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Placing products effectively in the onsite search engine
A less-than-effective onsite search tool or categories that don't resonate with the visitor can greatly impact whether a visit translates into a sale.
For companies such as Williams-Sonoma, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and Footsmart, onsite search is critical to helping customers find what they want. These retailers analyze behavioral data to determine which terms are used most often and which terms lead to conversion.
Many Coremetrics' customers like these conduct a regular analysis of their top 20 or 30 search terms. Knowing which products are commonly bought on those terms lets merchants determine which products should appear at the top of search results pages, increasing the relevancy of search results for the customer.
Footsmart, for example, conducted an in-depth analysis of its onsite search to gain a clearer picture of which search terms drive online conversion and revenue. The results identified underperforming terms-- information that the merchandising team used to fine-tune the site search. The effort provided an 82 percent increase in onsite search conversion.
These merchants also use their onsite search analysis in innovative ways to support merchandising decisions.
For example, in the past, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM's home page did not have a section that allowed visitors to select by flower type. A review of frequently used search terms prompted the ecommerce team to add a section for roses, lilies, orchids and several other flower types that regularly appeared in search reports. This change enhanced the customer experience by making it faster to find the desired product.
Williams-Sonoma ecommerce team draws on historical data for such activities as planning new product launches. By looking at what was successful in the past the team can make better decisions when planning new launches.
To make these kinds of improvements, retailers depend on detailed reports and analyses of onsite search behaviors at the individual term level. In addition, they need a process in place for analyzing the most important terms and taking action on the data by tuning the site search engine to deliver better results.
Leveraging cross sell and up sell
Cross-sell and up-sell offers make buying online easier by presenting visitors with targeted choices based on preferences instead of forcing them to scroll through individual product pages. The right pairing of products can persuade visitors to purchase additional items, increasing average order value.
Retailers use a variety of cross-sell and up-sell techniques such as "You might also like" or "Great go-togethers" sections on product pages or presenting several products together as a set or an outfit.
Ann Taylor has developed a unique and innovative cross-sell feature for its www.anntaylorloft.com site. The Create an Outfit feature presents visitors with several items that match the product they're viewing. For example, a visitor looking at a pair of pants can scroll through and pick from several pairs of shoes, a few handbags, and a matching jacket or top. As she picks items, they appear on the product view side of the page with the pants. The feature is designed to improve the shopping experience and increase conversion.
A cross-functional team of marketers, merchants and web production people coordinate to review what's selling online, how visitors navigate the site, which editorial storylines they follow, and which items are the best cross-sell candidates. The team plans to increase its use of analytics to get a better picture of what cross sells best, identify underperforming products more quickly and improve onsite search.
Williams-Sonoma regularly looks at its 20 top-selling items and identifies what other items people are buying when they purchase one of these popular products. With this insight into relevant cross-sell items, the company's merchants can ensure that the right cross-sell offers appear in the "You may also like" section of the product page for the top-selling products.
Conclusion
Since the introduction of online shopping in the 1990s, top retailers have made major strides in developing effective online merchandising strategies. Their experience offers other enterprises insight into what works and what doesn't in the online arena. They have learned that collecting comprehensive data and analyzing that data in a variety of ways helps them understand customer interests and needs. They leverage this information to improve their websites on an ongoing basis because they have discovered that even small changes can have a big impact. For example, a change that increases the percent of site visits with a product view by just one percent results in an increase of 1.9 percent in revenue for a typical commerce site.
Odimo, for example, is now capable of analyzing and tracking online consumer behavior that has proven successful through a steady sales increase of 30 percent to 50 percent immediately after any analytics-driven changes are made to its sites or banners.
The keys to success are simple. They include:
- Developing a cross-functional organizational structure that promotes collaboration
- Establishing and monitoring a variety of merchandising metrics
- Categorizing products in an intuitive manner based on customer behavior
- Understanding which channels attract qualified traffic
- Optimizing onsite search to ensure relevant results
- Organizing site content to create the highest probability of cross sell and up sell.
By focusing on these critical areas, online retailers can improve their merchandising efforts in a way that increases conversion, encourages customer loyalty and reduces customer acquisition costs.
As vice president of marketing, Jane Paolucci develops and leads the execution of strategic marketing initiatives to extend Coremetrics' presence in the hosted web analytics and precision marketing space. Paolucci brings over 14 years of strategic marketing and public relations experience. Prior to joining Coremetrics, she was the group director of public relations at Siebel Systems, Inc. where she was responsible for leading communication programs for over 20 business lines. Before Siebel Systems, Paolucci was the director of analyst and public relations at Amdocs where she managed worldwide communications activities for the Clarify CRM division. She has also held a senior position as director of corporate marketing at Remedy Corporation where she managed all CRM marketing activities. In addition, Paolucci has held marketing roles at high technology companies including Decisive Technology, which was acquired by MessageMedia, Neuron Data, which was renamed Blaze Software, and Taligent, Inc.
Paolucci holds a bachelors degree in liberal arts from the University of California at Berkeley.
