How is Tata CLiQ treating each category uniquely within a standardized marketplace framework?
The traditional concept of any eCommerce horizontal Marketplace usually tends to have a standardized user journey across categories for better scalability & relatability. However, with the advent of single category-focused vertical marketplaces, change in consumer behavior category-wise and category-specific customer expectation has created the need of developing category-specific user journeys within the same marketplace framework. It is a standard dilemma for any marketplace to determine the extent of customization they want to category-wise. However, there are a few categories that need differentiated treatment for sure considering the uniqueness it has and deserves. Some of them on top of the list are Furniture, Appliances, Beauty, Fashion to name a few.
Without impacting the nuances of a standard marketplace, Tata CLiQ is on the path of creating vertical experiences focusing on category-specific needs. In this article, we will cover the vertical experience of Appliances as a category covering the Nuances, Insights & Treatment:
· Nuances
o High ASP Categories (2–3X of Electronics) leading to heavy research & high time spent on site (4–5 Minutes)
o Longer product life cycle (2–2.5X of Smartphones) leading to longer customer product lifecycle across buying and post-buying.
o Longer Purchase Cycle (60% Conversion happening >3Days of First Visit) leading to deep research on the site
o Importance of Post Delivery Services (unlike any category) — Installation, Warranty, Service, Extended Warranty etc.
o Chances of multiple contacts in the customer doorstep (Delivery, Exchange, Installation)
· Insights
o Simplifying the art of research — The sweet spot of Conversion of any appliances is higher than any of the other categories (2.5–3 Days from first Visit). Validating and understanding the technical specification takes bulk of this time. To make customers spend less in demystifying technical specifications and get converted within the sweet spot, we needed to simplify the art of research.
o One-stop solve for swift buying — Specs, Offers, Reviews, Delivery, Installation, Services, Bundles, Exchange are some but not all parameters that customers consider before hitting the Add to Cart button. We needed to make the customer decide on all the parameters at the same instant providing information clarity.
o Peace of Mind — Not only pre-buying parameters, appliances buying decisions demand equal if not more important to post buying parameters like Delivery, Installation, Warranty, Service, Customer Support, etc. to trust a brand. Data shows in many cases Trust & Assurance has an edge over Price When it comes to high-value purchases.
o Need of Assistance — A ‘Salesman’ is still a differentiated factor for customers opting to choose offline stores for Appliance’s purchase. Online has started making baby steps in aiding users in making the right buying decision by treating the ‘Salesman Experience’ as a benchmark.
· Treatment
o Simplifying the art of research through Content
§ Helpful — Usage of relatable content to help the users decide on technical specifications. Let the complex technical specifications be easy to understand.
§ Rich — Usage of Icons, Videos, Images to make the product browsing and understanding rich inexperience.
§ Readable — Make the abundance of information structured, clustered, and easy to find.
o One-stop solve for swift buying
§ Easy Offer Section — Offers still play an important role in buying decisions if not the most important one. It needed to be clustered, structured, and highlighting key decision parameters.
§ Enlarged Relevant Images (3D, In Room, Videos, etc.) — ‘How it looks’ is becoming more relevant for Appliances along with ‘How it works. Focus on types of relevant images, 3D View, In-Room Shoots, Product videos will add to this dimension.
§ View in your Space — Continuing with the ‘How it looks’ syndrome, there is an increase in users actually wanting to see how it fits into their room before buying, usage of XR to enable this and take a lead over offline stores.
§ Bundling & Freebie — Differentiated focus on discoverability, combability, and no-brainer decision enablers are needed to make appliance bunding and freebie buying journey faster and relevant.
o Peace of Mind
§ Detailed Installation & Warranty Section — Ease, clarity & accuracy of post-delivery services are as crucial as pre-delivery services for Appliances.
§ Service Details & Product Brochure — Need of a single place of source for all post-purchase information throughout the life span of the appliance (usually > 3 Years)
§ Feature & Brand Logos as First-Class Citizen — Declutter and standardize the tech specs into understandable visual logos/icons for ease of clarity and usage of Brand Logos extensively to bring out authenticity & trust.
o Need of Assistance
§ Pre-Buying ChatBot & Product Comparison — Difficult to better the Salesman's way of answering deep product queries with a touch of personalization, but an automated pre-buying bot for the same is an attempt to get closer to the ‘salesman’ experience.
§ Buying Tips & Help Texts — Tips are helpful and useful provided they are short, relevant, unbiased, and clear. Answers simple to complex queries on the journey itself (read ‘no googling’).
§ Videos & Micro videos — Videos are the new ‘text’. A plethora of information can be described with ease and better if we have the right content and length. Innovative 10 seconds Micro videos to replace the need for descriptive texts.
This is just the beginning of our honest attempt to reimagine and revalidate the need for a separate vertical buying journey for appliances. Following the pre-buying part, the post-buying journey will also be customized based on the category nuances.
On similar lines, separate attempts have been/being made to reimagine Beauty, Fashion & Fast Electronics buying journey to create multiple relevant verticals within a horizontal marketplace framework. Hoping to publish our approach document on them soon!!
So do visit Tata CLiQ Web & Apps (AC, TVs, Fans) to experience this.
For any queries and suggestions please drop a note here.
