Shoppers Speak Out on Preferences
Considering the text, the images and the tools on your Web site, an e-commerce report reveals which aspects are important to shoppers.
The report, "The Content Dilemma -- Consumer Insights and Merchant Execution," was written by Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group and extracted from findings from the research, "The e-tailing group/ARS eCommerce Online Content Impact Survey."
The most important feature of text, according to those surveyed, is the product overview (favored by 98 percent), followed by product specific information (93 percent). The latter includes care instructions, assembly requirements and age appropriateness. Ninety percent of those surveyed preferred long descriptions while 85 percent preferred short descriptions.
Regarding images, 94 percent picked quality of the image as the most important aspect, followed by: alternative views (88 percent); zoom (85 percent); Item specific image -- pillow vs. entire bedroom or shirt vs. complete outfit -- (77 percent); color change (65 percent); view on a model (61 percent); and view in a room (50 percent).
Favorite tools preferred were: ratings and reviews (88 percent); product guides (87 percent); product comparisons (81 percent); product demonstrations (55 percent); video (51 percent); audio (38 percent); and e-mailing a friend (22 percent).
That's enough business for the day after Thanksgiving. It must be time for leftovers.
