Design web sites to merchandise and communicate with consumers, experts say
To spark sales from retail web sites, e-merchants need to fashion site designs that emphasize their brands in appealing merchandise displays and provide helpful information to make shopping easier, web design experts Ken Burke, president and founder of MarketLive Inc., and David Fry, president and founder of Fry Inc., told attendees at the Internet Retailer 2005 Conference & Exhibition this week.
“E-commerce is in a rut,” Burke said, warning that many retail sites are becoming too similar in appearance and function. “Merchants need to find new ways to differentiate themselves. If we don’t innovate, we’re going to die.”
Burke led off the dual-presenter session “Web Site Design that Sells” with a high-energy presentation that prompted Fry when he took the stage to comment, “I feel like Steven Wright following Robin Williams.”
Traditional store retailers and branding companies are moving further into direct-to-consumer online selling, providing attractive and informative merchandising displays that are competing more for share of the online consumer wallet, Burke added.
Burke noted that some retailers are overly relying on frequent e-mail to attract customers with irrelevant messages, potentially alienating shoppers. Some retailers are also pushing cross-selling displays without providing enough information to help customers decide what to buy, he and Fry added. “Conversion rates and average order values are going down with cross-selling,” Burke said.
Fry added that retailers should provide product-comparison data and make it easy to find supplementary information like care and maintenance requirements. “More information builds confidence and helps complete the sale,” he said.
Fry also warned that retailers overlook critical techniques like emphasizing their brands, providing relevant site search results and offering store locators. “The store locator is the most likely feature that customers will use, but a lot of retailers overlook it,” he said, noting that 60% of purchases that start online are completed offline.
Burke added that many e-retailers also overlook the opportunity to sell merchandise through merchandising spreads, such as collections of home furnishings displayed in room settings and apparel displayed in complete outfits with alternate pieces.
Retailers should spend more time on A/B testing of merchandise displays to determine what’s most effective at building customer loyalty. “It’s all about relevance to shoppers,” Burke said.
Back...
