CREATION - Pure plays must extend site appeal

<p>Pure play retailers should look at increasing their competitiveness </p><p>among a mature audience to counter the rising number of Internet users </p><p>who are spending more time and money at websites of established bricks </p><p>and mortar businesses. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The 35-49-year-old age group is apparently reluctant to use </p><p>non-established brands, so for pure plays, the lesson must be to find </p><p>ways to expand their appeal to this group," said Nielsen//NetRatings </p><p>Global Analytical Services spokesman Brian Milnes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"For example, Amazon has become a major online retailer by creating a </p><p>clean, easy-to-use and easy-to-search online environment and then adding </p><p>user-specific features. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"User reviews and wish lists which create the site's sense of community </p><p>are very much secondary to the simplicity of purchasing from the </p><p>site." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Traditional retailers that take their business to the Web must recreate </p><p>the brand's key selling points online, he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Milnes also recommended that they take advantage of the Internet's </p><p>possibility for research and "bearing in mind that customers who visit </p><p>and don't buy are far less of a wasted effort for clicks-and-mortar </p><p>sites than for pure plays". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As established retailers are only beginning to realise their online </p><p>potential, he said click and mortar brands that succeeded this year were </p><p>likely to be businesses that used their online channels to "increase </p><p>customer loyalty to the integrated brand". </p><p><BR><BR> </p>