Online Merchandising: How to Increase Sales in the Post-Coronavirus Online Retail Market

The pandemic has accelerated the development of online commerce. This dynamic growth is reinforced by the fact that 10.9% of purchases are already made online. When self-isolation began, online sales became a priority even for companies that had not previously used this channel or had given it secondary importance. Retailers in all segments, from appliances and apparel to food, have significantly increased their reliance on digital sales channels. They are increasing investments in IT infrastructure, changing approaches to consulting and loyalty programs, and rebuilding logistics.

The active transition of retail to online has sharply increased competition. So, in the new conditions it is not enough just to add products to the online store - it is necessary to competently fill out and design product cards, making them stand out from the crowd and raising them in search results. This is how a manufacturer can attract the attention of customers and increase their loyalty. Online merchandising helps to solve these problems.

What an online merchandiser does

In classic retail and online stores, merchandisers perform similar functions. In the offline environment, these are presentations and promotion of products, selection of shelf space, and distribution of promotional materials. In the online environment, sales are stimulated according to the same principles, only we have to deal not with physical, but virtual multi-brand showcases.

Online merchandising is not a one-time optimization, but a continuous effort to stimulate sales. It covers three main areas:

• Creating, designing and keeping merchandise cards up to date forms a favorable first impression of the products.
• Optimizing the card display helps customers find the right products more quickly.
• Product promotion makes products more attractive and recognizable in multi-brand online stores.

Let's talk about how to solve these problems more effectively.

Working with product cards

A product card should be in harmony with the overall design and organization principles of the online store, but at the same time set the brand apart from competitors by attracting consumers to it. This should contribute to all components of the card - from correctly selected photos to a description of the product features.

What should be in a product card?

1. High-quality photos that give the fullest possible picture of the product. For example, a product card for appliances can be accompanied by six pictures, four of which show the entire device from different sides, and two - separate fragments. Then the buyer can not only assess the overall appearance of the model, but also study important details: the location of connectors, functions of the buttons, and more.
2. A concise description with the main advantages and features of the product, which will draw attention to it when comparing it with peers.
3. The block with the characteristics. It is in the interest of the manufacturer to make it as detailed as possible to inform consumers as fully as possible. However, online stores, as a rule, bring the lists of characteristics to their own standard and remove what does not fit into it.
4. Additional materials that can influence the decision to buy: instructions, environmental certificates and rich content, such as videos, 360 animation and interior photos.

What mistakes should be avoided in the first place?

1. The selection of photos does not allow you to see the product from all sides.
2. Photos are unprofessionally taken, which makes the product look unattractive.
3. The photos do not focus on the key features of the model.
4. There are no photos that show the product in near-life conditions.
5. The description is outdated and does not correspond to reality.
6. The product is described too extensively, without a clear structure and with a lot of unnecessary details - this prevents the customer from quickly finding the necessary information.
   

To ensure that the information always stays up to date, it is important to update the cards promptly, replacing or removing outdated data. In addition, the online merchandiser should keep track of changes that retailers make to the card form. After all, such updates can add interesting features, such as support for additional types of content or new sections in the features block.

Picture Optimization

Once a card is designed, a good online merchandiser makes sure it is displayed correctly in the online store. The product should be easy to find in the general catalog and the relevant product category, including filters and keywords.

To ensure that catalog positions are displayed correctly for consumer queries, retailer content managers can set up filters for each product themselves. But sometimes mistakes occur in this process. As a result, products can be displayed in searches using irrelevant filters or not displayed when the filters are set correctly. So control by an online brand merchandiser is still necessary.

To make it even easier for customers to find products, keywords can be assigned to each card. This task can also take over the online store, but there is a risk that it will not cover all the relevant queries of buyers. In order to achieve a more effective product promotion in search results, the online merchandiser can compile a list of priority keywords using WordStat, SimilarWeb or a similar service, and then try to find a product in the catalog using those keywords. If some queries remain uncovered, you can discuss the problem with the retailer.

Promoting products

The retailer's marketers usually run SEO optimization, social media advertising and other external promotion themselves, attracting more traffic to the retail site.

After that, online merchandisers step in to handle internal promotion. And they can use a variety of tools:

1. Special offers. An online merchandiser is able to completely take over the implementation of these classic activities on the online site. In particular, he can launch a special offer, add banners to product cards and make sure that notifications of promotions are properly displayed on the site.
2. Additional promotional tools: branded webpages, banners and pages. The online merchandiser works on them together with the online store account manager. Ads are optimized and converted to formats which help prevent display problems when using different versions of the site.
3. Cross-selling. The average check can be increased by promoting related products. Usually, online stores automatically generate their lists without linking them to brands. If the online merchandiser has a good relationship with the site's representatives, he or she can suggest expanding or changing this list so that shoppers see related products from the same manufacturer more often.
   

Online merchandising is already beginning to play a key role in the uptake of the e-commerce marketplace. As e-commerce continues to evolve, the importance of this tool will only grow as it helps large manufacturers increase sales on multi-brand sites, attracting more consumers. At the same time, companies that underestimate the potential of online merchandising in today's market risk losing the competitive battle for customer attention.