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.
The artistic aspect of the job comes into play when visual merchandisers must work to balance all available data about potential customers with a creative vision that speaks to website visitors on a fundamental, and often subconscious, level and makes customers want to buy the products they see on the screen.
For retail brands, it is vital that the eCommerce merchandising team has a solid understanding of, and experience with, creating a results-oriented eCommerce space. According to Sally McKenzie, an independent eCommerce merchandising consultant,
"If you operate an online store and you don't have at least one really strong person in the online merchandising role, chances are good that you're missing an opportunity to present products in a more compelling way, improve your conversion rate, and increase your average order size."
This super-merchandiser must know the inventory products extremely well, including each product's best selling points, and he/she must also be aware of the buying habits and lifestyles of the targeted audience, so as to pitch those aspects of the products that most appeal to the buyer.
All of this must be presented and taken in to account across several viewing platforms, including the desktop retail site, as well as mobile and tablet layouts, because all three reach tremendous numbers of potential buyers. Forrester Research reports in The State of Retailing Online that retailers in 2013 enjoyed a 135 percent increase in smartphone sales and 86 percent growth in sales coming from tablet devices.
The Artist and the Art
So what exactly makes for a standout eCommerce visual merchandiser - a person who can consistently develop effective visual merchandising solutions for online shopping environments? Which skills and what kind of background are required of this marketing superhero in order to display inventory to its best advantage and convert visitors to customers?
- Ideally, they will have had previous experience in an actual retail store setting, because that in-person interaction with customers is priceless. Statistics and reports have their usefulness, but no amount of data can replace the experience of interacting with customers directly.
- A solid background in merchandising is important to have an understanding of how to present products in a manner that promotes sales. It also calls for using components within a product page that have been proven to help answer customer questions and present products in the best light.
- The ability to digest a great deal of information and make informed decisions based on a wealth of sources – business analytics, social media sentiment, website traffic, etc. Taking in large amounts of information from various sources, being able to break it down and make decisions that lead to site productivity – conversions, product engagement, sales per order, etc. – is essential for the role.
- The artist doesn’t necessarily need to be a tech wizard, but it's definitely necessary to be familiar with the technology that drives eCommerce in all its various forms, as well as stay up to speed on the latest tools that improve eCommerce success rates.
- On top of all the industry knowledge that must be understood, the best visual merchandisers are those with an innate sense of what will appeal to online buyers, i.e. an instinctive ability to visualize products in ways that coincide with the most common desires and needs of potential purchasers.
Much like a musician or an artist, the great eCommerce visual merchandiser will understand what he/she needs through the course of receiving a good education, but the rest must come from experience, trial and error and/or an innate creative knack.
Improving profit margins is at the top of all eCommerce merchandiser’s to-do lists which is why we’ve created The Digital Merchandiser’s Guide to Maximizing Margins with Visualized Data eBook.
Download the eBook to learn more!
