Retail giant David Jones is making its second foray into the online
space with the launch of limited products aimed at cashing-in on Christmas
spending.
Further goods will be staggered out in the New Year, as part
of a 'walk before you run' strategy which the store hopes will allow it to
pick up
where its online operation keeled over four years ago.
"It's really important in the Internet space to manage the evolution of
your strategy in a phased way," Jenni Deslands, David Jones' general
manager of e-commerce, told ZDNet. "We're looking at enhancing our brand
over time, looking forward rather than looking back," she added.
Deslands described the previous site as "old news," saying "a
significant overhaul of the management team" in 1997 resulted in its
closure.
Second time around, David Jones is taking things more slowly with a
staggered rollout of online good and services.
Commencing with cosmetics and fragrances, aimed at the predominantly 35+
woman, the online brand is "significantly marketing to
the [David Jones] cardholder database," and broad target market,
Deslands said.
Christmas hampers currently available at davidjones.com.au will be
followed with an extended range of Christmas gifts next month.
"We wanted to get [the site] up and running before Christmas," Deslands
said, "for when the Christmas traffic hits".
Deslands said that as the site evolves the group's strategy is to focus
on icon David Jones categories, however the store will ramp up its
online retail offerings in the New Year, with hopes of pulling in
younger punters.
"Online is a great opportunity to attract younger customers," Deslands
said. "We're focused on getting each category right for the customer,"
she added.
David Jones has taken three months to enhance the platform and
infrastructure it acquired from e-tailer TheSpot, in order to implement its
latest
e-commerce strategy.
