Web 2.0 : How Online Content Drives In-Store Results

It is now an overwhelmingly common practice for shoppers to research products online before buying them in a store. How common? The National Retail Federation reports that more than 90 percent of consumers research a product online prior to making a purchase in a store. Moreover, 92.5 percent of adults said they regularly or occasionally research products online before buying them in a store, according to BIGresearch.

But why should retailers care that consumers begin their shopping online? Statistics in this area are equally eye-opening: A Harris Interactive survey reported that 90 percent of those surveyed say they have a better overall shopping experience when they research products online before shopping in-store. The Kelsey Group reports that with purchases of more than $500, where the Internet is the starting point, more than 90 percent of the purchases are completed in a store.

But as consumers look online first, the content they find greatly determines product (and brand) preference. And despite retailers’ best efforts, the content consumers find today often doesn’t provide all the information they need in order to make an informed purchase decision. In fact, nearly one quarter of consumers said their biggest online shopping frustration is purchased items having no resemblance to the image on the Internet (Opinion Research Corporation).

It doesn’t take a degree in statistics to understand that if shoppers see higher quality, more informative and engaging product content on a retailer’s site, they’ll arrive in store with a better understanding of the product they’re looking for, resulting in both higher conversion as well as reduced product returns. But where does this informative, engaging content come from? This is where retailers need to turn to their vendors and communicate the pivotal role engaging online product content plays in driving their in-store results.

As they have done with other primary in-store merchandising elements over the years (such as product packaging, POP signage and sales training), retailers should solicit their vendors to provide rich product-centric content they can use to more effectively merchandise those products online. Especially for retailers selling branded products, this is a smarter, more leveraged approach than attempting to create original high-quality product content on their own.

For the manufacturer’s part, the small investment required to create and deliver rich, product-centric content to help merchandise products online should be viewed in the context of better aligning their marketing spend with the reality of how today’s consumers shop. The online product page is arguably the most important single point of research. Today’s technology allows for the consistent placement of manufacturer-driven content in front of shoppers every place a product is sold, allowing them to enhance and extend their brand directly at the online point of sale.