Online cycling retailer Pushys and its sister-site The Music Shop is like many other online retailers who are faced with the constant challenge of how they can improve their position online, particularly when they’re competing in a market that extends globally.
One facet of the business they realised needed improving was the site speed to ensure its sites could load as fast as possible at all times. This came after the business realised half of their would-be customers would give up if the sites loaded too slowly, and about 80 per cent of those would never return.
Chief technical officer of Pushys and The Music Shop Michael Carlisle told RetailBiz the company’s point of difference is offering top-notch customer service, which involves ensuring customers are able to get to their end product as quick as possible.
“Our main objective is customer service more than anything. There so many people doing the same thing out there. If you don’t stand out with customer service and better product then you become part of the noise online,” he said.
As a result, the company teamed up with Anchor to help host their websites. This met their need for a hosting company that would be able to provide them with 24 hour support.
“I was grateful with Anchor’s responsiveness. We got the hosting process moving with Anchor after 24 hours of contacting them. While there are certain things we’re responsible for like our shopping card, coding and website application, Anchor never says no to helping us and always strive to do as much as they physically can for us, which is more than what we ask for,” Carlisle said.
Going forward, in order to maintain its position in the market and its high standard of customer service, the company plans to restructure its categories so customers would be able to search for products faster.
“How to improve the site will always be a key issue for any online player. It’s because the technology is rapidly changing and for anyone to stand still in the marketplace is a death sentence. We’re always constantly looking at better ways of how we can do things,” Carlisle said.