As consumers browse online, they are inundated with retail brand information at nearly every point of their user experience. Whether through an ad, a social network brand page, a video or a blog, consumers now view many, many pieces of content designed to bring them to a purchase. With this in mind, retailers have to not only stress the importance of developing content that stands out, but also of blending it effectively with their overall commerce strategy.
Online retailers that are building out these strategies most consistently include Melissa & Doug, Moleskine and Levenger, according to The U.S. Retail Website Benchmarking Study from Episerver.
The study indicated that there are specific areas that remain challenging for retailers looking to build out an effect content and commerce strategy. These include:
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Creating a consistent balance between the content and the commerce;
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Not being overly sales-focused in content delivery;
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Lack of multimedia such as images, videos and audio;
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Integrating content into the company email strategy; and
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Leveraging social media to appropriately share content.
“The tricky thing with retail — certainly compared to branding manufacturers and B2B sales — is the balance between that inspirational, non-selling content and the commercial aspects of running the site, such as merchandising,” said David Bowen, Director of Product Marketing at Episerver.
A huge part of the balancing act required by retailers to build a successful content strategy is making sure the content isn’t primarily geared to drive sales. While driving sales should obviously be a major objective for retailers, turning every piece of online content into a sales pitch can turn away consumers that want to know more about exactly what they’re buying.
Bowen noted that how-to guides, curated style guides and instructive videos are great examples of content pieces retailers can utilize to engage the consumer and teach them more about the product.
To help retailers address these challenges, Episerver examined how 15 retailers in five key gift-giving categories — Apparel and Accessories, Toys and Games, Stationery, Floral and General Gift — carried out their content strategies as they entered the holiday season. The benchmarking study rated Melissa & Doug with a 67 out of 72 rating, while Moleskine and Levenger had a 65 and 64, respectively.
Episerver analyzed the e-Commerce sites of the following retailers: 1-800-Flowers, Bosca, Burlington Coat Factory, Gifts.com, Hearthsong, Levenger, Mastermind Toys, Melissa & Doug, Moleskine, Mud Pie, ProFlowers.com, Ross Stores, Teleflora, The Paper Store, and T.J. Maxx.
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“In terms of the retailers within each category, we selected a broad range of ones that were doing things well and still had room for improvement, so we could strike a balance and have an objective review from both sides.” Bowen said in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “One of the gaps we noticed across a lot of these segments was social, in that a lot of retail users aren’t using it to support content strategy. They’re using it to build brands, to make people aware of discounting campaigns, but not really to build engagement through content.”
The retail web sites were ranked on proficiency in content and commerce competencies including balance, breadth and depth, distribution, value, effectiveness and branding.
Each retailer was ranked in 18 individual subcategories on a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 representing a content practice that is consistently demonstrated with strong competency. Some of the 18 categories measured include multimedia, editorial style, product curation, social, email, planning, prominence and integration.
“We trace the breadth in content across the site to make sure retailers are creating inspirational content, educational content and emotional content,” Bowen said. “Retailers can seamlessly display this content throughout the customer buying process, but also make the site a destination for campaigns and other information.”
