also includes the subsidiaries of Boardmans, Red Square, Jet, Jet Mart, Prato and Legit. It is the SA's largest clothing, footwear and textile retailing group.
New niceties
CNA's new Web site, modelled around e-commerce, enables consumers to purchase from the store's 3 000 or so products across four categories - games, movies, music and books (including 10 000 e-books).
Online pricing, says Gibbons, will not differ from that of in-store products. “It could be a confusing customer experience to differ pricing online.” He says, however, CNA's e-commerce team plans to run online-only promotions and introduce limited special offers to Web customers.
Expanding CNA's online e-product catalogue and launching new product categories is the primary focus of the e-commerce team, notes Gibbons.
He says the advantage of the e-commerce solution is that accountholders can purchase entertainment items from CNA online 24/7, while benefiting from store credit. “[This makes] e-commerce more accessible to those who don't have credit cards.”
CNA's site uses SSL security and is verified by Entrust. Purchases can be made using a credit card or account card, with a one-time PIN on account payments.
Following the trend
Gibbons says that, while e-commerce in SA is slight, it is seeing strong growth - which the company plans to capitalise on. “Moreover, online 'window shopping' is already an important research tool for SA consumers and as such, an online catalogue is strategically important to offline sales in stores.”
He cites recent research by World Wide Worx, which revealed e-commerce in SA is growing by about 30% a year - and showing no signs of slowing down.
“Opening up e-commerce to our entire base of account-holders is another positive step to growing the Internet economy in SA,” says Gibbons.
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