It is the challenge of retailers to create a website that can provide an experiential shopping experience online, and to expand their brand online it is important to be consistent with brick and mortar counterparts not only in design, but in feel as well. John Tawadros, chief operating officer of search engine marketing firm iProspect.com, while speaking in Miami last January, offered some advice on improving e-commerce experience.
The site’s design should be consistent with an in-store experience; it needs to be kept fresh and move quickly. And beware the big, bold “add to cart” button, which is awkward on a landing page, Tawadros said. “When you go into a store, a rep doesn’t come up to you and take you to the cash register!”
Content has to be consumer friendly, with helpful features such as related products, cross-sells, ratings and reviews and appealing visuals and copy. Tawadros used the example of spare, standalone shot of a television stand, vs. a lifestyle shot of a TV stand in a decorated room. “When you’re looking at pictures online, think of that in-store experience,” he said.
And with merchandising, keep in mind that related products are not the same as cross sells, Tawadros warned. A customer buying a jacket may want to see other jackets—not items like shirts and ties.
There are countless ways that retailers can transform what was an e-commerce website into an experential pre-shopping web environment, and much of this can be determined by taking “a walkthrough” through the varied consumer sales cycles.
For example:
- if a store has a great deal of salesperson interaction, this same level of interaction online using videos, animations or even monitored online sales assistance should be featured from the home page and alongside products – if someone greets you at the door of the store, there should be “someone” to greet you from the home page as well
- repurposing print flyers for online content can help drive traffic to retail stores – branding from flyer can be extended online so pay close attention to how online flyers are offered to consumers, PDF is slow loading so it is imperative to find a solution that is contained within the web page – make it feel like the consumer is actually viewing the flyer, but with the enhanced navigation of an online environment
It is no longer enough to list products and include a shopping cart button – shoppers are savvy and want added value to their purchase. As a great deal of pre-shopping research is being done online prior to making offline purchases, it is often at this point in the sales cycle where major decisions are made about where the purchase is to be made. It is important that this be an experience that engages the consumer not only on the basis of informativeness, but also with regards to enjoyability and usability factors.
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