CSN Stores Blurs Line Between Competitor, Collaborator

October 5, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Advertising on October 6, 2010 CSN Stores, the largest online-only retailer of furniture and home goods in the U.S., is rapidly growing its Get It Near Me advertising business.

The advertising business delivers some of the CSN shoppers to brick-and-mortar retailers that may be competitors of CSN. This month, Get It Near Me signed two deals with buying group Furniture Marketing Group (FMG).

"As furniture retailers, our members know consumers are evolving to include the Web in their purchasing decisions," added Mike Herschel, executive director of FMG. "Knowing that CSN attracts a large number of active furniture shoppers to its sites each month, participating in this program is a great way to tap into that audience and help drive those consumers into our retailers' showrooms. Get It Near Me has demonstrated impressive success for a number of retailers€”and we aim to share in those successes as the program continues to grow."

Launched in August 2009, Get It Near Me is based on the concept that an advertiser's primary need is to be in the right place at the right time. CSN's 200+ sites receive more than 10 million visits each month and most of those people are actively shopping for furniture. But they don't always end up buying online, so advertising to them while they shop online is a chance for advertisers to reach qualified buyers at just the right time. Typically, only a small percentage of visitors purchase online, while the vast majority conduct Web research before visiting a local retailer to make a purchase.

"The primary reason we use Get It Near Me is the extraordinary value," said Tony Mitchell, director of purchasing at American Furniture Warehouse. "We get at least three times as many clicks from Get It Near Me compared to what the same amount of money would net us on any other online advertising platform. It made sense to us, right from the get go. You always want the most for your advertising dollars. So you're not just going to run those ads where they'll be seen, but also where they will matter to people who do see them."

The program has increased its revenue over the past six months by more than 1,000 percent.  So far, more than 100 advertisers, beyond AFW, have signed up to use Get It Near Me, including Circle Furniture, Brashears Furniture, The Room Place, The Brick, Rotman's Furniture, and Sit n' Sleep. 

"We believe we're all in this together as retailers," said John Mulliken, CSN's vice president of media and strategic initiatives. "Most consumers still want to buy from a local retailer, but they start their shopping with us month after month.  We don't want to stand in their way.  We want to help them find the right item and the right retailer for them, whether it be the best online retailer or an outstanding brick and mortar option in their neighborhood."

From single-location stores to regional mega-chains, profiles of retailers that use Get It Near Me report a high ROI for the media.

"With this program, we get right in front of these consumers when they're shopping for the kinds of furniture that I sell," said Daniel Waldron, marketing manager for Dream Home Interiors. "I couldn't afford that kind of exposure with most other kinds of media."