Web Retailers Want More to 'Proceed to Checkout'

Chicago Tribune
by Mary Ellen Podmolik
June 8, 2006

For merchants, the first 10 years of online retailing were about developing a Web presence and getting consumers to find their site.

The next 10 years are about getting site visitors to spend money.

Despite the industry buzz surrounding e-tailing and the potential it offers--online non-travel spending could account for as much as 9 percent of retail sales by 2010, Forrester Research reports--online retailers are confronted with one cold, hard fact. On average, less than 5 percent of visitors to a site make a purchase.

So while interest in various search technologies remains high, a greater amount of attention going forward is being placed on converting browsers into buyers. New technologies--many of them using what's called Rich Internet Applications--to make Web sites more consumer-friendly generated much interest at this week's Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, which ended Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency.

Andrew Eisner, a vice president at Optimost LLC, a New York-based testing firm that helps companies improve their conversion rates, likens the current environment to the adage, "You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Similarly, you can bring consumers to the Internet, but you can't make them place an order; they have to want to do so. "Retailers are beginning to understand that," he said.

Some forward-thinking retailers already are moving in that direction, by showing the merchandise the same way as if a customer picked it up in a store and by reducing the number of clicks needed to select and purchase items.

They are offering more views of merchandise and improved zoom functions that enable consumers to see the fabric texture on a blouse or the controls atop a digital camera. They are showing items with related accessories on the same page and letting the customer check on whether an item is in stock without leaving the page. At checkout, thumbnail images of products are shown. The newest technology also includes drag-and-drop features that make it easier to add items to a shopping cart or have goods shipped to multiple addresses without going through a laborious process and several pages.

"That is the key, mimic the in-store experience," said Jeff Hunt, a vice president at Scene7, a Novato, Calif.-based company that offers rich media images for clients such as Amazon, Macy's and Williams-Sonoma. "When people have a high-quality visual experience, they tend to convert to purchases."

Urban Outfitters Inc. will roll out a new Web site for its eponymous brand and those of sister brands Anthropologie and Free People this fall that it hopes will set its site apart from others and increase customer loyalty. Much of the change is aimed at reducing frustration with the checkout process and giving customers a shopping experience similar to the one they would have in one of the chain's stores.

"What retailers say is `We hate our Web pages because they are always the same. Physical stores, we can always change,' " said Joe Chung, a Barrington native and co-founder and chief executive of Allurent, a Cambridge, Mass., company that is working with Urban Outfitters.

Chicago-based Chiasso, which did a top-to-bottom revamp of its site in October, already is looking to deploy some of the latest technologies. The company's site allows browsers to see the home furnishings in room vignettes, similar to how they would be displayed in a store. And it offers more information on its products. But consumers still have to go through a five-step checkout process.

"That's really where you lose people on your site, when you make it difficult to shop," said Greg Kadens, chief operating officer of Chiasso. "We think we can make it a lot easier. There's new ways of presenting product and presenting shopping bag options and getting someone checked out. In six months, it will look different."

There also are efforts under way to make it easier for consumers to shop online for more complicated products. Discovery Channel recently began offering a separate function on its online store that makes it easier for customers to purchase the right telescope, by asking a series of questions to narrow down the field from the 48 models offered.

"The trick is can you give them the large inventory up-front but quickly narrow it down," said John Jackson, president and chief executive of DecisionStep, Inc., a Beltsville, Md.-based company that is working with the Discovery Channel Store and Build-A Bear Workshop. "One thing retailers know well is the user experience, whether in stores on online, is critical. And if they have a bad experience, it impacts the brand perception."

Overall, online non-travel spending is expected to reach $138 billion this year, compared with $113.6 billion last year, according to Forrester Research. Interest in grabbing a larger share of a consumer's wallet was evident at the show, where attendance reached 3,000, almost triple the amount at last year's event.

"It all goes back to competition," Kadens said. "People have finite dollars and limitless options. That's why there's a sense of urgency about improving the shopping experience."

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