Manage Subscriptions · Subscribe Now · F.A.Q.'s
HOME · Saturday, May 17, 2008
Interviews & Profiles
High Performer: Garyweeks.com, Handcrafted Furniture and Impressive Guarantee
Search engine efforts produce customers
By: Practical eCommerce Staff
Comments: 0
Thirty miles southwest of Austin along the Blanco River is Wimberley, Texas. Population 3,797. Among those who call Wimberley home is one Gary Weeks. And if you make your way to West Spoke Hill Drive, you’ll come to a wooden sign that simply reads, “Gary Weeks & Company — Furniture Makers.”
Gary Weeks & Company makes tables, stools and dining furniture. It also makes rocking chairs — the Weeks Rocker, which is what Weeks calls his “signature piece.”
Perhaps because it is his signature piece a unique guarantee accompanies the chair. It reads: “The Weeks Rocker is guaranteed to be the most comfortable, the most beautiful and the best constructed rocking chair you have ever experienced or we will refund your money, including all shipping charges.”
If you’re wondering how often Weeks has had to back up his guarantee: He’s sold more than 1,900 rockers. Five have been returned. The rockers are available in five woods, cherry, walnut, maple, mahogany and mesquite, with prices ranging from $1,600 to $3,700.
His site, Garyweeks.com, has been online since 1997.
Premium furniture retailer overcomes inability for customers to touch and feel products by offering strong guarantee.
Biggest Obstacle: “Because we have a limited number of products, our business requires a stream of new customers. The web is a source of them, but it is ever changing. Producing photography, text, and organization to keep the site fresh and in line with how people use the web is demanding.”
PeC: How did all this start, making furniture?
WEEKS: I've always been interested in making things and when I graduated from college, I had been earning a little money remodeling things and doing handyman and carpentry work for people. I just stayed with it and started larger jobs and general contracting up to including building houses and historical restoration. I put together a woodshop where we built doors and cabinets and began to build some furniture. I grew tired of general contracting and working out of the truck, so I wanted to find a product that I could market and sell, and I designed a rocking chair, which has become the anchor of the business.
PeC: How long have been making rocking chairs?
WEEKS: Fifteen years.
PeC: The guarantee you offer is impressive.
WEEKS: I think that's kind of important to our success in Internet marketing, particularly because people can't see it, touch it, or feel it.
PeC: How integral has your website been to your success?
WEEKS: It’s been very important. I would say 50 percent of the people find us in a web search and 95 percent of the people use the website to evaluate the product.
PeC: It must be difficult to convey comfort and quality online.
WEEKS: It is. The rocking chair, in the design process, I had 75 people sit in the thing and since then I've literally had thousands. I've watched thousands of people sit in that chair of every size and shape. I've heard so many of them, such a high percentage of them say, "This chair fits me and I love it. It's comfortable." That does not sound possible and so I don't try to say that. What I do say is if it's not comfortable for you, you can send it back and I'll give you all your money, including freight. That's a much easier statement to defend either online or on the telephone. I can say that I've heard over and over from people of various sizes that the chair is comfortable, but that's neither here nor there. This is a contractual agreement. If it's not comfortable for you, you haven't bought it.
PeC: What challenges does the website pose?
WEEKS: It’s always a challenge to be on the first page of Google. It’s what we all want. I do have good rankings for just about any adjective you put with rocking chair: Cherry rocking chair, rocking chair for nursing, wooden rocking chair, handmade rocking chair. I'm either one or two or three.
PeC: How do you continue to reach new customers, attract new customers?
WEEKS: Well, the rocking chair is an item of furniture that is often purchased at milestones in life — new parents, new grandparents, a retirement. So that's a constant demand and my goal is to get in front of them and the web does that beautifully.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Reddit | Technorati
Published on Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Comments:
Ecommerce Articles
- Browse All Articles
- Browse our complete archive of ecommerce articles.
- Accounting, Management & Legal
- Ecommerce articles related to managing a small business including ecommerce accounting, business strategy and legal considerations.
- Conversion & Usability
- Online business articles about converting web site visitors into customers and how to gauge and improve your business website's usability.
- Development & Programming
- Articles to help designers, developers and programmers create successful, search engine friendly ecommerce websites and improve existing ones.
- Hosting, Infrastructure & Software
- Articles for ecommerce businesses about ecommerce web hosting, business infrastructure, business strategy and helpful ecommerce & small business software.
- Interviews & Profiles
- Interviews with prominent ecommerce business personalities and profiles of successful online businesses.
- Inventory & Shipping
- Ecommerce articles about inventory management, ecommerce order fulfillment and product shipping considerations.
- Marketing & Revenue Growth
- Articles relating to online marketing, email marketing and using the Internet to growing your business.
- Search Engine Optimization
- Search engine optimization articles for ecommerce business owners, strategists, marketers and developers.
- Shopping Carts & Online Payments
- Articles covering ecommerce shopping cart platforms and options for choosing an online payment gateway.
- Training & Education
- Tutorials and articles providing training and education for ecommerce business owners and developers of ecommerce websites.
Search Articles
Ecommerce Community
- Ecommerce Blogs
- Read our blogs about ecommerce topics written by industry professionals.
- Community Forum
- Connect with other ecommerce professionals to trade advice and answers in our community forum.
- Podcasts
- Check out our ecommerce podcasts covering topics ranging from interviews to tutorials.
- RSS Content Feeds
- Subscribe to our RSS feeds and have fresh ecommerce content delivered to you.
Ecommerce Resources
- Free Email Newsletter
- Sign up for Ecommerce Notes, our free email newsletter for ecommerce business owners and developers.
- Ecommerce Directory
- Browse our directory of ecommerce products and services, or submit your own listing in our directory.
- Ecommerce Glossary
- Familiarize yourself with terminology or submit terms to help others with our Ecommerce Glossary.
- Events Calendar
- Find out about upcoming ecommerce events or invite other ecommerce professionals by posting your own event.
- Press Releases
- Browse ecommerce related press releases and post your own press release for distribution.
- Ecommerce Store & Back Issues
- Pick up back issues of Practical eCommerce magazine along with other merchandise from Practical Ecommerce
About Practical eCommerce
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Look at frequently asked questions regarded using our website, subscribing to our magazine and more.
- Advertising Information
- Information about advertising in Practical eCommerce magazine, on our website, or in our email newsletters.
- Editorial Sharing
- Learn about options for sharing our content with your visitors, customers or employees.
- About Us
- Learn more about Practical Ecommerce magazine and meet our staff.
- Contact Us
- Contact Practical Ecommerce at any time for more information. We'd love to hear from you.
Copyright 2007 Confluence Distribution, Inc. and Practical eCommerce.
All Rights Reserved.
There are no comments posted for this article.