Halfords : Mounting an offline tie-in

Efforts at cross-channel promotion from the website are badly under-geared.

The Site

Halfords is the UK’s leading high-street retailer of car maintenance goods and accessories plus bicycles and related gear. Its site has an online store stocking the company’s most popular and latest lines. As well as plugging a selection of these, the home page highlights a panel of “Great offers available in store” i.e. in its bricks-and-mortar outlets.

During the UK’s current National Cycling Week the Great offers panel is featuring a “free 24 point check” under the heading Halfords Supporting Bike Week. Visitors have three links within the four-line panel to more information about the offer: from the headline; from “See in Store for details”; and More info. But all three lead directly to the site’s Store locator search feature. There is no information on this page about the Bike Week offer nor is there on the Store locator results pages for your nearest shop.

The Takeaway

To Halfords the UK’s National Cycling Week is a heaven-sent opportunity to promote its products and its image on the back of the (unpaid-for) interest generated by the event. But while it has smartly set up a free safety-related maintenance offer to draw people to its shops its efforts at cross-channel promotion from the website are badly under-geared.

The offer goes flat in several ways. First, users immediately lose sight of the offer as all the links take them direct to the Store locator engine without even a brief overview of the offer. At best this disrupts the smoothness of the journey; at worst it leaves users confused and annoyed. If they press on to search for their nearest shop the experience is repeated and the only way finally presented to get more information is to phone the number provided or go to the store.

Halfords also misses the opportunity to link the offer to the Advice centre section of its website, where it has Hints & tips and How to guides on bike maintenance and cycling safety. All in all, it seems content to freewheel on the back of Bike Week publicity rather than put in the effort to use its site to get the most out of the opportunity.

First published on 15 June, 2004