Question of the Week: Do struggling brands, such as Woolworths, have a better chance of survival online?

photo credit: Illustration Katherine Peters

Question of the Week: Do struggling brands, such as Woolworths, have a better chance of survival online?

30th Nov 2009

With the recession hitting the high street hard over the last eighteen months, has the online revival of failing brands offered companies a second chance? Do brands such as Zavvi and Woolworths now have a stronger foundation by being based solely online?

Published by
Ben Brown, Creative Director
ben@creationagency.com, 07764 898010
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Comments

Definitely, I hate shopping. I hate the way you can never find anything, everyone's in your way, there's nowhere to park, my legs ache....I'm hungry... I want to go home.....

By Ben Brown on 30/11/2009
I am sure that starting out again online is even harder for a previous failure, but you do have to consider the reasons for that failure. Was it a badly run business or an inevitable consumer evolution that means your brand had to go online to survive? But, to answer the question in a word, no. I don't believe sentiment is carried over to an online brand once they have failed on the High Street. You have to capture those elusive new customers online and impress them from the start in a very competitive landscape, probably even more so given that your brand has 'failed' stamped all over it in the mind of a typical customer. Any previous sentiment probably originates from older consumers who don't represent the lion's share of online spend anyway. I think, if anything, they start from a weaker foundation.

By Peter Smith on 30/11/2009
You make a good point Pete, but what about the future of 'Pick 'n' Mix'?

By Ben Brown on 30/11/2009
Customers might visit these brands online (especailly if they can target their advertising) but perhaps they'll be looking more out of curiosity than for a reason to shop. Unless these brands can compete with the price wars online I think they've got an even bigger mountain to climb. Best have that failed stamp at the ready Pete...

By Mary on 30/11/2009
And now Borders. Will this be an online brand next year or disappear into relative obscurity? Interesting question with Woolies and Zavvi. Both strong retail brands who never really operated in the online market until their retail demise and the brand names were purchased by different owners who weren't traditional bricks & mortars retailers (Woolworths by Shop Direct the catalogue company and Zavvi by The Hut Group). For me this is more about the question of would these brands have failed if they had embraced "the internet" earlier in their brand lifecycle? Both operated internet sites purely as an add-on to their store portfolios and not as a core part of their business mix and both sites now (under specialist hands) are performing well in-advance of the previous levels seen under their old "bricks & mortar" owners. Both these brands can survive on line, its just a shame we have lost them from the high street for this to be realised.

By Dylan Slaney on 30/11/2009
I think shops like Borders have been a victim of their own greed, and they're paying for it now people can use their phones to quickly look up how much cheaper something is on Amazon.

I always think Argos missed a trick to be where Amazon is now, they were always set up like an online store, but way too slow to adapt.

By Ben Brown on 01/12/2009
Totally agree BB. Look at the fashion brands and department stores as well in terms of how late they have adopted the internet (notably GAP and Debenhams) and how ASOS have developed whilst bigger brands have concentrated on their traditional routes to market.

By Dylan Slaney on 01/12/2009