Hot topics in digital retail: Simplicity
7 ideas for streamlining the online shopping experience
Consumer attention spans are shrinking as the commercial landscape becomes increasingly cluttered. How can retailers make it easy for busy shoppers to discover and purchase products on any device?
Search and discovery
Build opportunities for discovery into site search. Certona’s Meyar Sheik recommends adding product recommendations (best sellers and top rated items) to any “no results found” page that would otherwise be a dead end. When results are returned, feature the most popular items to help shoppers find best sellers more quickly.
Product images
When it comes to category and product pages, it’s critical for images to be consistent and accurate. Sandbox Studios’ Joe Barrett points out that erratic colors and mismatched backgrounds not only increase the risk of returns, but also create a cluttered and overwhelming experience for shoppers.
To improve consistency across product images, it pays to streamline the photography process. At Barrett’s studio, the traditional method of product photography consisted of 71 manual steps, resulting in a lot of human error. Today, the process is just 23 manual steps and 31 automated steps. It’s easier to pinpoint and resolve errors, making it more affordable to capture a large number of images. A centralized Wiki with style guides and lighting diagrams — combined with code-driven automation for cropping and color adjustments — helps ensure accuracy and consistency across seasons and collections. Surprisingly, automation actually allows for more freedom in the content production process, because creative people aren’t consumed with routine tasks and objective decision-making.
Photo reviews
Since 90 percent of product reviews come as a response to emails and 60 percent of emails are opened on smartphones, TurnTo Networks’ George Eberstadt encouraged retailers to make it easier for customers to review products on mobile. That means less typing and more picture-snapping.
Product videos
Invodo tracked 94 million online buying decisions over the past year and found that nearly three-quarters of shoppers expect to see video on a product page. CEO Craig Wax says retailers can boost the impact of videos by adding a play button and link and increasing the player size. Emphasizing the most important content on a page makes it easier for busy consumers to understand what they should focus on.
Checkout chatter
When Sur La Table customers complete a purchase, they’re prompted to tell other customers why they chose that specific item. The micro-reviews are compiled on a “cart talk” page, which has been a big boost to conversion. On product pages, these customer comments also help inform and inspire indecisive shoppers.
Apps
If you absolutely must have an app, Razorfish’s Jason Goldberg suggests looking to Target for inspiration. The company’s Cartwheel app does one thing extremely well: It’s designed exclusively for mobile coupon clipping, making it easy for customers to find offers and easy for the retailer at the point of sale. Simplicity pays off: 15 million users have redeemed $277 million in mobile coupons, driving $1 billion in store revenue.
Mobile checkout
The average e-commerce checkout form has 23 fields. Gogo Wireless started out with 22 inputs on their original form. Goldberg notes that when Gogo slimmed down to eight inputs, conversion doubled — and doubled again when they reduced the form to just four inputs.
Check out Goldberg’s suggestions for a streamlined, user-friendly, five-field checkout: Download his “Solving the Mobile Conversion Gap” presentation from the event recap page.
This story was originally published as part of the Merch 2015 Playbook, a post-event summary of the most important ideas and tactics from Shop.org’s annual Online Merchandising Workshop. Download this and other free retail playbooks from the NRF Retail Library, and learn more about the 2016 Shop.org Digital Experience Workshop.
