The collapse of Woolworths is by far the largest retail failure this year, symbolising the high street's woes, this is a major blow to all those involved within the retail sector.Woolworths evokes nostalgia for precious pocket money spent on fizzy cola bottles and chart singles. Last week it became clear that Woolworths itself was worth only pocket money, with management in talks to sell the 800-store chain for £1. Woolworths once had a shop on every British high street and a special place in the hearts of millions of shoppers. It was famous for selling anything from toys to brown paper, plants, Cd's, DVDs, Games, Clothes and more. Many will say that the recession has caused Woolworths death, of cause that is a factor, but Woolworths just didn't move with the times!
E-Marketing could have saved Woolworths. I know that's a pretty bold statement to make, but I believe it is true. After getting £385m in debt, Woolworths wont be the last victim of the recession. As the credit crunch continues to bite, this time of year is the most important part of the retail year. However sales on the high street are slumping, while sales on the Internet are soaring. As we become a nation full of bargain hunters, we are more than happy to search online for a cheaper priced item than those offered on the high street.
But still many high street retailers are just not switched on to E-marketing, unless potential new customers know the website address, they will typically look for product or services via a search engine such as Google or Yahoo! When Searching for say "DVDs" or "Children's Clothes" Woolworths, and many other major retailers, are nowhere to be seen. If Woolworths would have incorporated more "E" within their marketing mix, maybe this could have helped to save them.
Although high street shops often have a snazzy website with a fancy design, it doesn't make much sense to spend a lot of money developing websites, and then not marketing them.
Therefore the message to take from this sad news, is to ensure customers know your website address, to help skip the search engine process.
