When you sell park picnic tables, park benches, bicycle racks, aluminum bleachers and commercial trash cans to a niche market of site facility managers it's no easy accomplishment to be included in the distinguished company of Top 500 E-Retailer sites such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, Netflix, Staples, etc.
But The Park Catalog in Boca Raton, Fla. achieved that feat again in 2014 and has maintained this coveted accolade awarded by Internet Retailer Magazine for the past five years in a row.
What are secrets to selling picnic tables and other commercial site furnishings online?
First, a key element would be the breadth and depth of inventory of commercial site furnishings. Those products include everything from a park bench with a logo, to tip-n-roll bleachers, a park grill, bicycle racks made with recycled plastic and thousands of other hand-picked items.
Park Catalog recognized as Top 500 E-Retailer for Commercial Site Furnishings onlin
The Park Catalog provides commercial site furnishings and other products for parks, schools, government buildings, retail centers, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, churches and other entities. Its client base now exceeds 75,000 companies.
"Our philosophy has always been to provide our customers with a one-stop shop type approach," said Scott Averbach, Vice President of Marketing. "We know site, park and school facility managers have many challenges. So we try to make their decision-making easy for them by providing everything they need in one smooth, user-friendly website."
Industry Retailer Magazine reports it uses 263 data elements in evaluating e-retailers. Those metrics include site features, traffic, conversion rates, return rates, e-mail subscribers, statistics, shopping cart procedures and a host of other key factors.
Picnic table in the perfect settin
This is a competitive space as more companies increase their efforts online. Internet Retailer Magazine reported that e-commerce sales overall grew 16.9% in 2013 and the blue chip Top 500 E-Retailers increased their revenue by 17.1%.
Many e-commerce sites seem to focus on their products first. Averbach said the goal of The Park Catalog website is to focus first on the customer. That starts with providing a smooth navigation path to help buyers find the products they need quickly.
Categories include Benches, Bike Racks, Bleachers, Bollards, Cigarette Receptacles, Crowd Control and Fencing, Dog Park Equipment, Flooring and Mats, Park Grills and Fire Rings, Landscaping and Maintenance, Lecterns and Podiums, EmployeeLockers, School Lockers, Storage, Outdoor Fitness Equipment, Patio Furniture, Picnic Tables, Planters, Restroom Equipment, Signs and Stands, Smoking/Bus Shelters, Sports Equipment, Tables Chairs and Seating, Traffic Control, Trash Receptacles, Umbrellas and Windscreens.
From there buyers can drill down to find clear product images with simple bullet point descriptions and pricing. Click further and more detailed descriptions and specifications are provided for each individual item.
A variety of vibrant colors and intriguing designs gives site facility managers many options to instantly spruce up any outdoor or indoor area.
Prices and discounts are displayed prominently so there is no additional time-consuming digging required.
Also included are general tips and industry guidelines, e.g., how many actual inches are considered for a standard seat, to help buyers make their selections.
The purpose behind each page is to keep the design clean, legible, quick-to-load and with navigation points that make it easy for visitors to review the large variety of products.
For example, The Park Catalog offers approximately 1,000 different park benches, from custom logo benches to benches made with recycled plastic to thermoplastic-coated benches. That's quite a selection.
A site furnishings catalog can also be downloaded as a pdf file.
Customer interaction is encouraged
It seems many websites today are designed to avoid interacting with a customer or visitor. The Park Catalog does the opposite and makes sure the visitor has easy access to a live chat person online or a representative by phone.
Park bench with a vie
The company's 1-800 phone number is displayed in large type in the upper right of every page and again at the bottom.
Another key factor The Park Catalog believes contributes to its success is the array of related items they provide to customers.
For example, say a school all of a sudden finds itself with an expanded enrollment AND a winning sports team. Instantly, you have a huge crowd of students and parents swarming to a gym to watch their new sport superstars.
The Park Catalog has everything to satisfy that need from tip-n-roll portable aluminum bleachers to crowd control fencing to speed bumps to slow down incoming and outgoing traffic.
"Our emphasis has always focused on providing solutions to our customers and world class service so when they have an immediate need, we can give them the professional guidance and products they require to make their jobs easier every step of the way," Averbach said.
All products are chosen for quality, durability and safety. When you have hundreds of fans jumping up and down on aluminum bleachers, you want to ensure that product is reliable and compliant with International Building Code bleacher specifications where required. The Park Catalog includes those IBC requirements in its content.
Keeping current with the new "green" emphasis on LEED certification, The Park Catalog also provides a number of products manufactured with recycled materials to help projects qualify for that designation.
According to most e-commerce experts, the display of company policies is also critical to any successful e-commerce site. The Park Catalog lists its shipping, payment and return policies in a clear and concise manner with a pledge to provide "complete satisfaction" to their customers.
In fact, the company reports it has negotiated shipping discounts with several carriers and passes those savings on to their clients.
To help facilitate online sales, screenshots and directions on "Checkout Help" and "Coupon Code Help" are provided.
Contact information including phone, email and address is clearly visible.
For credibility, also shown are the D&B Verified Business badge, the Better Business Bureau Accredited Business banner and the GSA Contract Holder designation.
All of those factors keep customers coming back and keeps earning The Park Catalog the distinctive award from Internet Retailer Magazine.
"We are very proud of this Top E-Retailer designation and we are strongly committed to continually following best practices to make sure our website is a great experience for our current customers and new visitors," said Averbach.
To obtain a FREE catalog on park benches, picnic tables, bike racks, aluminum bleachers or commercial trash cans and a myriad of different site furnishings or to speak to a representative call 1-800-695-3503 or write [email protected]. Find out why The Park Catalog is one of the leaders in commercial site furnishings nationwide.