Five Immediate Opportunities for E-Commerce Improvements

Earlier this year, Internet.com provided a synopsis of a report issued by Sucharita Mulpuru, e-commerce analyst from Forrester Research ( Ice Your Competition with a Cool Return Policy ). In her report, entitled “Five Immediate Opportunities for E-Commerce Improvements,” one of the biggest areas e-tailers must improve in to increase customer satisfaction is multichannel delivery.

“All companies that sell products online should develop checklists for these pages, ensuring that copywriters and vendors/manufacturers fill out all key attributes,” Internet.com reports. “Content directly from manufacturer Web sites, enabled by companies like WebCollage , provide another useful source of product information," she says in the report. "Additionally, customer feedback, either aggregated as ratings or explicitly shared as reviews, is valuable for disclosing the strengths as well as the shortcomings of products — information that retailers or manufacturers rarely provide.”

Up until recently, it was cost-prohibitive for online retails sites to customize rich media content for thousands of products offered by their retail manufacturing partners. For retailers, creating rich product marketing across hundreds of thousands of SKUs for each of their vendors is both costly and prohibitive. Manufacturers, on the other hand, have already invested large sums of money on developing product marketing content for their Web site. The challenge these manufacturers face: how to get this Web-based product marketing content into the hands of consumers researching products online. Through patent-pending technology, WebCollage is helping prominent retail manufacturers syndicate their rich online marketing content onto the Web sites of prominent retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City, EB Games, Office Depot, Ritz Camera, Macy's, Nordstrom's, Sears and many others. Using WebCollage, manufacturers syndicate their rich Web product marketing content (interactive demos, buying guides, educational content, etc.) directly onto a retailer's existing Web site – seamlessly and easily, with almost no programming.

“Another challenge outlined in the study involves the Web's inherent disadvantage in conveying product attributes, such as density and durability, and the fact that online shoppers simply cannot physically inspect items prior to purchase.” Internet.com denotes. “Improvements such as the use of zoom and color swatching are becoming more standard, used by 48 percent and 37 percent of e-tailers, respectively, but Mulpuru emphasizes that detailed product pages must be a priority.”

Customers are more likely to stay and browse a retail site when comprehensive product information is readily available. That's why many online retailers are focusing on providing rich online educational content such as interactive videos, online demos and other informational tools, not focused on product specific information, but may be educational in a related area of customer interest (such as tips for taking better photos). Retailers want customers to visit their sites frequently and avoid going to their competitors for valuable information. The goal of showcase content, therefore, is to create a complete shopping and research experience.

Video is becoming a critical component of online retail as well, as more and more people go to the Web sites of major retailers to research products before they buy them. According to the 9th Annual Mystery Shopping study by E-Tailing Group, rich media lead a broad range of customer-focused improvements on retail web sites, reported by Internet Retailer. During Q4, the study found that 41 percent of the retail web sites surveyed now offer online audio files, while 38 percent offer streaming video. WebCollage also has data proving that add-to-carts increase between 6 and 15 percent when shoppers are given the option to view rich marketing content about products they are looking for.