Why a Good Product Needs a Great Website

Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal has a nice write-up by Heidi Mitchell about 3D wallcoverings as an emerging design trend. The article describes this new design trend as “putting pearls, bamboo, suede, grass and other textures on the walls for a 3-D effect.” It’s an engaging article with lots of images, and it should have interior designers around the country delivering 3D wallpaper swatches by the Smart-Car-load for weeks to come.

In short, the article explains how new manufacturing technologies are enabling wallpaper companies to cost effectively produce wallpaper with feathers, beads, metallics and other materials woven right into the paper. It sounds awesome, and my interest was piqued by a quote in the second paragraph from interior designer Annie Mahoney: “The light hits the surface in different ways, it creates a kind of magical feeling.”

 But you’ll have to take our word for it: “Some 3-D wallpapers appear to change as sunlight moves and reflects off them during the day.

 So I went online and I visited the sites of the manufacturers mentioned in the article to get a better idea of how these products look and see the magic for myself. Imagine my disappointment when the online experiences didn’t match up to the expectations established in the article. In fact I couldn’t find a single compelling image on the manufacturers’ sites that showed the depth, texture or character of the 3D products in the article. Motion, however slight, is key to illustrating the lighting and reflection properties of any surface; however I was unable to find any simple 360 views or video on these manufacturer sites (screen captures and links are included below). In fact the best image I could find online was at Lowes.com which has a nifty zoom feature that allows the web shopper to see what appears to be a few isolated elevations in the texture of the Astek Grasscloth Wallcovering.

 Lowe’s Astek Grasscloth Wallcovering Page w/ Zoom

It’s interesting how new technology is enabling wall coverings manufacturers to offer textured wallpaper in multiple colors at compelling price points, but these same companies aren’t employing new technologies to showcase their products in engaging ways online.

Given the fact that over half of all retail purchases are influenced by the web it seems there is an opportunity for wallcoverings manufacturers and retailers to better tell their story and deliver real-life-purchase-confidence to their online shoppers by offering 3D experiences that show the depth, texture and character of these innovative products on their websites. After all, if your products are 3D, shouldn’t your web experience be as well?

There are three sides to every story, so tell me what you think. Are you keeping up with the online demands of your consumers, or are you missing opportunities to build real-life-purchase-confidence online?

Footnote - Why the online disconnect? Related current images of 3D wallpaper product mentioned in the WSJ article:

Maya Romanoff

             Swarovski Feather Palace French Grey    Brewster Home Fashions Grasscloth product page

Try It Before You Buy It

Like many of you, I consider myself to be a pretty savvy shopper. I know where to find expert opinions and consumer reviews. I know how to comparison shop on the web to get the best price. I know how to pit local retailers against one another where appropriate, and I negotiate nearly every day of my life.

A few months ago I set out to buy a new car. I researched diligently. I conducted test drives. I found a car that appeared to meet my needs at the right price, and I read dozens of amazingly positive consumer reviews online.

So, I pulled the trigger and bought the car.

Six months later it’s the most infuriating car I’ve ever owned. The transmission exhibiting all of the wonky traits of a 4^th runner-up erector-set-gone-awry middle school science project. As I stand here today, ankle deep in a puddle of buyer’s remorse, I can’t help but think there has to be a better way to purchase cars and other big-ticket items. Isn’t there somewhere I can try it before I buy it?

It turns out there is, at least for some popular vehicles. Hertz Car Sales has a novel idea: try out a car for three days and use it like you would in real life. This is a brilliant program. Not only does this give the consumer a few days to get comfortable with their vehicle, it also leverages the time-tested puppy dog close:  the theory being once you’ve held a cute, cuddly puppy (or a slightly used late model sedan) it’s awfully hard to give it back.  

 Beware of Puppy Dog 

So with that problem partially solved, I turned my attention to an even larger question: How are e-commerce firms and online promoters utilizing rich media technologies to provide shoppers a try-it-before-you-buy-it experience? As we become more sophisticated consumers the chances increase that a single quirk in a product will make us loathe it. Customer reviews are providing new insight into how a product works, but there’s always that lingering thought “will it work for me?”

This is a challenge across the entire e-commerce landscape, particularly as e-retailers battle their brick and mortar brethren for big-ticket purchases. According to Christian Holst at the Baymard Institute: “One of the greatest barriers in e-commerce is that the customer never gets to try out the product before buying it, as opposed to shopping in a physical store. This is why research, experiments and best practices often recommend large product images, product videos and 3D product tours to improve e-commerce conversions. All to simulate the experience of holding the physical product.”¹

Here are four of my current favorite sites employing creative and unique try-it-before-you-buy-it content. Test drive each for yourself, and let me know what you think.

Anthropologie.com – Home Furnishings

             lights on                                  lights off

One of my favorite simple try-it-before-you-buy-it experiences is at Anthropologie’s lighting store, where simply placing your cursor over the lamp lets you see what it looks like at night. It’s simple, fast and effective. This is good stuff for building purchase confidence.

The California Redwood Company – Outdoor Living

One of the most advanced experiences on the web today isn’t from an e-retailer but a sustainable lumber company. The California Redwood Company lets you select deck finishes and railing styles while you are actually on the deck. They even let you see it at various times during the day and at night so you can experience the deck when you are most likely to be using it. Additionally, the experience is completely real-time which means, after your first startup, there’s no rendering delay as you move around the deck and choose from 63,000 visual combinations of decking, railings, finishes, times-of-day, and scenes/locations.²

Norma Kamali – Fashion

Zappos.com may have a 365 day return policy and free shipping both ways, which leads to try-it-before-you-buy-it behavior, but www.normakamalicollection.com actually encourages it with their “Try Before You Buy” program. In this program you have a bunch of stuff shipped to your home, but you only pay for what you keep. You get 48 hours to decide on your choices with your own shoes and accessories. Personally, I like the fact that you aren’t billed until you decide what you want to keep. While almost every e-retailer offers liberal return policies, this “Try-Before-You-Buy” concept is well packaged and, if nothing else, certainly good marketing.

2011 Virtual Home – New Residential Construction

The well-documented plight of the current housing market makes the recent investment in the Hanley Wood virtual home all the more impressive. This photo-realistic walk-through features in-depth information about product specifications and building practices, videos about the home’s construction and resource-efficient features, and the opportunity to connect with product manufacturers. It takes a little patience as scenes are loaded, and the more tech-savvy will pine for more freedom of movement, but it’s a fully fleshed-out, comprehensive online experience.

There are three sides to every story, tell me what you think. Which are your favorite sites offering confidence-building try-it-before-you-buy-it experiences?

¹ Is Augmented Reality the Future of E-Commerce?, Webpronews.com, January 7, 2011

² Disclosure: The California Redwood Company is an active client of the author

How To Be An Online Innovator

Fortune favors the bold. It’s a compelling phrase, particularly as I watch Steve Jobs deliver the latest Apple Keynote. But while Apple continues to position itself as the king of innovation, why do so many other great brands seem to be stuck in innovation-neutral, particularly with respect to the online shopping experiences they’re delivering to shoppers?

How do we “boldly go where no one has gone before” without the inherent risk?

I regularly find myself at an interesting intersection in the e-commerce conversation. On one side I hear from consumers and technology providers that most e-commerce companies are underutilizing technology in their online stores. At the same time I am in conversations with e-commerce and marketing executives about the challenge of recognizing and deploying promising technologies. That said, e-commerce executives feel the pressure to deliver a richer shopping experience. Multiple studies have shown that e-retailers should get more innovative with their web sites, and that “Retailers simply can’t wait for consumers to dictate what they haven’t even figured out for themselves. E-commerce winners will be the ones to invent something new, not track what customers tell them they want.”¹

So, what’s the hold up? And why do Marketing leaders, both digital and otherwise, continue to wrestle with age old questions:

1)    How do I know what technologies to experiment with?

2)    How do I experiment without disrupting my ongoing operation?

The answer to the first question lays in data. In my last post I provided a set of statistics around the efficacy of employing 3D objects online. Statistics like these that show impact on conversion rates, average order values and other key performance indicators will help technology purveyors make their case with e-commerce and marketing professionals. As I scan the Internet for the latest technologies, I’m continually surprised by the lack of supporting data on websites and email pitches. Phrases like “it’s better,” “it’s perfect,” and “it’s awesome” will almost always be followed by “yet it continues to be overlooked.” Given the analysis tools at our disposal we need to generate better supporting data.

The answer to the second question is that companies need to have a proactive test and learn process. For e-commerce and marketing executives a sound testing methodology and process is key to being able to experiment with and adopt the latest and most beneficial technologies. The result of a robust test and learn process is knowing the true incremental benefit of any action. That’s critical knowledge as I’ve found that the C-Suite responds much better to investment requests that include “demonstrated increased share, revenue and profits.”

In today’s competitive environment most e-retailers have sound testing methodologies, such as A / B testing where 50% of the visitors to a website receive the standard experience and 50% of the visitors are routed to the test experience. But with the pace of innovation moving at breakneck speed, a sound testing methodology isn’t enough. There are few if any grand slam home runs, so every company will need a pipeline of test initiatives in the queue if they intend to maintain a leadership position. To build a steady drumbeat of tests, create a test and learn process that identifies clear goals, questions to be answered (learning) and initiatives to be tested. As new technologies are presented they can be assessed in the context of the test plan. If there’s a fit then the new technology can be seamlessly added to the test plan for evaluation, the results of the test determining next steps.

A true test and learn process can’t be supplemental to the core marketing process, it must be a central part of it. A point person needs to be accountable for making sure there’s a robust testing pipeline and process and that the learning is leveraged and propagated throughout the organization. Be prepared to dedicate appropriate headcount and leadership support to the test and learn effort.

Building a robust test and learn process, while not easy, is a relatively simple concept that can pay big dividends for the companies who embrace it. For online retailers they’ll rarely miss an opportunity to take advantage of a promising technology, and they’ll be in a position to create some really awesome online experiences that also inspire purchases, increase revenues and drive profits.

Moving fast to innovate the online customer experience:

1)    Create a test plan and budget for metrics that need to improve

2)    Look for technology solutions that require little internal integration (vendor hosted)

3)    Keep it simple: the more complicated the test, the more abstract the learning

The results of a well thought out test plan can be profound. As the leader of the corporate marketing function of a Fortune 500 company my team and I instituted a rigorous test and learn methodology to generate data in support of our marketing investments with our largest retailers. Simply put, we’d test our new marketing initiatives in a small, representative set of stores and measure the impact on sales lift. Over a four year period we grew our share with our largest customer from 40% to 100% while shrinking our investment in that customer by 20%. We didn’t always swing for home runs, we just made sure we made the most out of every at bat.

There are three sides to every story, tell me what you think. How are e-retailers successfully inventing and deploying new technologies that enhance the online shopping experience?

¹ “Playing Well with Others: eCommerce’s Evolving Role in the Customer Experience,” sponsored by Gomez Inc., a provider of web site performance technology and services, and Microsoft Corp.

Real-Life Purchase Confidence

Why is it that every time I walk into a Target store to buy a single item I walk out with a shopping cart full of stuff? Is it possible I become entranced by the irresistible combination of feel-good Muzak, beckoning aisle logic, tantalizing BOGO promotions and the visual mysticism of the floating red bullseye?

The truth is that retailers have gotten extremely good at their brick and mortar craft, often influencing us to buy more than originally planned. Almost always we purchase at least something. When’s the last time you walked into a major retailer like Target or Lowe’s and walked out empty-handed? Take solace in the fact that you’re not alone. Over half the people who walk into a major brick and mortar retailer every day leave with an item in their environmentally-friendly shopping bag.

How do we deliver this level of real-life purchase confidence online?

As decisive as we are in the confines of a warehouse-club shopping environment, we seem to be completely lost in front of a computer screen. Some quick shopping stats: 55% of us purchase during a visit to a brick and mortar store, while only about 1.5% of us do so at a major retailer’s website. Further research¹ tells us that close to 40% of visitors to those same online retail sites intend to make an online purchase, so what happens to the 38.5% of visitors who intend to purchase but don’t?

A major part of the answer is good-old-fashioned lack of purchase confidence. Simply put, shoppers have more confidence about their buying decisions in a “real-life” brick and mortar environment than they do online, and that’s a huge opportunity for online retailers.

The old adage “better safe than sorry” casts a long shadow over the online shopping experience. Nobody wants to face the dark side of buyers’ remorse, that painful feeling that is aptly expressed in a recent Best Buy commercial where a 4 year old chastises her father’s new-but-outdated purchase with the straightforward accusation: “You got the wrong TV silly-head!”

One downside to the online experience is that consumers can’t physically inspect the product or try it on. As a result, consumers have been conditioned to find retailers with generous return policies. Good advice, but the fact is that returns are expensive for all of us: the manufacturer, the retailer and the consumer.

What’s not to love about a liberal return policy?

So e-commerce leaders have the doubly-difficult challenge of increasing conversion rates while simultaneously lowering returns. But how?

Consumer reviews and recommendations are part of the solution. Additionally, e-retailers are turning more and more to 3D, and rightly so. A recent survey² generated promising statistics on the use of 3D objects online:

• More than 80 percent of consumers say online 3D images make them more likely to purchase a product.
• 65 percent say they would be less likely to return a product after viewing it in 3D online.
• 78 percent say 3D images make them “comfortable” that the product they are viewing is high quality.
• About 60 percent say they would be more likely to purchase if they had 3D instructions showing how to assemble and use a product.

Of course, there’s more to online conversion rates than presenting products in 3D - including what shoppers can do with those 3D objects - but presenting products in 3D is a good place to start.

There are three sides to every story, tell me what you think. How are retailers successfully creating real-life purchase confidence online?

¹ ForeSee Results / FGI Research. Internet Retailer 2010 Top 500 Guide, p. 108.

² Infogroup’s Opinion Research Corporation (ORC)

What is the Future of Online Shopping?

One of my favorite current commercials is a promotion for ESPN3.com that has the inspiring tagline “At this point you’re certain the Internet can’t get any more awesome!” Of course the line is delivered in complete parody, as the sarcastic punctuation mark at the end of a sentence that begins: “Dads on vacation, third tier social networking sites, hazy cosmic van scapes…” The sad truth is that way too much of the Internet experience is far from awesome (or “Brilliant!” for my friends diligently obsessing over the royal wedding).

It’s time we expected more from the Internet. As e-commerce professionals it’s time we delivered far more to online shoppers than we have. First, we’ve got to stop listening to our own hype. If you listen to trade journals, home shows or popular media, each day brings a new online shopping breakthrough. We all know, however, step-change improvement in the online shopping experience remains elusive.

Why do we ask consumers to drop $3,000 on a refrigerator viewed as a static image in white space? (Image source: an incredibly large top 10 e-retailer)

Case in point: A recent feature on the Today Show focused on new trends in home decorating, describing new shopping tools and resources.  All is well until the guest sums up the segment by saying these tools “suck up a lot of hours”. That sounds like a show-stopper especially considering (according to our friends at Nielsen) that one of the principal reasons people shop online is to save time.

After all, you don’t have to go to Disney’s Tomorrowland to see what the future of shopping looks like. It’s fast, fun, connected and confidence-building. It’s about integrating technology in an engaging way, a way that combines the joys of shopping with the engagement of gaming with the confidence of holding a product in your hand…when you’re online or in the store.

So, whether you’re a marketer, an e-commerce professional or a consumer isn’t it time we pushed for a more engaging online shopping experience?

There are three sides to every story, tell me what you think. Are you frustrated or amazed by today’s online shopping experience? (Post a comment and share this article below)