"24% of sales at our Ramat Gan store are already made online as part of our online pilot," Rami Levy, the owner of the eponymous independent supermarket chain Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 Ltd. (TASE:RMLI) told the annual Israel Internet Association conference in Jerusalem today.
Speaking at the conference's panel on Israeli consumer behavior, Levy said, "Before we entered the field, online sales at Shufersal and Mega accounted for 1% of sales. We saw that the price was very fixed, and online shoppers used the internet because they had no choice due to a lack of time or inability to go to the store. I believe that within ten years, 20% of food sales will be online. Online shopping isn't only about price. The price is a determinant, but if you don’t provide quality and service, you'll fail."
In contrast, bookseller chain Steimatzky Ltd. is not relying on the Internet. Steimatzky VP marketing Orly Finkelman said, "In contrast to the success of Amazon.com, e-commerce in books isn't very developed. This is because of the very high density of bookstores, online prices are the same, and because of the stronger shopping experience in a store, compared with the internet. Online book sales at Steimatzy account for less than 1% of the company's sales."
Domino's Pizza Israel has found online consumers. CEO Yossi Elbaz said, "Consumers' willingness to go online is very high if they get a user-friendly and reliable interface that offers an experience that they adopt with love. We've been able to achieve 52% of sales via our online and mobile app digital channels. We've set a target of 60% for this year.
"For people who are not willing to provide credit card details online, we arrive at the customer's home, where they can pay in cash. In the end, the people who won't pay by credit card online are the same people who aren't willing to pay by credit card for an order by phone."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 21, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012