DirectBuy sees opportunity for digital transformation

Merrillville, Indiana-based membership buying club DirectBuy is hoping mobile visual search capability will help spur growth beyond its 25 brick-and-mortar stores.

“It seems that more members, instead of going to club locations, are browsing and shopping completely online,” Ted Fay, senior director of digital marketing and e-commerce at DirectBuy, said in an interview with Chain Store Age. “We see this as an opportunity to grow our membership base and go places we don’t have a brick-and-mortar store.”

DirectBuy allows consumers throughout the U.S. and Canada to shop for its products, which include home items like furniture, cabinets and flooring as well as design services, online or via mobile app. To further boost the convenience and accessibility of its mobile offering, since September 2015 DirectBuy has been offering a feature called “I Want That” on its mobile app.

“We give our members the ability to take pictures of products they see and want and use mobile tools to search our database,” said Mike Georgeoff, senior manager of marketing communications for DirectBuy. “An additional struggle of our e-commerce offering is that in the U.S., we have a couple million online SKUs. If you search for a couch, you have to search through thousands of products.”

However, the “I Want That” feature allows customers to take a photo of a product they like using their mobile device’s camera and then send it to DirectBuy. An in-house-developed algorithm searches the retailer’s product database to find identical or similar items, and the Concierge Service team sends back an email with personalized recommendations within the hour. If there is no exact match, the team will investigate and send targeted alternate suggestions.

In April, DirectBuy will start rolling out enhanced functionality that allows consumers to take a photo and submit it for real-time comparison to the retailer’s digital product library.

“Within two to four seconds, you will receive instant results on your phone,” said Georgeoff. “It will be a concierge-level shopping experience in a digital format that allows you to buy the item on the spot.”

Since launching the MyDirectBuy mobile app with visual search functionality in the fall, the retailer has conducted more than 2 million merchandise sales via the app. Fifteen percent of all members have used the app, representing 30,000 customers. Eighty-two percent of app sales come from return users, and 36% of digital transactions and 45% of digital traffic come from smartphones and tablets.

“Customers enjoy using the app and visual search,” commented Fay.

DirectBuy sees opportunity for digital transformation

By Dan Berthiaume

Merrillville, Indiana-based membership buying club DirectBuy is hoping mobile visual search capability will help spur growth beyond its 25 brick-and-mortar stores.

“It seems that more members, instead of going to club locations, are browsing and shopping completely online,” Ted Fay, senior director of digital marketing and e-commerce at DirectBuy, said in an interview with Chain Store Age. “We see this as an opportunity to grow our membership base and go places we don’t have a brick-and-mortar store.”

DirectBuy allows consumers throughout the U.S. and Canada to shop for its products, which include home items like furniture, cabinets and flooring as well as design services, online or via mobile app. To further boost the convenience and accessibility of its mobile offering, since September 2015 DirectBuy has been offering a feature called “I Want That” on its mobile app.

“We give our members the ability to take pictures of products they see and want and use mobile tools to search our database,” said Mike Georgeoff, senior manager of marketing communications for DirectBuy. “An additional struggle of our e-commerce offering is that in the U.S., we have a couple million online SKUs. If you search for a couch, you have to search through thousands of products.”

However, the “I Want That” feature allows customers to take a photo of a product they like using their mobile device’s camera and then send it to DirectBuy. An in-house-developed algorithm searches the retailer’s product database to find identical or similar items, and the Concierge Service team sends back an email with personalized recommendations within the hour. If there is no exact match, the team will investigate and send targeted alternate suggestions.

In April, DirectBuy will start rolling out enhanced functionality that allows consumers to take a photo and submit it for real-time comparison to the retailer’s digital product library.

“Within two to four seconds, you will receive instant results on your phone,” said Georgeoff. “It will be a concierge-level shopping experience in a digital format that allows you to buy the item on the spot.”

Since launching the MyDirectBuy mobile app with visual search functionality in the fall, the retailer has conducted more than 2 million merchandise sales via the app. Fifteen percent of all members have used the app, representing 30,000 customers. Eighty-two percent of app sales come from return users, and 36% of digital transactions and 45% of digital traffic come from smartphones and tablets.

“Customers enjoy using the app and visual search,” commented Fay.