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 THE STAT 26Percentage of wireless customers who use their cell phones to take picturesMore Vitals
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NOVEMBER 24, 2003
E-Shoppers Are Now E-Spenders [Page 2 of 2] Part of Hynes's job is to home in on the tiniest details. To understand how consumers categorize items in their heads, his team recently commissioned a survey of 5,000 people. Among the things Hynes learned was that many people were flummoxed while trying to find correction fluid on the Web site. Traditionally, Staples had included it in a section labeled "Pens and Art Supplies." But with the new customer input in hand, the mistake-masking goop was reclassified under the clearer heading of "Writing Supplies." Hynes anticipates that its sales could pick up as a result of the change (see BW Online, 11/25/03, B2B, Take 2). "LIMITED MEDIUM." For every smart e-commerce site, plenty of others could still use revamping. Creative Good's Terry says the average retailing site still deserves a grade of only "C." That's up from the "D" or "F" he would have assigned during the bubble years. But it also means that there's still plenty of room for improvement. According to Jupiter, some 61% of sites recently surveyed said they had done some kind of infrastructure upgrade ahead of the holiday season. The two biggest problems on commerce sites are perhaps the most basic -- navigation and product description, says Terry. "Shoppers are still having trouble making a purchase decision" because they can't find what they want, or they can't decide whether to buy based on the info they're given. He says plenty of sites get caught up in presenting splashy features that few consumers are interested in. "The Web is a limited medium," he adds. "If you don't realize that, you'll create something that's hard to use." Terry tries to persuade his clients to focus on perfecting the basics. For Liz Claiborne's (LIZ ) plus-size site Elisabeth.com, his firm conducted interviews with eight shoppers and 20 Elisabeth.com employees to pinpoint and fix the site's weaknesses. "We figured out a balance between compelling and simple," Terry says. The relaunched site improved sales conversion -- or the rate at which shoppers go through with a purchase -- by 57%, and average order size rose 25%. IDEAS NEEDED. Internet retailers can still do much more once they've mastered their ABCs, says Jakob Nielsen, principal of Nielsen Norman Group, a Web-usability consultant. Shoppers now tend to regard multimedia content as an unwanted distraction, he says, and most e-retailers would do well to bypass it. He adds that high-quality photos and plain text have worked better. Yet, "it should be possible to use multimedia to communicate better," Nielsen adds. "We need to develop more insight in that area." Internet retailers can also get better at inspiring shoppers, Nielsen says. "What if I want to buy something for my nephew?" he asks. Some toy retailers have been good at narrowing choices based on a kid's interests, but generally that's still not done well, Nielsen says. For the most part, he adds, Web retailers aren't effectively helping shoppers find the right gift when they arrive without something specific already in mind. That will change, of course. This holiday season, Amazon.com, which is often cited by its peers as a online-retailing pioneer, is experimenting with ways to influence buying. Its recently launched A-List highlights a celebrity and his or her gift ideas -- a song or essay that might sell better with a celeb's endorsement. Amazon's Bill Carr, director of books, music, video, and DVDs, says the A-List has done well. For example, when comedian Jack Black recommended a DVD by his rock band, Tenacious D, its sales shot up 300% in one day "Why Amazon Still Packs a Punch". TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGIES. Amazon also features some attempts at personalization, including a tool called Listmania, where customers create lists of their favorite products. And in its "So You'd Like To" section, customers create guides for achieving goals such as writing a novel or starting a business. Amazon's "Gift Wizard" feature helps shoppers find gifts by price, age, gender, and other parameters. Truly customizing and personalizing the online retail experience would "change how consumers think and act," says Larry Freed, CEO and president of Ann Arbor-based ForeSee, which tracks online customer service. However, for e-commerce to transcend shopping as we know it would probably require novel technologies -- more refined searching methods, for example -- that have yet to be tried, he says. If e-tailers' drive to win customers is any indication, though, more breakthroughs could come sooner than later.
 By Amy Tsao in New York
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