If you own or influence online strategy you want to heed this quote: “Today’s online shopper is extremely web-savvy and expects more than ever, forcing retailers to raise the stakes,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. The quote came with the release of a report from Shop.org and Forrester: The State of Retailing Online 2007
What I especially like is the realisation that the best retailers developing their online strategies are focusing on two very important priorities…
1. Focusing On the Basics - Only well designed e-commerce sites get customers to the product and then through the transaction effectively, many have a lot of room for improvement. And that’s just the start of the experience, the whole delivery and service set up needs to work properly, and many just don’t today.
According to the survey, 88 percent of retailers plan to focus on improving content presented on product detail pages, with 80 percent adding alternative images, 72 percent incorporating lifestyle photography, and 63 percent integrating customer ratings and reviews. Retailers are also focusing on their homepages, integrating top sellers and “what’s new” sections, and making their Web sites more sophisticated, with dropdown menus and rollover lists in navigational areas. To differentiate themselves from competitors, online retailers are also making customer service a priority, with 33 percent of companies planning to invest more in live chat and 53 percent planning to enhance their guest checkout process within the next year.
“It’s encouraging to see more retailers planning to integrate customer feedback loops into their sales processes,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research senior analyst and lead author of the report. “Many retailers have been relying on site analytics data, which is strong at reflecting paths-to-purchase but typically weak at highlighting vulnerabilities or opportunities for improvement.”
2. Aligning Online and Offline Channels - Retailers are learning the value of operating in multiple channels, some are even recognising the need to injtegrate the channels.
Survey respondents said that 43 percent of catalog customers have also purchased from their online store and that 35 percent of online customers have also purchased from their bricks-and-mortar store. Online retailers reported that in 2006, they dedicated on average 18 percent of their marketing spend to cross-channel sales, up from 13 percent in 2005. Typically, such tactics included direct mail initiatives such as catalogs and email programs to drive customers to local stores. However, more retailers are also leveraging direct print mail as a way to increase online sales. According to the study, 66 percent of retailers measure the success of a catalog by how it increases web sales.
This all strikes a chord with me. I think the report is right, I’m seeing more retailers taking these two priorities seriously and that means we can all look forward to the continued rise of e-Commerce and Integrated Multi-Channel Retail – after 12 years in the industry that’s music to my ears!
