We Play in Traffic

With the past, current, and questionable future state of the economy, consumers aren’t buying goods as often, or on a whim. And they’re spending more time researching what, and where, to buy.  That can make websites that have a web-to-store focus, like Yahoo Local, CitySearch, and Yelp a good way for retailers to reach this audience. Each emphasizes brick and mortar over online shopping.  Here’s my experience on each, which may be instructive for your store.

I like to use searches using my Chicago suburban community as a test because I know the local stores.  Let’s see if these sites do also:  first, let me search “mattresses in Glenview, IL”.

Basic returns:  Yahoo Local, 162 mattress store returns, no Glenview listing in the top 10.  CitySearch, 31 mattress store returns, two Glenview listings in the top 10 returns, but they are for hotels. Yelp, 41 mattress store returns, one Glenview listing in the top 10 mattress store returns.

Geographic Filters:  Yahoo has an awkward scrolling geographic filter with no Glenview.  City Search a somewhat less awkward scroll with no Glenview.  Yelp offers Glenview as the top geo-filter and there are now two Glenview mattress stores (why didn’t it provide these first?)

Descriptive Filter:  Each allows me to filter by “mattresses” (isn’t that what I searched for in the first place).  Yahoo (beds & mattresses) shrinks the list to 153 returns.  CitySearch down to 23.  And Yelp from 38 to 26.

Yahoo and CitySearch filters pretty much end there (I could add a mileage distance filter but that is calculated from some place other than my house).  Yelp has more filters: open now, accepts credit cards, parking, wheel chair accessibility, more.  Sounds great but when I search with “Open Now” (2:40 pm on a Tuesday afternoon) and “Accepts Credit Cards,” only one store is left.

I always like to put in a trick question: there is an amazing lamp shade store in town.  CitySearch wins with The LampShader at the top and 3 other viable listings afterwards.  Yahoo Local has The LampShader but then resorts to Target.  Yelp?  Nothing.

So what’s a retailer to do with all this?  Each site offers the opportunity to provide information about your business for free.  You have to poke around on each site to find the link.  But clearly, their filtering is only as good as your information.  Take a few minutes one day and help them help you by adding or updating your listing.