online environment. Bryant says that often retailers are just too busy to be bleeding edge. “Staffing, sourcing product, store operations, sales – just staying on top of that means that many retailers have been too busy sticking to their knitting to divert attention to something new.” Having an online presence touches every part of an organisation, and requires people to change how they do things – from buyers to inwards goods to marketing to customer service. “Online is like opening another store – except it’s much worse than that.  It’s like opening another store in another country where you don’t speak the language and what you know how to do doesn’t apply,” she said. It’s also a challenge to find people who know what they are talking about. It was just ten years ago when the only people talking to retailers about online were ad agencies. Those in the ad sector are great on brand and know how to buy media, but systems integration fulfilment, inventory data management leave them running scared, Bryant said “Experienced people who have worked in e-commerce businesses are like hen’s teeth, and good developers are being fought over tooth and nail.” The cost of overhauling systems is also a factor for the reluctant retailer. It’s a slightly easier process if you’re setting up online from scratch with cloud-based solutions such as Shopify, Webpress, Xero and Vend, Bryant said. “But most established retailers have legacy POS and ERP systems that in themselves are undergoing transformation to adapt to the new retail landscape.  Online adds a whole additional system to integrate existing systems into.” An online store also means having customer friendly product description, images of products, and accurate stock levels. “But online requires all of this content, and iron clad accuracy, or you will quickly end up having orders that you are unable to fulfil.” Despite the popularity of online shopping, BNZ Marketview data shows that online purchases make up a measly six per cent of total retail sales. There is also no guarantee that an online store will bring in that proportion of sales, Bryant said, with no certainty on how much of that would actually be incremental to business. Yet it’s becoming an essential strand to a retailer’s offering “People use the internet to figure out what to buy and who to buy it from.  If you don’t have a site that has the majority of the products you sell online, with good images and lots of information to help the purchase process, then you’ll be asking customers to go elsewhere.”