Wood makes an interesting point about choices. He says it s a mistake to try to convert a customer particularly a large customer entirely to online ordering if some people within that customer organization want to order by phone or fax. A person forced to order online will be one unhappy customer. Instead of checking every order, they can now check by exception. Our system e-mails an order confirmation, but also tells when an order needs to be examined.
Buyers can set order limits by size, items, order frequency, and so on.
Wood expects their online business to quadruple in the next few years as customers become more comfortable with and learn the many benefits of the service. We have 150 online customers of every size and description, and we re adding new accounts daily. Chilton says it s a mistake to put online buyers in any category either by size or items purchased because they re all over the lot. He points out, as other dealers have, the average size of online orders is 20 to 25 percent higher than orders from other customers. He says you have to do more than simply tell customers you offer the service.