Brand building through Online Shops

Increased sports broadcasting options and the assimilation of technology for commercial transactions in our daily lives have been the drivers for the effective use of online shops for sporting teams and clubs.

With the increasing uptake of pay television reaching more than 1.1 million Australian homes, AFL football now has exposure to larger audiences and more potential customers than ever before.

With the significant shift in comfort level of people buying product or paying for services online, the ability of a club to offer an online merchandising option for fans locally, interstate or even internationally is a strategically important step for business planning.

"Online merchandising represents a passive income stream that can be used in combination with a range of marketing activities," says IMG Sports Technology Group founder and Chief Technology Officer Glen McGoldrick. "Many sporting organisations still don’t have an effective vehicle to make this a part of the business model."

The power of online marketing was recently evidenced through an online marketing campaign run by the Western Bulldogs. After sending a direct mail flyer to members promoting a particular piece of merchandise, sales of that particular item in their online shop peaked at almost 35% above normal sales levels within a 24 hour period.

The Western Bulldogs based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray have strong connections with the local community, and they’re business strategy is based around community connections. However, their membership base extends well beyond the Melbourne area.

The Western Bulldogs General Manager, Consumer Operations & Development, Scott Seward, says a commercial avenue online has opened up the lines of communication with many Bulldogs members who are unlikely to come to the ground but now feel a much stronger connection with the club.

"Much of the way people relate to the world now happens online, which removes the geographic boundaries. We switched to the Clubs Online system from another supplier in August 2008 and since that time we've more than tripled our online sales," says Mr. Seward. "With the increasing mobility of members through the use of devices like Blackberry and iPhone, providing members with the option to access merchandise at any time maximises the convenience factor. They're more likely to order a scarf while they travel home on the bus after work, rather than ordering during conventional store hours."

Mr. Seward says that an additional benefit to the online shop is the discoveries members make about what other ways they can engage with the club online. This includes obvious options such as renewing memberships, but also lesser known options such as the purchase of tickets to the Club’s Best & Fairest evening or participating as a remote bidder during a club fundraiser.

"When we developed the online shop, we concentrated on the customer experience and making it easy for fans to come on to the site and order. What we have been particularly encouraged by is the take-up of other offers that the member didn't know about until coming online. Based on the convenience of being able to pay there and then, it brings additional revenue to the club and is a more engaging experience for the member," says Mr. Seward.

As the online shop has become integrated into the Western Bulldogs marketing and promotional activity, Mr. Seward has also initiated specific cross-selling opportunities based on a deeper understanding of member profiles.

Based on the Clubs Online system of gathering data around a customer, this was a terrific opportunity for us to gain insight into our fan base that we didn't have before. We're now making offers to specific membership groups based on their buying behaviour and what we know will be of value to that particular group," he says. "In-house research confirms that the Bulldogs fan’s experience of the club and our site has gone up. Certainly, based on this feedback and the steady growth of sales online, we're very positive about these changes."