Much-loved Toowoomba retailer moves online
THIS move will make shopping for school uniforms much easier.
Toowoomba
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AFTER more than 60 years in business, popular Toowoomba department store Hannas joined the E-Commerce revolution.
It launched an online store this week so customers could buy its top-shelf products at the click of a button.
The digital store is live, but it will take some time before every item is available.
Manager Paul Hanna said school uniforms would not be online until summer 2021.
“It is pretty exciting stuff,” he said.
“We had a small online presence before and we are bringing everything together.
“Our aim is to reach as many customers as possible.”
E-Commerce is a growing feature of the retail landscape as stores chase digital market share.
Mr Hanna said his family’s business would always go digital but was determined to move at its own pace.
“E-Commerce is something that needs to be embraced – just like you need to have a social media presence – it is part of the whole retail package,” he said.
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The store is known for personalised, old-fashioned service and Mr Hanna said that dedication would remain.
“The online store will become an important part of the business, and we hope people feel as comfortable to browse and shop online as they do in store,” he said.
Hannas taking so long to get serious about E-Commerce is common in its corner of the retail market.
Even large department stores like Myer and David Jones struggle with digital.
University of Southern Queensland retail researcher Jane Summers said Hannas played to its strengths.
“The trend for most big retailers is a blurred combination of physical and digital retail,” she said.
“The reason Hannas may have been slow to adopt E-Commerce is because it had such a strong, loyal customer base.
“They are probably looking to make it easier for their exiting customers to shop more often with them.”
Ms Summers agreed it was a mammoth task to catalogue all of the Hannas’ products.
“It is hard to load all that information in the first place, but it is what people expect these days.” she said.