The Art of Online Merchandising

Merchandising is emotional. Online e-commerce is not.

As measurement tools have advanced, web analysts report on a wide range of metrics that influence the ultimate goal:

Conversion!

Conversion rules.

Online marketers are paid to design strategies and execute campaigns to attract visitors to a website or landing page.

Online merchandisers are paid to motivate, to inform, entertain, and stimulate the visitor.


Conversion One: How Visitors become Shoppers

Once the visitor has arrived, the responsibility shifts from the role of marketing to the role of merchandising. Marketing campaigns are designed to provide incentives for visitors to shop, while artful merchandising seeks a bond, a desire for engagement. Artful online merchandising is focused on how to convert the visitor into a reliable prospect, often driven to become a shopper by site design, product offering, ease of navigation, visual and textural copy.

Think like a Shopper, Act Like a Buyer, Become a Better Seller

Conversion Two: Shopper becomes a Buyer

Shoppers browse, Buyers transact.

What are the core objectives for online merchandising?

Engagement, Value, and Loyalty

What are primary support goals required from web engineers and programmers?

Convenience, Efficiency, and Safety.


Successful Online Merchandising is a dance where both are in balance.

Principles of the Art

· Stimulate Curiosity
· Use Incentives for Customers to Engage with Staff
· The Calendar Repeats
· Free Shipping is Universal. It works.

Other Tips:

Dynamic Landing Pages
o Provide a focused, customized shopping experience around the product or subcategory of products
o Provide a great mix of product messaging that is too good to pass up
Product Merchandising Tips

· Lifestyle Images.

o Use photographs of people using your products
o Clean Silhouettes Rule.

· Expanded Product Information.

o Write concise and detailed product descriptions.
o Include product attributes – function, form, labeling, source,

· Multiple Photographs.

o Present the image of your product from several angles, as well as the product being used.

· Product Collections.

· Group several products into a collection that can be used together to create a complete solution to the customer's needs.