Hi folks!

You know, a lot of store owners I talk to know the value of merchandising to their customers, but they just don’t have time to pull it off effectively. Others are unclear on what merchandising even means for an online store. Merchandising is simply the promotion of products to your customer base through organized, attractive campaigns that reinforce the specialness of your brand. Making that happen online requires a lot of skill and hard work. Fortunately for you, EYStudios has the skill to do all the work for you!

I put together a Top 10 Tips to help supercharge your merchandising in 2011. So let’s start with the basics first!

1.) You need a fantastic store design.

A professional web presence is key in establishing trust with your customers. The amount you sell to your customer base is proportionate to the amount of trust you’ve earned with them. This is a critical element that has to be there before you even think of merchandising. The key, foundational parts of any site design include a site frame (header, left-navigation, footer), homepage, product page, and checkout.

2.) Your new 2006 site design hasn’t been new in a long, long time.

Perhaps you already invested in shiny new design years ago, but the luster has worn off compared to today’s standards. Web design cannot be viewed as “set it and forget it” mentality. Web aesthetics and best practices in usability and functionality are always changing and evolving. If your site design reeks of mothballs, you’re allowing your competitors the chance to come in with a more credible, modern design that leaves yours in the dust.

3.) Homepage is where the heart is.

The job of the homepage is to do two things: summarize what the store sells, and promote key products and categories. EYStudios offers a tremendous amount of tools that maximize the use of precious real estate on your homepage, while aggressively promoting product to your customers. One of the keys to effective merchandising on your homepage is proper layout. Having an intuitive sense of hierarchy with your images is attractive to the customer’s eye. Put simply: Size matters!

4.) Every customer relationship needs TLC (Top Level Categories).

If you’ve already constructed the foundational parts of your site design mentioned earlier, then it’s time to start focusing on the interior pages of your store. At EYStudios, we shorten Top Level Categories to simply “TLC.” Most online retailers section pages look exactly the same: row-after-row of thumbnails. Introducing pro-active merchandising techniques in addition to those thumbnails will pay off big-time with increased conversions, decreased bounce-rates, more time on your site, etc. You already have a main homepage, so look at your TLC as “stores within a store.” Many, if not all of them, are deserving of their own “homepage” design that will help you effectively merchandise from within your store.

5.) Don’t forget about Sub-Section pages, either.

If your TLC are the rooms of your house, think of sub-sections as the closets within the room. Are your store’s “closets” looking orderly or messy? While TLC landing pages typically showcase sub-sections, the sub-section landing pages usually show individual products. If you have sub-sections with dozens of individual products within them, pro-actively spotlighting best sellers or recommendations will score big with converting customers with a “browser” mentality.

6.) If it looks and acts like SPAM, it probably is.

If you’re still sending out text-based newsletters (or worse, no newsletters at all), then you’re missing out on a big opportunity to expand your brand to your customers. Your newsletters simply must reinforce your branding to your customers if they’re to be successful. Being clever about how to update your customers with new store promotions will result in more and more repeat visits.

(NEWSLETTER TIP: If you’ve placed your newsletter sign-up box at the bottom part of your site frame, consider placing it higher up in order to get more eyes on it.)

7.) Give Social Media a hug. Your customers will hug you back.

Social media is your chance to get personal with your customer base. Remember, how a customer FEELS about your brand is more important than what they think about it. In today’s personality-driven economy, businesses need to “get real” with their customers. A fancy slogan and ad campaign will fall flat if it doesn’t resonate with the customer base on a visceral, emotional level. Social media allows for immediate, personal interaction with the folks that buy from you. With modern day tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, why not embrace their benefits to both you and your customers?

8.) Consistent merchandising brings in consistent dollars.

Now you’re really humming with your merchandising techniques, both on your store and off. You’ve added a vast array of tools that allow you to get your message about your products out there. But take time to back up a little and survey your merchandising landscape. How consistent are you being? Does your merchandising have the same personality or “voice” across various types of media? Are you being consistent with your graphic branding? Are you being consistent in terms of timing your promotions and updating your product selections? Remember, being consistent reinforces customer confidence in your company’s brand. Just make sure it’s consistently GOOD and not bad!

9.) Timing is everything!

I’m a big believer in creating urgency around your promotions. For example, if you have a contest, make sure it has an end-date. Even better, add a countdown timer leading to your end-date! When customers fear they might miss out on a hot product, it adds the thrill of the hunt into an otherwise predictable shopping experience. Make sure your ads never become predictable, either: Keep your merchandising campaigns fresh and current in order to keep your customers intrigued and engaged.

10.) Remember to merchandise in a way that matters.

All of your merchandising strategies must answer the question “What’s in it for the customer?” Your ads and promotions are essentially white noise if they don’t speak to your customers’ wants and needs. As such, they must be designed in an appealing way to not just provide information, but really make the customer DESIRE your products!

Need help strengthening your merchandising strategy with any combination of Eric’s Top 10 Tips? Contact Us today to set up a free consultation with one of our helpful merchandising experts!