This blog is part of a series about how and why retail brands must “earn the customer” – their trust and loyalty – to remain competitive in a digital world.

Do you own your customer relationships? Or are you the “Hanes” of your vertical, allowing major retailers and/or online marketplaces to call the shots when it comes to connecting with consumers? While a multi-channel retail strategy, including online marketplaces, is key for many brands to effectively reach their audiences, having a branded eCommerce site is critical for capturing and retaining customers as a competitive advantage, particularly as more shopping moves online, in part as a result of the global pandemic. 

We know you’re running a business. You need to optimize conversion rates and grow your revenue. This requires an eCommerce site that provides a seamless shopping experience. However, to stay competitive in the long term, this also requires you to build your brand.  What does this mean? Brand building is about more than increasing brand recognition. Successful brands are those that elicit an emotional connection (e.g., by creating a desired culture/lifestyle, promoting the brand story and purpose), making consumers care so much so that it entices them to purchase the eCommerce brand’s products. 

Optimizing your eCommerce site for online mobile shopping is no longer a “nice to have” – it should be an essential part of your business strategy. Studies show that 60% of traffic on eCommerce sites is via mobile device. Google reports that more than 40% of online transactions are made on mobile devices, and other statistics show that mobile sales are projected to make up nearly 54% of total eCommerce sales in the US within the next two years. 

In our article titled “Why ‘Quick View’ Isn't the Best Solution for E-Commerce” we discussed reasons why many eCommerce sites use a “quick view” modal to allow customers to preview the product details and reasons why this technique can be problematic for an eCommerce user experience. In this article, we hope to guide you towards a better solution to increase eCommerce conversion rates by showing just the right amount of information on product list page (or PLP) items and progressively enhancing on larger devices. We have reviewed a few sample sites solutions which you can download for reference.

In today’s world, where technology plays such an integral role in our everyday lives, it’s no surprise that customers are developing astronomical expectations and competition within eCommerce is growing like wildfire. The driving factor for success has shifted from offering a quality product at a competitive price point to providing an exceptional end-to-end experience for your customers — in what’s being referred to as “the age of the customer”.

It’s a fact; customers are drawn to a good brand story. C’mon, you can’t deny that you’ve fallen prey to buying a product because you fell in love with the brand and wanted to be a part of their story. When leveraged in the right way, brand stories can be incredibly impactful and encourage customers to form a connection with your products. Where better to support that connection than directly on the product page?

Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again. 
- Vincent van Gogh

My personal and professional life has been based on something that I learned from a very young age. “To succeed, you must fail as early and as often as you can.”

For a long while, I considered this statement paradoxical. How can you succeed if you’re constantly expected to fail? And, come to think of it, why fail at all? Shouldn’t we be striving for perfection in everything we do? With the introduction of Design Sprints into our process, I have come to the understanding the statement above is, in fact, not a paradox, but instead an inherent truth.

As the trend of personalized email grows among marketings and as consumers continue to anticipate increased email personalization, one should expect that if your content isn’t relevant your engagement rates will decline. 

Here are a few strategies that are aimed at personalizing content by leveraging intelligent data to re-engage your customers.

In the world of eCommerce, generating revenue is the name of the game. That revenue is dependent on purchases made by customers, which is why we put so much time and effort (and blood, sweat & tears) into optimizing the customer’s user experience. Countless hours are spent considering, critiquing and improving every possible interaction with the user, in an effort to convert shoppers into buyers. However, perhaps the most critical area of impact for eCommerce success is the customer’s ability to find product. After all, if customers can’t find the product they’re looking for, then how can we expect them to buy it?

If you’ve come across sites that are easy to navigate, chances are you have experienced good information architecture. IA is a crucial step in the site design process to create clear site navigation. Although we typically document IA in the form of sitemaps, in my ten years as an IA practitioner, this diagram has been a common pain point for client communication. It takes a leap of imagination to see how lines and boxes translate into a smooth user experience. In one of our recent projects we decided to ask ourselves, what happens if we skip it?