In today’s world, businesses need to be online—it’s not just a fancy extra anymore. With so many people shopping online, it’s critical to understand how to use digital merchandising to increase sales and engagement with your brand.
In this article, we’ll explore digital merchandising more closely and provide you with some practical advice on how to make it work for your online business.
What is Digital Merchandising?
Digital merchandising is presenting and promoting products or services through online channels. The goal is to create an engaging and personalized shopping experience for customers.
It can include using high-quality images and videos, interactive elements such as virtual try-ons and 360-degree views, and personalizing the shopping experience recommending user-relevant products based on their browsing or purchase history.
The importance of customer engagement in digital merchandising is highlighted by a study that found that both psychological and behavioral engagement positively impact online sales [1].
Why is Digital Merchandising Important?
Digital merchandising plays a vital role in the success of online businesses. Here are some reasons why:
1. Increased Visibility.
Use various online channels to promote your products. This way, you can increase your visibility and reach a wider audience. It can lead to increased traffic and sales.
Digital marketing, including high-quality visuals and interactive elements, significantly impacts brand awareness, sales growth, and customer engagement, providing a strong basis for implementing such features in digital merchandising [2].
2. Enhanced Customer Experience.
With digital merchandising, you can provide a personalized and engaging shopping experience. It can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Competitive Advantage.
By investing in digital merchandising, you can also gain a competitive advantage over businesses that have not yet exploited digital channels. Be at the top of your game.
How to Implement Digital Merchandising in Your Business
Here are some tips to help you effectively implement digital merchandising in your online business:
1. Know Your Target Audience.
Understanding your target audience is essential in creating a personalized shopping experience. It includes knowing their interests, preferences, and behaviors.
This knowledge can help you tailor your digital merchandising strategies to better appeal to your target audience.
###2. Use High-Quality Images and Videos.
High-quality visuals can capture your customer’s attention and convey the value of your products. Invest in professional product photography and videos that showcase your products in the best light.
A study on the relevance of visual merchandising for online retailers indicates that developments in online visual merchandising techniques can enhance the virtual environment for e-shopping, helping to reduce perceived risks and compete effectively with traditional sales channels [3].
3. Incorporate Interactive Elements.
Interactive elements such as product demos, virtual try-ons, and 360-degree views can provide an engaging and immersive shopping experience. It can help customers better understand your products and increase the likelihood of purchase.
4. Exploit social proof
Another key aspect of digital merchandising is the use of social proof. People are more likely to buy a product if they see that others have purchased and enjoyed it.
Social proof can be incorporated into your digital merchandising strategies through customer reviews, ratings, and user-generated content.
Showcase positive feedback from satisfied customers to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
5. Personalize the Shopping Experience.
Personalization is key to creating a memorable shopping experience. Use data such as browsing and purchase history to recommend products that customers are likely to be interested in.
Personalization is crucial in digital merchandising, as shown by a study that explores how tailored digital content on a mixed-reality training platform can enhance online purchase intentions through increased customer engagement and brand trust [4].
6. Optimize for Mobile.
With the majority of online shoppers using mobile devices, it’s crucial to optimize your online store and digital channels for mobile devices. It can help ensure a seamless shopping experience for your customers.
Optimizing for mobile devices is vital. It increases customer involvement and influences purchase intent, corroborating the need for mobile optimization in digital marketing strategies [5].
7. Use Social Media.
Social media is a powerful tool for digital merchandising. Use platforms like Instagram and Facebook to showcase your products and build a connection with your audience.
8. Always Test.
In addition to these tactics, it’s critical to test and refine your digital merchandising strategies.
Use A/B testing to test different variations of product pages, landing pages, and marketing campaigns to see what resonates best with your audience.
By analyzing the results and making data-driven decisions, you can optimize your strategies for maximum impact.
9. Measure and Analyze Your Results.
It’s important to track the success of your digital merchandising strategies. Use tools such as Google Analytics to track metrics such as traffic as well as bounce and conversion rates.
This data can help you make informed decisions on improving your digital merchandising strategies.
10. Satisfy Dissatisfied Users.
One final aspect to consider when implementing digital merchandising is the importance of customer service. Online customers expect quick and efficient customer service, and failure to provide this can result in negative reviews and lost sales.
Make sure to provide multiple channels for customer support, such as email, chat, and phone, and ensure that response times are kept to a minimum.
Bonus Tips for Your Success
A secret conversion-boosting aspect of digital merchandising that we haven’t touched on yet is product recommendations. It is a powerful tool that can help increase sales and customer engagement.
One of the most effective ways to exploit it - is to turn on product recommendations on your e-commerce site search (like LupaSearch).
The product recommender analyses each user interaction, click, and search query. Then, the next time the user searches for a product, the product recommender suggests highly relevant products.
Let’s say the user is interested in coffee appliances for making coffee while camping. This way, the personalized e-commerce search can offer similar products: other coffee appliances, camping gear for cooking food, or thermal mugs.
This practice alone can drastically boost your e-commerce conversion rates.
Conclusion
In conclusion, digital merchandising is a powerful tool for online businesses looking to increase sales and customer engagement.
By using high-quality visuals, incorporating interactive elements, personalizing the shopping experience, optimizing for mobile, using social media, and implementing product recommendations and social proof, you can create a compelling and personalized shopping experience for your customers.
By continually testing and refining your strategies and providing excellent customer service, you can build trust and credibility with your audience and drive long-term success.
LupaSearch - Your Partner in Creating a Converting Online Store
If you seek a reliable, conversion-boosting e-commerce search solution, look no further than LupaSearch.
With an effective product recommender, autocomplete, and personalized search experience, this site search can uplift your e-commerce success to the next level.
With LupaSearch, a Shipzee shopping platform became more relevant, search conversions increased by 39%, and revenue grew by 17%.
Want similar results? Book a free demo at LupaSearch and let’s discuss your online business growth opportunities.
References
Cheung, C., Shen, X., Lee, Z., & Chan, T. (2015). Promoting sales of online games through customer engagement. Electron. Commer. Res. Appl., 14, 241-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ELERAP.2015.03.001.
Wan, Y. (2023). Investigating the Impact and Effectiveness of Digital Marketing on Brand Awareness, Sales and Customer Engagement. Advances in Economics, Management, and Political Sciences. https://doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/51/20230651.
Bonera, M., & Corvi, E. (2014). The Relevance of Visual Merchandising for Online Retailers. , 3, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJABE.2014100101.
Li, C., Chan, O., Chow, Y., Zhang, X., Tong, P., Li, S., Ng, H., & Keung, K. (2022). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Digital Content Marketing Under Mixed Reality Training Platform on the Online Purchase Intention. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.881019.
Jayadeva, S. (2022). Impact of Digital Marketing on Customer’s Purchase. ECS Transactions. https://doi.org/10.1149/10701.15165ecst.