If you’re an omnichannel retailer (one who sells both online and in stores), you’ve likely put some thought into the strategy behind your store’s layout, signage, displays, and promotions. This is what’s known as retail merchandising. Here is the Online Merchandising Guide: 8 Strategies To Implement Today.
Why do you do these things? It’s simple. Retail merchandising techniques like these help you attract customers and sell more to them. What we want to know is: have you put as much thought into your online merchandising strategy?
What is online merchandising?
Let’s start by explaining what online merchandising actually is. Online merchandising is the placement and order of products, collections, and promotions on your site to increase sales. If you do this correctly, it will help potential customers navigate your stock, promote your products and ensure shoppers find the right products at the right time.
If you want to ensure your online merchandising is as good as it can be, then, you’re in luck. We’ve got a few handy tips to help you boost your sales in no time. Let’s get started:
>1. Personalize the online shopping experience
According to an Epsilon study, 9 in 10 consumers prefer personalized shopping experiences. And, 4 in 5 are more likely to shop with a brand that offers personalized experiences. Research by McKinsey similarly found that while consumers may take personalization for granted if a retailer doesn’t do it well, shoppers may abandon a brand and go to a competitor.
So, how can you personalize the online shopping experience for your customers? It’s all about tapping into customers’ data. For example, you can use a customer’s past browsing history to recommend products that they’ll be most interested in. Or, you can upsell based on items that a customer already owns or are in their cart.
Personalization—whether online or in stores—sets retailers apart and creates an experience shoppers will keep coming back to.
2. Use the Rule of 3
The Rule of 3 is a popular visual merchandising strategy in an in-store setting. According to the Rule of 3, shoppers are more likely to notice and remember displays and products when they are grouped in threes. For example, you’ll often see three mannequins placed together in stores.
You should translate the Rule of 3 for a digital format. You could format your e-commerce store to display three products per row. Or, style items in threes when taking editorialized product photos.
Fiverr suggests grouping “items that are similar or share a close relationship, but aren’t completely identical.” For example, you could group a bicycle, helmet, and tire pump in the same photo, or display a hat, scarf, and coat in the same row on your website.
3. Upsell premium products
The goal of online merchandising is to sell more and make more money with each purchase. One way to increase your average order value is to upsell. In a store setting, sales associates upsell by recommending more premium versions of products customers are interested into shoppers.
You can also upsell in an e-commerce setting. One way to do this is to implement a “customers also considered” element on your website and display similar, but more expensive, versions of products to shoppers.
The Rule of 3 can also be used to upsell. Show off basic, mid-range, and premium versions of similar products in the same row or image to show customers what they could get if they spent a little more.
4. Cross-sell complimentary items
Another technique for increasing your average order value is to cross-sell products. Not sure where to start? Check out these tips from our online merchandising guide:
Create product bundles: Bundle similar, complementary items together and sell them as a set to encourage customers to spend more. For example, you could bundle a pot with a pan and one cooking utensil, or bundle cleats, socks, and shinguards. This merchandising strategy usually works best when you offer a small discount on bundles.
Suggest complementary products: Suggest complementary products by adding a “customers also bought” section to product pages. Another technique is to configure a pop-up on your e-commerce website that asks customers if they want to add complementary products to their cart before checking out.
Style products together: By styling products together in product page photos, your online catalog, or editorialized photos on your website, you can upsell through the power of suggestion. If a customer is interested in a cup and they see it styled with a matching glass straw, they may purchase the straw as well.
5. Leverage customer reviews
Customers want to know what products are really like before they pull the trigger. Add a reviews section to your product pages to provide social proof and give customers more information about your products.
By letting customers upload photos of the products they’ve purchased and how they use them, you’re providing additional context that can help sway a purchase. For example, seeing how others have styled your curtains may help a customer imagine what your curtains would look like in their home. Or, seeing a dress worn by a customer who has a similar figure could help a shopper imagine what the dress would look like on them.
Another reason why customer reviews are included in our online merchandising guide is that they give your business useful feedback you can use to improve products. If several customers write that the zipper breaks on one of your coats, you could use that feedback to redesign the coat with a stronger zipper.
6. Optimize product pages for search engines
Include keywords that describe your products on product pages to help customers find what they’re looking for on your website’s internal search engine and on Google.
Optimize your products for search engines by using descriptive keywords in product names, item descriptions, and product page URLs. For example, instead of naming a pair of jeans “Claudia Jeans,” you could call them “Claudia Light Wash, High-Rise, Cropped Jeans.”
7. Use high-quality product photos
Photos are the best way to convey visual information about your products to online shoppers. That’s why it’s critical to include multiple high-quality images of each product on your website.
Begin with good lighting. While natural lighting is best, investing in a lighting kit is worthwhile. Although a DSLR camera will give you the best image possible, the quality of most smartphone photos is now on par with professional cameras.
Take a variety of photos of each product. Make sure you have photos that show:
The entire product from every relevant angle
Close-up shots of product details
Styled photos that provide context
Need some inspiration for styling photos? Let’s say you sell tableware. You could set a table with placemats, cutlery, plates, glasses, and a nice tablecloth from your inventory, and take photos. Styled images help customers imagine how they’ll use your products, and can help cross-sell other items as long as you link to the other products you feature in the image.
8. Optimize product descriptions
While a photo is worth a thousand words, there is some information a photo can’t convey. That’s where detailed product descriptions come into the picture.
You already know you need to include critical keywords in product descriptions. Beyond that, you should write descriptions that inform shoppers about what the product is and provide useful information, like:
Dimensions
Materials
Use instructions
Care instructions
Assembly instructions
We’ve also included this tip in our online merchandising guide because detailed product descriptions are critical for accessibility. They help shoppers with low vision and other accessibility challenges get the information they need to picture what they can’t see.
Wrapping up: Online merchandising guide
eCommerce will only continue to grow in importance to the retail industry. As it does, omnichannel retailers need to stay on top of the most effective online merchandising tactics. By implementing the strategies from this online merchandising guide, you can provide your customers with a greater user experience, and help them find what they’re looking for, and even some things they weren’t.
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for more restaurant trends and updates!, book your free trial for IconicERP. Online Merchandising Guide: 8 Strategies To Implement Today, Online Merchandising Guide: 8 Strategies To Implement Today, Online Merchandising Guide: 8 Strategies To Implement Today.
Have you ever wondered where restaurants get their ingredients to make all the delicious food that they do? The simpler answer to it is the restaurant food supply! Every restaurant, small or big, has a food supplier to cover all of its various types of needs. A food supplier comes in different shapes and forms for a restaurant. Some suppliers
Choosing the right software for your retail apparel store is essential in the current competitive market scenario. Now the question arises, how do you choose the best retail software for the apparel industry business? Check How to Choose the Right Software for Apparel Industry in 2023.
For a hospital pharmacy to reduce expenses, pharmacy inventory management should use contemporary technology. Adopting best practices for pharmaceutical inventory management may help hospitals save money. However, there is a chance of receiving further rewards. Here is Hospital Pharmacy Inventory Management.
Pharmacy product sales can be a difficult challenge for independent pharmacy stores. You can do several things to increase sales and improve your overall pharmacy operation. Look at the 7 Ways to Increase Pharmacy Products Sales for Independent Pharmacy Stores.
An enterprise POS system does more than merely handle thousands of daily transactions. The data it collects can give critical business insights to organizations. Look at What is Enterprise POS System.
Congratulations if you have recently started a travel agency. But wait, your work has just begun. You require unleashing important tactics, to enable sustained and relentless business growth. Following are a few easiest, fastest, and quickest strategies to increase the sales of your newly started travel agency. Look at All About Travel Agencies.
Nowadays, many home cooks rely heavily on online food ordering, and there are several advantages to having an online food delivery system. The trend of customers turning to the internet for ordering food began even before COVID-19. In October 2019, takeout, drive-through, and delivery accounted for 60% of all restaurant and food service
Fast food has escaped from the four walls of a diner and becomes available at every corner and street. Owing to the rising popularity of food trucks, more and more people are venturing into the business, including well-established restaurant chains. Like always, standing out to win over the competition is necessary; a unique
If you’re selling your business’s merchandise online, you’re likely no stranger to fraud and how detrimental it can be to your company’s success. The financial losses can be severe. In fact, e-commerce fraud caused losses of $20 billion in 2021. Look at How To Protect Your Ecommerce Business From Fraud.
That’s because the number of people dining out on a daily basis has grown significantly. Yet, a majority of restaurants in India do not have an efficient table reservation system in place. Look at Restaurant Table Reservation.
Mastering the art of baking requires dedication, practice, patience, and an appetite to eat 20 different kinds of cheesecakes! And starting a bakery business requires top-quality bakery equipment. If you are a baker planning to start your own bakery business, you
Have you ever wondered where restaurants get their ingredients to make all the delicious food that they do? The simpler answer to it is the restaurant food supply! Every restaurant, small or big, has a food supplier to cover all of its various types of needs.
