Case Study: Heirloom Linens
Bob Ianson: I Am A Material Guy
By Robin Roberts
When Bob Ianson went to work at Woodward’s department store in 1975, he had no idea bedding would become the fabric of his life. He spent 18 years with the iconic department store, until it went bankrupt in 1993. He moved on to Seattle–based Pacific Linens, which met the same fate two years later. “Everyone went broke so I thought I might as well start my own business,” says Ianson. In 1995, he and his wife, Joan, launched Heirloom Linens in Victoria and have so far bucked the belly–up trend. In fact, in 2012, Ianson was inducted into the Canadian Retail Hall of Fame. Part of his success is in keeping up with technological times, which meant taking his bed and bath shop beyond brick and mortar.
From Walls to Web
Ianson recalls the process of going online 15 years ago as “painful” for its steep learning curve. He admits he was “too cheap” to hire somebody, so he built his first website himself. He says the biggest challenge was setting up a shopping cart and processing credit cards, but the pay–off was huge, in terms of decreased workload and increased business. “Before, my internet department would spend hours a day on the phone verifying names and addresses,” says Ianson, who eventually hired a professional to host the site.
As credit card security improved, so did customers’ confidence buying online. “In–store sales are still significantly more but our website is like found money; it’s a customer who wouldn’t necessarily have ever walked through the door. And we have double–digit increases every year. Last month it was over 50 percent.”
But the bedding buyer is tactile; customers want to touch the merchandise. “ We had to be able to show the pattern close-up.” So large, high–quality photographs were vital.
If You Build It…
They won’t come if they don’t know you’re in the game. “Every time we talk to a customer in an ad or online, our website is mentioned; it’s as important as our phone number,” says Ianson, who notes optimizing his site also “helped a lot”. He refreshes his site regularly for his “tremendously high repeat shoppers”, although three-quarters of his site visitors are new. He engages his customers on the site with informational articles on, for example, the downside of dryer sheets, as well as through emailed newsletters about new products.
Staying Social
The internet can be as cold as a bathroom floor in January, so it was important for Ianson to extend the personal touch he has with his in-store customers – without a blanket approach. “We personalize our messages when customers place orders,” he says. “It’s not institutional, automated responses.” He also makes sparing use of social media. “We will tweet, we will use Facebook, but not to sell. If every time you talk to your customers on social media you’re selling, it’s a mistake. I’m looking for a conversation; I want customers to ask me questions. I don’t always want to be dumping sales on them.”
Robin Roberts 