On August 2nd, 2013 long time E-commerce retailer Geeks.com shut down their retail side of operations. Geeks.com was a retailer that specialized in both new and refurbished electronic equipment, much like us at Refurbished Phone Exchange.
There are many why’s to the reason Geeks.com failed, a lack of product diversity, a failure to promote their brand, and a lack of competitiveness with big box retailers. Each shortcoming of the company can be a lesson for others to learn from. Here are the three things your company should learn from Geeks.com’s failure.
3) Markets change over time, and your product line up should as well
Consumers’ tastes in equipment change over time. Once laptops were the fastest growing segment of computing, now they are a shrinking segment of the market. Geeks.com failed to make that change and adjust their product line. What products are fading away from your orders? What products are your competitors now selling?
2) You need to promote your brand
One of the most important parts of eCommerce is brand identity, but it is often overlooked by companies just starting out. When a customer goes to buy a widget you sell, you want them to think, I can get that at Bob’s widget. When a customer needs a refurbished Shoretel 565G, we want them to think Refurbished Phone Exchange. The fact is, many people think of Ebay when they want to buy refurbished goods. And more people will think Amazon when they look to buy what you’re selling. In order to stay competitive you need to offer your customers that special quality that makes your company special. That brings us to…
1) You need to compete with the big box stores
You can’t hide in a small niche forever. The large corporations will beat you flat out in an even fight. When Amazon can get the product cheaper and sell it with lower overhead than you, your company will never win a head to head competition with them. You need to focus on what makes your company great. Do you have a unique selling point? Do you take orders by phone, offer free technical support for your products?
In today’s consumer driven market, you have to offer the customer a truly positive experience in order to succeed. Here at Refurbished Phone Exchange, we offer simple no hassle free shipping on every order and give back to our customer with our phone and networking technical support blog where we post solutions to the commonly asked questions by our customers.
