nextopia

Maria Sutorik, Vice President, Bronner’s, answers five of the toughest questions we could think of asking her. If you’d like to learn more about how Bronner’s, the World’s Largest Christmas Store thrives online, read our extensive interview with Maria. (Part 1 and Part 2)

I think the most important are:

• Site traffic
• Conversions
• Sales

I recommend that a new retailer spend a lot of time learning. Use industry resources like the National Retailer Federation and Shop.org. Read Internet Retailer magazine and attend the conference. Education is critical. Next, spend a lot of time talking and listening to others as part of an on-going market survey process. Talk to both external and internal audiences. Finally, surround yourself with reliable partners and experts. The bottom line is that you can’t be an expert in everything. You simply won’t be able to find the time to learn about everything that will ultimately impact your business. The solution is to find individuals and firms that know their respective markets. Find a good banker, a reliable search agency, a web developer you can trust.

I think we went too long trying to manage our own email list. We thought we could continue to handle it ourselves, even as it grew ever bigger. Not only did we slow our server performance and cause headaches for everyone who was using our network, but the system fell far short of the reporting and metrics we needed to determine whether we were actually doing the right things. Now, we use a third-party email service provider and life (and reporting) is much better. We do all our creative in house but we really benefit from better campaigns.

I would say it goes all the way back to my Dad listening to his customers. We wouldn’t even have a Christmas business if he hadn’t talked to some merchants who were in Frankenmuth in 1951 searching for Christmas decorations for their city lampposts. To meet their needs, he designed and produced some Christmas panels. Over the next couple of years, he gradually built up a sideline, producing and installing decorations and displays for communities, shopping centers and stores. The first retail store opened in 1954 because the wives of the merchants who came to my Dad’s small wholesale shop started asking about how they could find items for their own homes. That is how the retail sales got started. By 1977, our retail operations had grown to the point that my Dad purchased 45 acres on the edge of town. Our current store covers an area equal to five and a half football fields. We’re huge believers in the Golden Rule: we treat customers as we would want to be treated. We read all comment cards and we take action whenever necessary.

I would love integration, one system that would help me avoid having to look in multiple places for information and then try to piece everything together. This wonderful system would integrate website analytics, sales data, ROI performance and shopping feeds so I could

staff properly and really maximize efficiency.