A new study has revealed fresh truths about how retailers can achieve best practice for site search, navigation and online merchandising.
The study, conducted by SLI Systems, shows how cutting-edge fashion, accessories and beauty e-tailers leverage user-friendly and visually appealing online search experiences to increase conversions and improve customer engagement.
SLI Systems vice president of marketing Terry Costa suggests fashion retailers wanting to maximise the online consumer experience should emulate the in-store shopping environment where customers can see products up close, touch them, and even try them on.
The study suggests fashion, beauty and accessories e-tailers are at the forefront deliver feature-rich web experiences replicating the in-store shopping environment.
Websites that don't give shoppers a good feel for a dress or jacket they like, risk losing the consumer to another site.
“The way products are displayed and merchandised in site search plays an important role in the online experience, and the innovative approaches fashion brands have taken offer a great example for what other retailers can do on their own sites,” Costa said.
Features like quick view windows, mouse-over or clickable pop ups, rich colour swatches, rich auto complete and AJAX search are systems being used by top-performing e-tailers to offer a better online shopping experience.