Bicycle retailer Evans Cycles has long had a web presence to complement its chain of high-street stores, but today it is looking to drive up online sales and attract more customers to its web store.

“The cycle-buying process is complex as a lot of decisions have to be made and we have different types of users with different needs,” says Ben Hart, head of e-commerce and marketing for Evans Cycles. “Some will use the site for research and come into stores armed with information. Others will look at products online, but want to talk to an expert, while those who know a lot about cycling will make their purchases online.”

The integration of online and offline sales is what differentiates Evans from competitors, says Hart. As part of that integration, Evans Cycles has a consistent pricing policy for the web and the high street.

“It creates a lot of confusion if offers are online only and causes a headache for staff,” says Hart.

“Around 20 per cent of our sales are through e-commerce and we are experiencing strong revenue growth online.”

Any spike in site visitors needs to translate into sales and the company has recently completed the integration of behavioural merchandising software from Avail Intelligence to help improve the onsite search function.

The software uses previous searches and buying patterns to generate lists of recommendations to new visitors doing searches.

Hart believes that users have become conditioned to search being an integral feature of a web site, increasing the pressure to get it right.

“Users don’t tend to browse anymore. Google has set the standard and the expectations for search are high. People expect to be able to type in a random phrase and see decent results,” says Hart.

The software has not been in use long enough to measure its effectiveness, but Hart says the core metrics will be conversion rates from browsing and cross-selling suggestions into purchases.

“We will use Google Analytics to track how many more people find products and buy them,” he says.

Further plans for the site include marrying the shop and online view of the customer.

“They are currently separate as the site is technically separate from systems in stores. In 2010 we want a new electronic point of sale system, warehousing system and call centre based on Microsoft’s Navision enterprise resource planning software to address that,” says Hart.

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