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Invest in Recommendation, Search, and User-Generated Content to Boost Retail Website

The State of Retailing Online report for 2008 is an in-depth look at the top online retailers’ priorities and opportunities to strengthen and differentiate their websites.

According to Sucharita Mulpuru, Senior Retail Analyst from Forrester Research, who wrote the report, “online retailers are finding that their best investment efforts are those dedicated to improving the front part of the shopping experience, or the browse features that consumers use before adding items to their shopping cart.”

The report ranks investment efforts based on effectiveness and pervasiveness and lets us in on the mechanics of successful retail websites.

Don’t waste time on distracting web and user features

- Wish lists fail to entice users to shop – although it isn’t clear why;

- Website tricks/ bells and whistle, such as flash applications, rollovers, virtual catalogs and streaming video;

- Zooming capabilities are a notable exception and because it directly enhance a product detail page; look to providers like Zoomorama to rapidly become pervasive;

Invest in recommendation, search, and user-generated content to differentiate

- Recommendation technologies seem to offer a strong differentiating potential, with relatively high effectiveness and (still!) relatively low diffusion; another Forrester report drills down on available technologies and vendors;

- Improved search seems like a no-brainer, especially given that online shoppers are very directed in their shopping endeavors;

- Expert and editorial content are a mixed bag – some can be quite effective, especially expert reviews (if available – such as CNET’s syndicated technology reviews)

- User-generated content – consumer ratings and reviews – seems even more effective than expert or editorial content, and still a relatively untapped opportunity for many online retailers. There are many obvious benefits, including user engagement and conversion, loyalty and community building, and SEO. Vendors like Power Reviews have made a big push for pervasiveness and turned customer reviews into a plug and play feature for many websites.

Don’t neglect the bases, like product/offering taxonomy and rich merchandising

- Product and offering taxonomy are important for search and interactive filtering;

- Merchandising – especially a rich product detail page – is critical to convert users, once they’ve set their sights on a particular product.