Smart Merchandiser Blog

When you’re managing an eCommerce storefront, the visual representation of products is of utmost importance. And while there are several different types of visual merchandising software available for purchase, one of the difficulties involved in choosing the right software is finding one that balances a visual layout with the necessary analytics.

In that respect we’ll be looking at current trends in online shopping, as well as visual merchandising software platforms and what they offer merchandisers.

There are elements of science and art involved in creating today's visual merchandising solutions in the ultra-competitive online retail environment. Lacking the sensory appeals, such as smell and touch, that retail stores exploit to great advantage, eCommerce marketers are obliged to focus primarily on visual merchandising.

When you're selling items online, you must bridge a tactical disconnect between the buyer and the item for sale.

The customer can’t pick up the item or try it on – a vital part of the sales process. With the loss of touch, the visual element takes center stage and now becomes essential. Digital merchandisers must account for and overcome this loss of the physical elements in the process of selling and buying.

More than 40% of internet users have purchased goods and/or services online - this amounts to more than one billion ecommerce customers, a number that is projected to grow exponentially. With such a promising market in eCommerce, businesses are implementing a wide range of digital merchandising strategies to stay ahead of their competitors in attracting buyers.

However, a significant number of businesses are focusing so much on advanced strategies that they're losing sight of the basics. Although leveraging elements like advanced analytics is a key component to finding success in the digital merchandising space, it’s also critically important to set a strong foundation with the basics - which includes writing excellent product descriptions.

Multichannel retailing allows companies to expand their customer base through better communication. Multichannel eCommerce platforms can make the transition much easier.

The benefits of transitioning from single channel retailing to comprehensive, multichannel retailing are well known and well documented. These benefits include: Increased revenue and growth opportunities, better responsiveness to changing environments improved customer interactions, increased customer loyalty, and an overall better customer experience.

eCommerce sites have many key performance indicators that must be optimized to improve business.

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? These form the basic blocks of every question an eCommerce director asks when gaining information about his or her customers.

When it comes to starting and growing a business, information is power. Knowledge about your customers, such as how often they visit your site, what they browse, how much they spend, and so on, are all important metrics for assessing your company’s strengths and weaknesses, and making the necessary changes. All of this can be provided with proper web analytics software.

Effectively managing online inventory has become increasingly more difficult as merchandising managers are challenged with a growing eCommerce product catalog that often represents individual products with SKUs rather than visual cues.

That’s why, to assist with driving the highest revenue possible, many merchandisers are turning to eCommerce inventory management software that supplements IBM WebSphere.

Digital merchandising is a challenging job for even for the most experienced ecommerce merchandisers.

Even the savviest practitioner can find themselves frustrated by trying to create a successful physical layout for their web store. This practice often requires juggling multiple programs to gather and analyze data to better understand what customers like and want, which can be a giant puzzle.