Ecommerce Blog

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

One of my favorite blogs, RetailEmail.Blogspot.com, faithfully follows hundreds of email marketing campaigns to compile useful trend data and showcase the best (and worst) of email design and subject lines.

One of the most interesting tags to surf is the animation category. Here you’ll find a bunch of examples of how retailers are incorporating animated gifs into email messages. I’d like to share some of my favorites from this category:

1. Showing Items in Context

We learned from the recent webinar “Jon Stewart or Oprah: What’s Your Website’s Personality?” that certain personality types or buying modalities respond better to seeing items “in context” or how they will be used practically. This means clothing on humans or furniture in a room. On a product page, multiple product views give customers an idea of how products look from different angles.

(more…)

Web Analytics for Online Retailers: Technology Use &amp Satisfaction 2008
Free webinar: April 17th, 2008, 9am PT/12pm ET
Guest Panelist: Eric T. Peterson, CEO, Web Analytics Demystified
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Original post by Linda Bustos

Alan Rimm-Kaufman was kind enough to videoblog the concepts covered by his panel at the recent Shop.org conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Alan was presenting on how to be customer centric in paid search marketing.

Alan presents in his slide deck a number of things customers really want (yes the Spice Girls did make a cameo in the presentation although they were a no-show in person at the Shop.org event). He then applies them to a real product search experience for one of Under Armour’s running shoe models: the Proto Power Trainer.

What A Searcher Really Really Wants From Your Paid Search Ad

• I want to type 2, 3 or 4 words into Google (Longer queries may reflect “long tail” search terms. Product-specific searches like “under armour proto power trainer” are far more specific than “running shoe” and typically converts higher if you have what that searcher wants in stock and at a favorable price)

• I want to use my own words, not yours (Customers may use different word orders or synonyms like running shoe, athletic shoe, sneakers, trainers or runners)
• I want you to handle my typos and misspells (It’s easy to type “armor” rather than “armour” - especially for US customers)
• I want to find your ad on page 1, above fold (Customers expect very targeted queries to deliver relevant results. Product keywords are important in search ads for higher click through)
• I want ad copy which helps me choose (
• I want ad copy which is honest (If you promise a product - you better send the customer to the right landing page - not the home page or even the category page. Make sure the price in your ad matches the price on your landing page)
• I want a landing page which loads quickly (Alan has a great article on this at Search Engine Land)
• I want a landing page which lets me do what I want to do me as quickly as possible (We’ve got a great webinar on landing page optimization)

(more…)

Original post by Linda Bustos

…all your products on one page, that is.

The Wall Street Journal recently said of male shoppers:

“This group is a retailer’s dream: When shopping online, they spend more, make snap decisions — and return less stuff.”

The article cites research that suggests men shop in cyberspace just like they do in the physical world - they want to get in and out the door fast. Women on the other hand will browse, click, compare, browse some more - just for fun - then end up buying something in a physical store.

Enter Web 2.0

To facilitate the boys’ need for speed, Neiman Marcus has added features to its tie shop that show more product - faster. And I mean fast, go try it out yourself it’s like watching Indy cars (not sure how usable it is as it’s hard to control).

Neiman Marcus has also enlarges images when you roll over thumbnails, as we’re seeing more and more. This saves clicks and time.

American Eagle Outfitters “gets it” too. The AE site allows you to mouseover the product category from individual product pages. For example “View All Shorts” (notice the scroll bar?)

From the WSJ article: “Neimanmarcus.com now gives shoppers a way to view 52 ties at once in its new Tie Shop, instead of having to look at them nine at a time.”

The 1.0 Solution

Maybe you don’t have the development resources that Neiman Marcus or American Eagle Outfitters has. No worries, there’s always the “View All” link.

As easy as it is to do, many sites don’t offer a simple view all link. Hey I may have a pony tail but I hate clicking on page numbers as much as any man. It’s a simple usability feature that could help make the shopping experience better for men and women - without having to implement fancy Web 2.0.

Web Analytics for Online Retailers: Technology Use & Satisfaction 2008
Free webinar: April 17th, 2008, 9am PT/12pm ET
Guest Panelist: Eric T. Peterson, CEO, Web Analytics Demystified
Register to Attend

Original post by Linda Bustos

We learned from our recent webinar Jon Stewart or Oprah: What’s Your Website’s Personality Type that different people experience and interact with your website in different ways depending on their dominant personality type.

These 4 buying modalities have been described as Competitive (fast and logical decision-making), Spontaneous (fast and emotional decisions), Methodical (slow and rational) and Humanistic (slow and emotional). (Read this summary if you’re not familiar with the 4 modalities.)

You may have a tendency to make most of your decisions a certain way - that’s just who you are. But different buying situations can throw you into a different mode. For example, a typically spontaneous person must take a slow and rational approach when evaluating software vendors for a major ecommerce project, even though he may download iTunes tracks on impulse several times over the same period.

Personality Types and Email Marketing

If you had an email account that was purely ecommerce offers (no messages from work, friends or Nigerian ambassadors), you would see the majority are vying for your attention like: SALE! UP TO 50% OFF! NEW STOCK! ONLINE ONLY! EXCLUSIVE! FREE SHIPPING!

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Web Analytics for Online Retailers: Technology Use &amp Satisfaction 2008
Free webinar: April 17th, 2008, 9am PT/12pm ET
Guest Panelist: Eric T. Peterson, CEO, Web Analytics Demystified
Register to Attend

Original post by Linda Bustos

Like Vitaman’s Nikki, American Eagle Outfitters is giving a “human” touch to its merchandising. AE has snagged video-blogging vixen iJustine as a spokeswoman for its Spring Break events in Cancun. And you can find her ooh-ing and aah-ing products within an interactive Spring Break packing guide.

Unlike Nikki, iJustine gushes about goodies for both girls and guys when you rollover certain items.

But like the Vitaman valet, she is very enthusiastic in romancing the products:

Guys, trust me. Throw on a polo and a smile and you’ll have every girl’s attention. They’re so great looking and so easy to wear with anything. If you don’t pack some polos, you might as well stay home.

Whether having a human describe products is something customers want to see - I don’t know. Perhaps for high school / college types who’d rather watch the movie than read the book - watching a product description is preferred?

But really, this concept isn’t new. We have the choice to read the newspaper, or watch an attractive anchor read it to us. Why wouldn’t that also apply to ecommerce?

Video is Here to Stay

It certainly takes a lot of time and money to build interactive Flash-based applications. But if you don’t want to go that route, you can still add a human element by adding video content to product pages, like Tiger Direct:

This video sold me on this camcorder, which I purchased immediately along with a bunch of accessories. I found Arno to be knowledgeable, friendly and humorous. Plus this video actually showed me how close you can zoom in with this camera - try describing that with text! With absolutely no background knowledge of camcorders, it really helped to have a virtual salesperson to turn to. Plus it’s nice to refer to the demo to learn how to use the camera when I get it rather than relying on the package black and white insert.

I expect to see a lot more video merchandising (with real people) popping up in the future.

Effective Online Merchandising: What Sells?
Free webinar: March 13th, 2008, 9am PT/12pm ET
Guest Panelist: Mike Svatek, Director, Marketing & Product Management, Baynote
Register to Attend

Original post by Linda Bustos

If your company or products are fortunate enough to attract media attention, naturally you would want to highlight this your ecommerce website. Not only does it add credibility to your site browsers, but it can also help new visitors to your website responding to your good press find those featured items quickly.

One store that gets a lot of media love is Rampage. Today we’re going to look at how Rampage leverages its media coverage, and what it can do to take it one step further.

Home Page

The pencil skirt in the image above was recently included in a fashion segment on the Today Show. Rampage includes an “As Seen on the Today Show” link on the home page, so any visitor, whether they have seen the clip or not knows right away the media thinks Rampage is a trend-setting store. Even if you don’t want a pencil skirt, the recognition of the Today Show may boost consumer trust.

The home page also links to a media coverage section — mostly top fashion magazines. There’s 17 mentions from fashion magazines in Winter 2008 alone. Each reference has a thumbnail of the magazine with details of which item was featured.

You can click through for more detail of the actual article:

From here you can click through to the product page. Rampage uses URL parameters to track which product page views came through the media area, and also to add a “return to media coverage” link on the product page for usability.

Collections

Another area where Rampage pounces on its publicity is in its unique merchandising area: “Collections.” Each collection shows sets of items (much like a magazine editor’s picks layout) with product details appearing upon mouseover (great usability). This is great merchandising for female fashion, because unlike sidebar cross-sells, this gives the customer a feel for how things look as an outfit. (It’s much harder to visualize when product thumbnails are 4 inches away from each other.)

Collection’ />

Again, Rampage uses unique URLs for clicks to product pages from collections, and the user is shown a “return to collection” link.

When you roll over any product in a collection, you see the product name, the price (sale prices in red), the available sizes and a fun description. If the item has been covered by a magazine or TV, this is mentioned in the rollover box.

Product Page

This is the current product page:

The product description includes a link that jumps to MSNBC.com, where the Today Show clip lives.

But this clip is embeddable, so Rampage could easily incorporate this video right on the product page. The customer wouldn’t have to leave the product page. This would appeal to the “competitive” customer, as I learned from Jason’s webinar last week on personality types. The “competitive” shopper is click-averse, and rollovers give you the information without a click.

Here’s my concept for a new landing page with video. (I also took the liberty to trade the product color links for attractive color swatches).

This is a loooong video that also features other retailers. Rampage’s item is not mentioned until the end of the clip. If Rampage could contact MSNBC.com and ask permission to show only a short clip (introducing the expert, and honing in on the Rampage feature), this would be more effective.

Many sites are introducing video with product information and customer reviews right on product pages. If media clips like this are available and embeddable, it makes sense to include these also.

Effective Online Merchandising: What Sells?
Free webinar: March 13th, 2008, 9am PT/12pm ET
Guest Panelist: Mike Svatek, Director, Marketing & Product Management, Baynote
Register to Attend

Original post by Linda Bustos

We promised a celebrity-inspired session and our own Jason Billingsley and Carolyn Gardner of Sitebrand delivered with “Jon Stewart or Oprah: What’s Your Brand Personality.”

Jason and Carolyn matched 4 well-known celebs to 4 consumer-mindsets that you should know.

4 Consumer Mindsets

• Competitive (Jon Stewart)

• Spontaneous (Steve Colbert)
• Methodical (Dr. Phil)
• Humanistic (Oprah)

Some characteristics of each:

(more…)

Effective Online Merchandising: What Sells?
Free webinar: March 13th, 2008, 9am PT/12pm ET
Guest Panelist: Mike Svatek, Director, Marketing & Product Management, Baynote
Register to Attend

Original post by Linda Bustos

We promised a celebrity-inspired session and our own Jason Billingsley and Carolyn Gardner of Sitebrand delivered with “Jon Stewart or Oprah: What’s Your Website Personality.”

Jason and Carolyn matched 4 well-known celebs to 4 consumer-mindsets that you should know.

4 Consumer Mindsets

• Competitive (Jon Stewart)

• Spontaneous (Steve Colbert)
• Methodical (Dr. Phil)
• Humanistic (Oprah)

Some characteristics of each:

(more…)

Web Analytics for Online Retailers: Technology Use & Satisfaction 2008
Free webinar: April 17th, 2008, 9am PT/12pm ET
Guest Panelist: Eric T. Peterson, CEO, Web Analytics Demystified
Register to Attend

Original post by Linda Bustos