Paul Marshall

It’s one of the great challenges for retailers – how to build a bridge between the tech-savvy customers who spend hours researching on the web before buying, and those customers who prefer to do their research using the old-fashioned printed catalogue.

Online content aggregator Lasoo has attempted to take advantage of this gap in the market by digitising paper catalogues for users to browse before buying in a store.

The site offers users a chance to read through online catalogues, and also has the ability to search for any sales on products from a database of retailers. Executive director Paul Marshall wants to build a site that has the same sort of brand recognition as market leaders such as Seek and Carsales.com.au.

“The opportunity for us here is to set up a household brand and name that everybody uses. Checking catalogues is an essential tool before going out shopping, making sure you go to the right place with the right price. Over time we will build this site to become just as important to the household as a jobseeker site such as Seek.”

Lasso, which is owned by paper catalogue distributor Salmat, began two years ago. Marshall began work at Lasoo after realising the opportunity had scope to take off.

“Salmat was the leader in distributing catalogues, and for them to break through into internet was an interesting choice. There was nothing at that time that was aggregating content for retailers, so I liked the proposition.”

The site aggregates deals from retailers including Target, Myer, Big W, IGA, Officeworks and brands such as Apple, LG, Samsung, Nintendo and Canon. Lasoo has recorded 100% growth in site traffic over the past 12 months, with about 570,000 unique browsers, while searches have grown by 250% to over four million per month.

The future of retail

While Marshall says the site was able to offer a unique proposition when it first started, giving retailers an online solution wasn’t necessarily accepted quickly.

“It was a typical chicken-and-egg problem. In order for these retailers to participate they wanted to see traffic, but to get traffic we needed them. We did an aggressive launch early on, and retailers have really embraced online as a marketing medium and they understand it’s a powerful influencer for shoppers.”

Lasoo has also established several deals with online retailers in order to supply “one-click solutions”, whereby users can purchase products directly from the site. But Marshall says online retail still has a long way to go, and many businesses need to catch up as the demand from users will force them to share content on the site.

“Over time online retail will grow, because the majority will need some sort of eCommerce solution to compete in the future. Lasoo will handle that, but the number is very few at this stage.”

“They’re going to have to adapt because the demand is already there. We have many users requesting a “one-click” solution, where they can just buy on site, and we have to explain that many don’t do that yet. But it’s inevitable, even Myer have now said they’re moving to eCommerce.”

Marshall says the site is well equipped to deal with more online solutions, but he says keeping the balance between its core offering of digitised print catalogues and emphasis on online retailers remains “a significant challenge”.

Establishing a community

Constantly staying on the bleeding edge also pushed the company into the world of iPhone app development.

The app, released last month, received over 4,000 downloads within just one week. The program works similarly to Lasoo’s website, but expands its services by offering directions to the user’s nearest store where products are on sale, opening times and retailers’ phone numbers.

Marshall says the company’s app was developed in order to maintain the reputation of the Lasoo brand as tech-savvy.

“When you’re out and about shopping, you probably want information about retailers. We thought putting that in your hand was a powerful proposition to exist on a phone.”

“This is our first venture into apps, and it’s difficult to understand how it will be successful. But we think we’re offering something of value, as its synonymous with the Lasoo promise to help your decide where to buy and what to buy. The computer isn’t the only place where you can buy things, and we want to be on top of that mobile trend.”

While Marshall says the decision to create an app was based on a desire to expand the company’s services into a variety of different formats, the site’s community was a major focus.

Lasoo users can post on the website about deals they have found, with many keeping blogs up-to-date on the latest sales. Additionally, the company’s Facebook page counts over 4,000 fans, while Marshall keeps a Twitter account to regularly engage with customers.

He says the company places a great deal of importance on the site’s community, and recognises that the site can grow quicker if users of social networking are spreading the word.

“We understand the power of word-of-mouth, and the ability for the web and digital media to really supercharge that. It’s important we communicate with our customers, and we respond to every question on social media we receive.”

“We get a lot of feedback about various things on our Facebook page, but we also engage users socially. We let the Facebook fans design our logo, and they even designed our Mother’s Day logo as well. They comment on new deals, we use them to participate in programs… there is a fantastic brand loyalty you can get through these channels.”

To the future

Lasoo’s traffic is growing, the user base is gaining new members every day and retailers are continually jumping on board. So where can Lasoo improve?

“SEO. We’re doing some work around that now, because although we are doing well there we need to do better. Lasoo should be in the top three or four results in Google, so we’ve just go to convince the search bots that is the case. It’s an ongoing challenge.”

“But it’s building month by month. We need people to view our content, and the consumer take up is still very strong. People are now using Lasoo to help them understand what to buy, and how to buy it.”