Learning the lesson of Sainsbury's lost sales [BT broadband office]

Learning the lesson of Sainsbury's lost sales

Posted 23 June 2008 at 8:44AM by Ian Betteridge in Doing business online

If there were any doubts over the power and potential of online retailing, the crisis that engulfed Sainsbury's last week will have dispelled them.

For, when the supermarket giant's web site had to be closed for two days after what it described as a "technical problem", it lost an estimated £1.5 million of business. Even with annual sales of £19 billion, that level of lost business is the kind of thing which keeps sales managers up at night sweating.

What's interesting, though, is that the company's rivals all reported increased sales on their online sites while Sainsbury's was down. So, rather than either wait for Sainsbury's to be up and running again or - horror of horrors - go to an actual shop, people just jumped ship and went with another retailer.

What does this tell us about online customers? Primarily, it tells us that online customers won't wait: if they can't use your site right now, they'll be off somewhere else instantly. Customer loyalty can be lost much more easily than it's won.

Tags: bt, bt broadbandoffice, sainsbury's

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Comments

1. At June 24, 2008 10:06 AM, J G Dawson wrote:

In this case, I'd say hunger was a very sharp thorn made all the more so by demanding adults and impatient children - when surely customer loyalty fails to come into it.

2. At June 24, 2008 12:08 PM, Martin Wood wrote:

Wonder how much business I will be claiming back from BT having transfered our internet to you and not being able to send emails ????

3. At June 24, 2008 2:05 PM, Chris Sabin wrote:

Martin, your comment makes no sense.
"I will be claiming back from BT having transfered our internet to you" Who is you?

The internet has just added to the "we want now" generation. If you can't get what you want, when you want, you invetiably go somewhere where you can.

4. At June 25, 2008 8:47 AM, Meryl Salter wrote:

Admit to being one of those who "jumped" while Sainsburys was down - when you need service you have to go to who can provide it. Would you wait two days for petrol if your favourite station ran out?

5. At June 26, 2008 2:36 PM, 'Razor' Ramone wrote:

What I find most baffling is that companies of this size can possibly have an issue that would span over two days without a contingency in place that could cover it.

Surely J Sainsbury Plc. can afford to divert some of their vast profits into having a few backup servers in the event this sort of thing occurs?

Mind boggling.

BT broadband office