Smart Merchandiser Blog

Before the days of eCommerce, retail store managers knew much less about their customers than today’s digital merchandising managers.

Thanks to advances in technology, digital merchandising managers are now able to track how much an average customers spends, how often customers visit an online store and leave without making a purchase, and how much an individual customer spends over the course of a year, among other data points.

While the act of physically going into a store, browsing the unique items, and trying on the latest fabulous outfit is an enjoyable (and often therapeutic) experience for many customers, shopping online also has advantages. 

Online shopping delivers a more versatile experience for shoppers than brick and mortar stores, and it presents retailers with an unprecedented opportunity to grow. Here are a few of the reasons that online stores enable retailers to grow quickly:

Although more consumers are shopping online than ever before, the digital sphere is still evolving. Some merchandisers don’t fully comprehend the powers of the internet. While many claim to understand the dynamics of digital sales, there are more opinions being voiced than there are facts being shared.

That said, there are a few commonly accepted myths about online retailing that can be busted based on proven digital merchandising practices.

Online retailing is a vital part of the business landscape. Every year, online purchases and digital sales revenue increase. In 2013 alone, online sales topped $40 billion, growing at 16.9%, which outpaced the growth of the GDP. Having an online presence to connect with and sell to your customer base is essential.

As the manager of an eCommerce store, you have your plate full. In addition to setting up, orchestrating, and managing the online store’s traffic, data, and business analytics, you’re accountable for the visual inventory management on the site as well.

ComScore Reported that $53.3 billion was spent online during the 2014 holiday season, a 15 percent increase over the 2013 season. Black Friday 2014 experienced $1.51 billion in online sales, a 26 percent increase from the 2013 season. With unlimited retail options available to online shoppers, engaging site visitors is a difficult task. Doing so is dependent on appealing to their specific needs.

In the digital age, it’s hard to pay attention to anything for more than a few seconds. For digital merchandisers, it’s imperative that sites are designed to captivate and draw in consumers. Using dynamic merchandising software helps merchandisers ensure their site engages site visitors immediately. When deciding which software is the best for your online store, consider if it has the following features to get a versatile tool.

As an online merchandising manager, you’re aware of the challenges that come with the position -- disjointed data streams and a different view of the site layout than the customer. Bridging the gap between the customer and the items they're looking for is also a challenge. It’s one thing to know that an item is a popular, but it requires more insight to understand why an item is purchased and what the customer is thinking when they buy it. By using merchandise tags, you can track your customers and observe their patterns of behavior. Here is a look at the ways merchandise tagging is useful.

Personalized storefronts have automated many aspects of the online merchandising process; however the role of an eCommerce merchandising manager is becoming even more essential to the operation. While brick-and-mortar merchandisers’ shift their focus from products to customers, the same mentality is even more important in the online world because the customer cannot physically interact the product. 

Cyber Monday 2014 set some astounding shopping records, with more than $2 billion in online sales for the first time ever. Even more surprising? Mobile devices and tablets accounted for 41% of that traffic.

While digital merchandisers certainly don’t have to wait until the Monday after Thanksgiving to set records for online sales, taking a cue from some online merchandisers who have accomplished this feat can inspire adoption of industry best practices. Setting up your ecommerce platforms to model their purposeful strategies can lead to improved sales year-round.