Getting Physical

For six years, Shopatron has been providing manufacturers a way to sell direct to consumers online without alienating their core retail partners. Today, manufacturers in more than 30 consumer product categories use the company's e-commerce system to build their businesses, including more than 100 manufacturers in the toy, game, hobby and educational markets, linked in to a network of more than 3,500 participating retailers.

Yet despite that track record, Shopatron has yet to become a household name among consumers, and its services are rarely mentioned publicly by those using its system. But that's about to change. The San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based firm is prepping a significant addition to its abilities, one that's expected to make Shopatron more noticeable to the outside world.

The company's newest feature, currently in the testing phase but expected to launch in 2008, will allow consumers for the first time to choose to go to a retailer to physically pick up their purchase, avoiding the delays and cost involved with mail order.

And that, says CEO Ed Stevens, is expected to have a significant impact on Shopatron's public awareness, and on the awareness among consumers that the system is a way of supporting local retailers. This is a point that some manufacturers who spoke to Playthings about Shoptatron say they would like to see better spelled out, in order to avoid the often strong emotions encountered when retailers see their vendors selling toys directly to consumers.

“As in-store pickup becomes a bigger part of consumers purchasing through us, the messaging that Shopatron connects the [manufacturer's] online store with local retailers will be more implicit,” Stevens tells Playthings. “In the past, our conversion rate was prioritized over [touting the local retailer angle]. Order volume trumped it because I think both the retailer and the manufacturer ultimately care more about how much they sell than potentially having one out of 100 consumers confused about who exactly they're buying from. In-store pickup integration, over time, will pretty much eliminate that confusion as Shopatron becomes a brand name that consumers recognize as a retailer-integrated service.”

It's anticipated that the in-store pickup feature will spur greater retailer participation in Shopatron's store network, Stevens adds.

“There are some retailers who still don't fill orders for us because they don't think of shipments as something they want to be doing,” Stevens says, “but the in-store pickup option really changes a lot of the relevancy about Shopatron for those people. It's no longer about just picking something up. It's really more about people coming into your store. Once we have in-store pickup launched, you'll want to be part of our system to get that extra person coming through the door. That's a whole new relevancy for our business to them.”

To help make the effort a reality, Shopatron recently received $6 million in financing, which will also fund a push to offer its system to retailers in Europe.