Just three weeks ago I was complaining about Sears Holdings (SHLD) websites:
What is Lampert doing? Well ,first of all he basically bought the CEO to become VP of Sears. Lampert had made no secret in desire to increase Sears web presence. Currently it is a bit unorganized. You have Sears.com, Kmart.com, Sears2go — a mobile commerce Web site, Partsdirect.com (you can find almost any part for anything there), Landsend.com, managemyhome.com and Service Live (allows people to bid improvement projects out) and a few others.
Sears has valuable online brands, their Sears and Kmart site are some of the most visited retail site (although far behind #1 Amazon (AMZN)). What Sears needs is a way to consolidate the various properties in a cohesive site that could be very powerful. For instance. If I am on Sears.com and do a search for “home improvement”, I get a listing of dvd’s from Tim Allen’s sitcom by that name. I do not get choices for managemyhome.com or thegreatindoors.com. Just the dvd. Sears is not maximizing its properties with its search feature. In a way Sears has its online stores almost standing alone rather than under Amazon.com type umbrella.
Lampert has expressed in the past his desire to sell more direct to customers and expand Sears online presence. My thought is this move is a way for Sears to rapidly increase progress there.
“Ask and ye’ shall receive”
Sears has released a beta version of it’s new website and it is nothing short of fantastic.
It tackles my main complaint that I had to travel back and forth from the Sears to Kmart sites to check product availability. Sears now has the inventory combined.
Other features:
– Easy site to store pickup
– The ability to post products easily to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.
– Extensive and easy to use inventory navigation to make search easier
– Easily usable “profile” section that contains address book, saved payment methods, order history, wishlists, registries, and “save for later”.
– A “virtual shopping” assistant
– Each product listing notifies the buyer if it is available for in-store pickup, site to store and if there are any special offers attached to it.
Now it has been no secret Lampert has been investing in Sears online presence for the past two years. It would appears the fruits of that labor may finally come to fruition.
Now from the “Irony” department. Just yesterday I posted and speculated of the now 7 week surge in Sears online traffic vs. other retailers. I have yet to get confirmation when the beta site went live, but when I do I will post.
I’d have a hard time believing the two events did not coincide…
Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long SHLD