Live from ACCM: Marketers Spill Merchandising Secrets May 20, 2008 11:39 AM
, By Jim Tierney
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Orlando,
FL – The secrets to merchandising your Website to sell more are
actually pretty basic, according to Margaret Moraskie, vice president
of e-commerce for women’s apparel marketer cataloger/retailer Boston
Proper.
In the
Monday ACCM session titled, “Merchandising Secrets that Sell More
Product Online,” Moraskie told attendees that “common knowledge isn’t
always common practice. For our customer, as she scans the site, she’s
transported to another world. We want her to have one experience,
regardless of channel. We’re channel agnostic.”
Boston
Proper mails approximately 55 million catalogs annually to an affluent
customer base between the ages of 35-55, Moraskie said. “We merchandise
the way she shops,” she said. “We give her what she’s looking for. What
is effective is usually simple. The catalog has become an amazing
advertising vehicle for us.”
E-mail
has also been effective for the company. Moraskie said Boston Proper
customers receive three e-mails per week, emphasizing top-selling
styles and in-stock merchandise.
When
it comes to merchandising, you must be able to make adjustments, she
added. “Plan and present product. Assess early results. Adjust
presentation. Modify or maximize. Repeat the process.” Above all, be
true to your brand and connect with your customer, she said. “Give her
what she wants and she will shop.”
Meanwhile,
Brad Wolansky, vice president of global e-commerce for outdoor gear and
apparel cataloger/retailer The Orvis Co., said noted that his company
started out 152 years ago as a fly fishing outfitter. Now
Orvis offers men’s and women’s clothing, fishing equipment and
accessories, gifts and home products, pet products, hunting products,
and vacations.
“Our
breadth of assortment makes us unique,” Wolansky told attendees. “We
have to convey everything everyday to everyone on our home page.”
Catalog/retail
customers can visit the Orvis Website, he said, and receive more
information or enhanced interactions with products. “It has to give
something extra, something better than the other channels,” he added.
Secrets
that sell more product online? According to Wolansky, here’s how to get
IT and management support for projects. “Identify an opportunity to
drive more sales online. Create a clear and succinct statement that
lays out the goal and describes how the idea will increase sales and/or
reduce costs.” This is what Orvis refers to as IFB, or an “I firmly
believe” statement.
But,
Wolansky added, “you need to prove the IFB with a test,” and that test
must be for a limited time and easily turned off if necessary. “This
way the test can’t hurt the organization.” Report on the results of the
test and, if the results are favorable, ask for the sale. “Spend this
to get that,” he said.
Wolansky
said some examples of recent projects that increased online conversion
rates included a private Labor Day Sale event, like item substitutions,
personalization previews, and a catalog quick order overhaul. The
private Labor Day sale was an e-mail campaign inviting customers to
take advantage of a sale offered only to e-mail customers. If they
spent $150 or more, they would receive a free watch. Order conversion
for this e-mail campaign was 41% higher than the company’s e-mail
average.
Wolansky’s secrets to launching projects that drive online sales are:
* Clearly define an opportunity and establish goals and how to measure success.
* Simply state that you believe by doing X, you will receive Y benefits.
* Demonstrate how the project will benefit the bottom line through sound forecasting.
* Don’t define a solution to IT; define the problem
* Test if possible and roll out gradually so bugs are worked out before full deployment.
* Ensure business rules adapt to projects and don’t hamstring them.
* Analyze result thoroughly to understand benefits and/or challenges to success.
* If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, abandon it.
