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I’ve spent my first few months at GSI Commerce talking to many of you
and hearing what’s on your mind. Most frequently, I’ve been asked to
share industry insights and identify best practices to grow your business.
So, in this publication, my goal is to identify practical ways to do just that.
We’ll canvas the universe of leading e-commerce web sites and show you the best
practices, most interesting tools and most compelling implementations.
Each issue of topline talk will address top-performing, simple ways to grow your
business that, in some cases, you can implement right away or start building into
your 2008 plans. We’ll also explore what the future holds for technology and strategy
in online retailing and include some funny things that we’ve encountered online.
For example, in this issue we’ll point out the impact the Internet is having on
Presidential Campaign ’08.
If you have any questions or suggestions for growth opportunities you’d like us
to research, please contact me at Fiona@gsicommerce.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
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The enormous number of products available online has become
overwhelming for customers, a phenomenon dubbed “The
Paradox of Choice” in a recent book by Professor Barry Schwartz.
Too many choices create uncertainty— a fear that
purchasing now might be a bad idea. As retailers, we
need to help our customers get over this paradox and
make it easy for them to go from browsing to buying.
How can we do this? By offering decision tools that act
like a shopping buddy or a helpful salesperson. Decision
tools that exist today can increase your web site’s
conversion and grow your topline.
We identified three types of online shoppers: those who
rely on their community for opinions on products, those
who are “self-serve” and prefer to do research on their
own, and those who want help from merchants.
We reviewed many existing online tools and found five
tried and true winners. Our top five decision tools are
relatively easy to implement and are highly rated by
customers.
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| Click here to see our top 5 decision tools in action |
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| The sheer quantity of choices available to consumers on the web today makes purchase decisions difficult. We’re seeing forward-thinking companies tackle this problem by implementing decision-aiding tools called “wizards” that walk customers through their choices. |
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New web 2.0 technologies make the refinement
process extremely fluid and visual. Endless.com,
a shoes and handbags site launched this year,
allows customers to watch their choices narrow
down magically before their eyes.
The new search, combined with embedded zoom
capabilities, gives the illusion of an offline shopping
experience, and lets customers refine by price,
style, brand, size, color and even heel-height—
in any order they choose. And once a product is
chosen, the remaining options scroll horizontally at
the top of the page, so there is no back navigation.
Very cool!
GSI partner, Sports Authority, recently launched
a beta version of web 2.0 technology in the form
of a ShoeFinder. This decision-wizard tool offers a
strong visual representation of the options available
and helps customers easily narrow down choices to
the perfect shoe for them.
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Campaign ’08 Goes Viral
Unlike the last Presidential campaign, candidates
aren’t stopping at personalized web pages to promote
their campaigns. They are dipping into edgier
approaches to reach voters of all demographics.
Hillary and Bill’s video spoof of the Soprano’s finale hit the top of the charts on You Tube and sparked a
flurry of user-generated video responses. And all the
candidates are creating personal accounts on Impact.MySpace.com. (And their “friends” are adding up!)
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If you have any questions, suggestions, or topics that you'd like us to research,
please contact Fiona at diasf@gsicommerce.com.
Copyright © 2008 GSI Commerce. All Rights Reserved.
GSI Commerce® and the gsi commerce® logo are trademarks, service marks,
registered trademarks, or registered service marks of GSI Commerce, Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliates.
Other trademarks contained in this presentation are the property of the respective
companies with which they are associated.
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