March 13 2012-An Australian Online Marketing Watershed,Gerry Harvey Is Converted
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He has always taken the view that the internet and its impact on business was a fad and unlikely to be worth spending time in figuring out how to leverage it for his businesses(including The Magic Millions Thoroughbred Auction House).
Gerry is without a doubt one of the iconic Australian retailers of his generation and a sharper marketing mind you will be hard pressed to find. But he was wrong! Very wrong.
Why he was wrong is a bit of a mystery,i recall conversations with sophisticated business people around the turn of the Millenium that suggested the internet was doing nothing different and was simply an online brochure to display your products or services. I had numerous such conversations though they formed a small minority opinion and tended to be of Gerrys generation. So today Smart Company, a very good Australian online news source published an interview with Gerry today entitled I do get online: Gerry Harvey responds to critics in online editorial and hes got five good points. It is clear that Gerry has moved a long way in his views on the internet and its impact on business.
Whilst the Commercial property interests of his business must be taking a pounding as freehold valuations fall, online startups in his sector are undercutting or simply offering an easier purchase experience(think clicking 5 buttons vs driving to a store.parking..wading through a sea of optionsgetting a sales assistant who you feel uneasy to trust because you suspect margins vary on products dramatically.lugging the product to your carfinding it wont fit in the boot..using plan B transportation..) as well as his bricks and mortar competition like JB HiFi being focused on their online profile for quite a while.
That said Gerry makes some interesting points..but the most interesting point of all is the converstaion that happened between the linesGerry Harvey understands the importance of Online Marketing! He sees his bottom line bleeding to the 20 somethings who built a brand from their garage(probably just like he did), he sees ebay and gumtree doing a lot of business in his space and he is left wondering why did this happen. How was i blindsided by this seachange and is it too late to turn it around?
My opinion is it could well be because he has allowed so much competition to set up through the cracks that he wasnt covering and they are largely competition without Harvey Normans massive overheads of retail space and sales staff. If your competitors steal a march on you now you will be forever playing catchup as long as they sustain their efforts. So make it a priority.
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Found At: (HarveyNorman.com.au online marketing ) http://bit.ly/gerry-harvey-on-online-marketing