Wilson and Horton shares lessons at e-commerce summit

11:50 AM

Don't get nostalgic, stick to what you're good at and be prepared to respond rapidly if you want your internet strategy to be successful.

That was the message given to the E-Commerce Summit today by Wilson & Horton, provider of one of New Zealand's most popular websites, the Herald Online.

Group executive officer Craig Marsh outlined how, in less than two years, Wilson & Horton, one of the oldest and most influential companies in New Zealand, had transformed itself into one of the top internet businesses.

"On the Herald Online news site alone, we have grown - in just one year - from a million page impressions a month to six million.

"And if you add in our other sites, including classifieds, stockwatch and jobs, we're getting more than 10 million page impressions every month," he said.

"It hasn't all be plain sailing, however. In the beginning, we built our sites and content at a furious pace. 'Portal envy' was at its peak and many people were trying to cash in on the e-commerce and e-tail trend.

"But that bubble soon burst, prompting us to adapt our electronic strategy by using our premier content to drive profitable transactions.

"People need to learn that there's no room for nostalgia on the internet – if it isn't going to pay, it isn't going to stay," said Mr Marsh.

"We don't take on speculative, high-risk, unproven ventures. Instead, we develop business cases to support each investment we make and, if it doesn't stack up financially, we don't do it."

Successful e-commerce products introduced online by Wilson and Horton recently include stock trading, travel bookings and insurance.

Mr Marsh said Wilson & Horton had also learned not to try and do everything itself.

"Now we link with other partners to provide the capability while we stick to our areas of excellence – news gathering, packaging and dissemination, and putting buyers in touch with sellers."

He cited the example of the release of the fourth Harry Potter book.

"On the day of the launch, our website carried a story on the Harry Potter phenomenon. As a service to our readers, we included a link at the bottom of the article enabling people to click on to a site where they could purchase the book. More than 400 people clicked through."

General manager of Wilson & Horton Digital Mark Ottaway told the E-Commerce Summit that the company's leading position in internet development had allowed it to formulate a 6-point plan for online success for other companies to follow.