A New Zealand eCommerce expert is worried that the art of retail may be lost to the cookie cutter approach currently dominating local online shopping sites. 

Mark Presnell, managing director of eCommerce Integration Specialists Convergence—a company that integrates eCommerce sites with backend software and processes— believes New Zealand’s eCommerce retailers could be more successful if they stopped boring shoppers and instead rediscovered the art of both the ‘theme’ and the ‘shop window’. 

“The online retail experience is under threat, and it need not be,” said Presnell. “For example, when a woman shopper goes to buy a dress, she usually goes for a reason. It may be a beach dress, or for a wedding, a party, a graduation… Before making a buying decision, she wants to be able to visualise herself in that dress in the context of her event. 

“Instore she may come across a beach display in the shop window showing off the summer dress. The shopper is more likely to buy in that scenario than if she arrived at an eCommerce site with poor quality cut-outs from third rate supplier catalogues lined up like ducks in a shooting gallery—but that’s what many eCommerce sites currently deliver. No imagination, no experience.” 

Presnell said 80-90% of business-to-consumer [B2C] shoppers are women, and they enjoy a shopping experience, but for some reason many New Zealand online retailers have decided that it’s a good idea to copy boring catalogues instead. 

“Consumers want to see themselves in that garment, or using that product, within a theme or context that is exciting or interesting to them.” 

Presnell, whose company automates the synchronisation of data from a company’s business software to their eCommerce website, including product attributes like size, colour and availability of stock, said eCommerce retailers would be well advised to give their online stores more love. 

“Window dressers and in-store displays were invented for a reason, let’s not lose sight of the theme and atmosphere these presentations make, or we will all lose in the end, including the consumer.” 

Presnell offers the following tips to retailers on how to be more engaging:

1. Create themes

Tools like video, memes, high quality photographs and graphics can create stunning themes that help shoppers visualise themselves using or wearing a product in the context of their event or daily lives. “If you think about it, the eCommerce retailer has more tools and more capacity to create a stunning visualisation of any product than traditional bricks and mortar retailers who are limited by materials and floor room.” 

2. Have a care

Presnell said, instead of simply re-using boring and standard images of products provided by their suppliers, retailers could put a lot more effort into generating unique, high-quality images of products they are selling on their websites. 

“This may not be feasible for every single low-cost product, but where there is reasonable value involved, you would want to make sure you give your customers an “experience”. To not do so is to fail the customer.”

3. Communicate

In-store there are salespeople to speak with, who can advise on stock availability, sizes, and styles, yet few online retailers offer the same level of service. 

“There are tools for chatting with customers but, failing that, there’s no excuse for bad communication. In fact, if retailers maintain a good relationship with their courier company, they will be in a position to advise about variable delivery times instead of just the standard, and in doing so, provide a better customer experience. I wonder how many millions of dollars are lost because the customer is worried that their purchase will not arrive on time?” 

Convergence serves and supports the online New Zealand retail industry with integrating their backend business system with their online eCommerce shop as well as advising Kiwi retailers on how to structure data to facilitate eCommerce integration.  

 

For more information, visit https://convergence.co.nz/