The Poolwerx franchise has dipped its toes into the world of e-tailing, launching a hybrid ‘bricks and clicks’ online store that will enable its franchise partners to get to know clients in their area.
Customers around the country can now make online purchases from the PoolWerx range of products, by visiting the company’s website.
According to CEO John O’Brien, the online store has been in the works for more than a year.
“We spent 12 months researching and testing different approaches to find the most effective strategy before we began building the infrastructure for our e-store.”
When customers purchase a product through the PoolWerx e-store, it’s relayed to the closest retail outlet. The franchise owner will then deliver the order and install products where necessary.
“This not only helps to mitigate freight expenses, it also enables our franchise partners to get to know clients in their area and ensure any products purchased are correctly installed to warranty specifications.”
“We’re proud to offer this free installation service with any online purchase from the PoolWerx e-store.”
O’Brien said the company’s physical footprint is its biggest strength in the competitive e-tailing environment.
“There are currently no pool and spa care businesses using a hybrid online/offline model such as ours, it is completely unique to the industry. As a well established franchise our biggest advantage over online-only retailers is our existing fleet of over 300 mobile vans and our 65 retail stores across Australia and New Zealand.”
O’Brien said there was strong evidence to support the company’s significant investment in the e-store.
”We’ve invested over $100,000 into our new website and e-store and we expect to see a return on that investment by the end of the spring / summer swimming season, based on strong anticipated demand.”
PoolWerx’ e-store is now live and can be accessed via the PoolWerx website.
