Article

Commentary: Online retail over-analyzed, 'stripped of all brand soul'

A brand consultant argues that too much emphasis on search engine optimization has diminished the online shopping experience.

May 28, 2009

Online retail today has become uninspired, technically driven, and over-analyzed. It is so grounded in technology parameters to satisfy search engine optimization that it has been stripped of all brand soul. The entire experience is so commoditized that purchase decisions are largely based on price comparisons and peer reviews.

Shopping sites are amazingly search engine optimized and offer the searcher who knows precisely what s/he is looking for, easy and rapid access. But there are other issues to consider. An over-emphasis on predictive analytics (previously you bought x, therefore you might like y, or: other people who bought y also bought z) results in some additional sales, but also produce major annoyance. Meanwhile the casual browser finds little on offer and the experience is dominated by a system that thinks it knows what you want and tries to ram it down your throat.

High demand for online shopping resulted in building of thousands of stores to meet your every need. Most obeyed the old rules of Web site design (established by IT guys in the mid nineties), and strove to be ever more search engine optimized to capitalize on additional purchase opportunities. Unfortunately, that peak has passed.

Certainly SEO and SEM are key to any online campaign. They get people to your site to buy what you want to sell. If you have niche products and optimize for those, all the better. It is what happens when people arrive on your site that troubles me.

Putting the browse back in your browser

First, most sites are variations on the same template, often sharing off-the-shelf tools. A tempting brand experience it is not. From the retailer's point of view, these sites require constant investment to ensure incremental revenue growth.

Second, having eyeballed the templated site, users, previously called customers, are "greeted" by a machine that makes suggestions based on algorithms that have no clue as to mood, available time, etc. A key behavioral point is missed. What may inspire a person to purchase is the sum total of not only their past experiences but what happened to them yesterday, today or five minutes ago.

Moreover, the most important of the day's experiences are human interactions. How could an analytics system factor this into the product suggestions? The best an electronic system can do is try to juice the zeitgeist from trends compounded with the little it knows about the user. It is the equivalent of a sales assistant rushing you at checkout to say, "Sir, I see you have a pizza in your basket, would you like some sugar because I see the customer at checkout 4 has pizza and sugar in her basket?"

Third, nestling alongside the software-generated suggestions are endless lists; think of any supermarket Web site. But what about someone who doesn't want to buy on price, or wade through lists, but wants to browse? Offline we browse a lot. These are the shops we use most frequently.

What about bricks and mortar?

Perhaps bricks and mortar has the answer. "Eye line is buy line" is the tip of a very large iceberg when it comes to bricks and mortar retail sophistry. Flow management, promotional zones, product grouping, signage and customer service conspire to persuade you to purchase, wrapped up in a brand experience. Very little of that has translated online.

But retailers can create a better environment for the goods you buy loyally, sell more and command a higher price, while attracting customers who just want to browse. Window-shoppers online have surprisingly few destinations, and the mantra that only one company can be the cheapest doesn't seem to have crossed the digital divide.

Retailers need to rethink the entire digital retail experience. Three principal factors will guide renewed efforts: inspiration, intuition and impulse. Thorough research, fresh creativity and innovative design will forge new avenues for providing a better experience. The iTunes store comes closest — where impulse to buy is created by an inspired interface that draws in the user instead of pushing them out. Risks need to be taken but the opportunity to surge ahead and create a compelling retail experience is there to be taken.

Nuri Djavit is partner with Last Exit, a digital strategy and marketing firm with offices in New York and London.