The magical sentence. (eTail Insights #4)

"If we don't make people like [fill in the blank] ridiculously happy, we've failed."

Yup, that's it. That one sentence. If you can fill in the blank with a very specific reference to a very specific type of person, you have a shot at ecommerce success.

Why is this such a cool sentence? Because it sneakily turns the notion of prioritization of key customers on its head. If you're lucky enough to work at a company that already has a modicum of customer focus, you're probably used to a different sentence, which goes something like:'[this kind of customer] is more important than [this other kind of customer].' Execs are asked to fill in those blanks, and that's really, really hard. And scary. Why? Because it implies that you are devaluing a whole set of 'other kinds of customers' (the ones you are not going to focus on).

Well, the fact that it's hard to prioritize customer focus doesn't mean that we don't have to do it. But the magical sentence makes it a lot easier. For example, let's say you sell roller skates online. Are professional roller skaters more important than parents of kids who are just starting to roller skate? What about ex-roller skaters who are going through a sad midlife crisis and trying to capture the 'shoot-the-duck, ladies-choice' Friday nights of the late '70s? If you have to choose between features for these very different types of shoppers, how are you going to do it? Will you build the 'pom-pom picker' tool or the 'pro-am wheel customizer'? How on earth are you to choose?

Try the sentence. "If we don't make [Phil InTheBlank] ridiculously happy we've failed." Who is Phil? I Googled 'buy roller skates' and found several stores. As far as I could tell, they were all organized by category. Organizing solely by category is essentially punting on the whole 'customer focus' thing. If Phil is an expert, sure, he can go directly into whatever category and start price shopping (whee! Price shopping!). If Phil is the soon-to-discover-he-is-no-longer-nearly-as-limber-as-he-used-to-be disco-ducker, he has no help at all.

I bet someone in each of these companies could pretty easily come up with a Phil for the sentence above. A pretty darned specific Phil. Several Phils, in fact. And I also bet that, faced with these Phils, the execs could pretty easily pick out the one that makes the magic sentence the most true for their companies. And they're not going to need a bunch of data to do it. Once you have that sentence, you have a chance at making Phil really, really happy. Really, really happy Phils reach for their credit cards faster than un-ful-Phils.

So, Tamara, what should I do with this information?

Go create that sentence. Ask your execs if they agree with the sentence. Then start saying things like 'if we want to make Phil ridiculously happy, shouldn't we reconsider [nutty ajax-based feature you asked for last week]and maybe do [much more sane, content-based, editorial-voice-creating idea]?' See what happens. And, for heaven's sakes, write a frikkin comment to tell me all about it. You guys are being suspiciously quiet out there.

The power of personality: Would you take fashion advice from a really dull friend? (eTail insights #2)

The Internet is the most massive, overwhelming department store in the universe (unless there is a bigger one on another planet, but that's a topic for another day). Sarah Shopper is inundated with options - an endless variety of stores, product information and reviews are plentiful and just a click away. It's the most horrifying (and cool) mall ever. Price shopping is super easy. Shipping is expected to be quick and cheap. Looking in multiple places before making a purchase is de rigueur, especially when it comes to higher price point items.

Sarah can get awfully overwhelmed. And when she's overwhelmed at a mall, she doesn't choose a store according to how much she trusts the cash register or how fast the sales people can put her stuff into bags. Nope, she looks for an enjoyable shopping experience.

Take a look at your voice.

Is it fun to shop at your store? Barney's and NetAPorter have the same dress, and the one at Barney's is on sale. But what's the experience?

NetAPorter welcomes me at the door to the Diane von Furstenberg boutique with runway shots and a blurb about the designer.

The Internet is the most massive, overwhelming department store in the universe (unless there is a bigger one on another planet, but that's a topic for another day). Sarah Shopper is inundated with options - an endless variety of stores, product information and reviews are plentiful and just a click away. It's the most horrifying (and cool) mall ever. Price shopping is super easy. Shipping is expected to be quick and cheap. Looking in multiple places before making a purchase is de rigueur, especially when it comes to higher price point items.

Sarah can get awfully overwhelmed. And when she's overwhelmed at a mall, she doesn't choose a store according to how much she trusts the cash register or how fast the sales people can put her stuff into bags. Nope, she looks for an enjoyable shopping experience.

Take a look at your voice.

Is it fun to shop at your store? Barney's and NetAPorter have the same dress, and the one at Barney's is on sale. But what's the experience?

NetAPorter welcomes me at the door to the Diane von Furstenberg boutique with runway shots and a blurb about the designer.
Barneys dumps me into an assortment page.

NetAPorter welcomes me at the door to the Diane von Furstenberg boutique with runway shots and a blurb about the designer. Barneys dumps me into an assortment page.

Assortment and product pages on Barneys.com (left) and NetAPorter.com (right).

Next, let's move on to product page content. NetAPorter sounds like a fun, informed shopping guru. Barney's mwah-mwah-mwahs at me like the teacher from the Peanuts. Check it out:

NetAPorter: The St Kitts dress is a lesson in fall's magenta and plum color palette. Wear with tonal hued accessories. Shown here with Marc by Marc Jacobs clutch, Sergio Rossi shoes and Monica Vinader bangles. For style advice, contact our Fashion Advisors. (and there's even more on the 'details' tab, including a note that 'this style runs true to size.')

Barney's: Printed silk jersey sleeveless v-neck dress with tie detail at neckline and slightly ruched sides. Unlined. 40" length. Available in Purple/Pink. Imported. Silk. Dry clean.

So, Tamara, what am I supposed to do?
Get your virtual pen out, get brave, and start writing. When you walk into a brick and mortar store, the editorial voice of a brand wafts up from the merchandising, the scent and the décor. The voice also is delivered through the attitude and appearance of the sales staff, their tone and delivery - and the kind of information they provide about items.

Online, there are no aromas. There's no one to talk to, no one to fetch a size for you or tell you that something looks great or is perfect for you. No actual person to strike up a conversation - so you've got to do more with your product content. The solution isn't to create some kind of wacky 'social shopping' feature (remember Clippy? Don't let that happen to you). It's something much easier. Talk to Sarah. Let Sarah talk to Phyllis, who bought the dress last week. Be as brave as you are in brick and mortar. Have a voice and an opinion. Typing in what's on the tag in the dress and calling it content is not going to close a sale.

How does your site differentiate? Comment! Comment! Comment!

The customer dilemma: Your store vs. next door. (eTail Insights #1)

When was the last time you actually gave your customers a crisp, clear reason to shop in your store?

I don’t mean a logo and tagline, I mean explicitly spelling out what you offer that’s special and different, telling your customers exactly why they should shop with you instead of next door.

I looked at the homepages of Zappos, DSW, shoes.com, Piperlime/Banana Republic, Payless, and Endless to see how they were sending the message of difference. Only Piperlime (see image) and Endless actually give customers an obvious reason to shop with them.

Banana Republic comes out of the closet with panache, trumpeting to customers about how their shopping experience is easier and just plain better.

All of the stores sell shoes, offer a huge selection and tempt with an assortment of freebies like free shipping and free returns. But not all of them deliver a clear value proposition as to why shopping in their store is different and better than shopping next door. If they all offer free shipping and returns and have similarly low prices (which, at this point, aren’t really differentiators anymore. They’re expected parts of the experience), how do you convince a customer to buy at one versus the other? Only two of the five stores give customers unique reasons to shop at their sites: Endless and Piperlime. Endless with free overnight shipping and Piperlime because with a combined shopping experience and shipping for Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Piperlime. And they don’t make you guess. Instead, they actually tell their customers in plain English with a big splash screen.

There’s got to be some reason all of these online shoe stores exist. There’s got to be something each business team thought they could do better or differently when they created these businesses (there’s a big difference between Payless and Zappos, right?) But to customers, the company’s differentiators aren’t clear. In the absence of a clear differentiator and value proposition-and by clear, I mean spelled out, in plain and simple language-it’s just about price, availability, shipping, and selection. Is that really all there is?

Nope. Take a look at the ‘about us’ pages for each of the stores. Long story short, Endless is about cool ways to shop and the free overnight shipping thing. Shoes.com is about being in the shoe business for 125 years and having really popular brands. Zappos is about personality-and yes, personality and can be a major differentiator. DSW is about designer discounts, at least that’s what I think I remember. I can’t even find the words “Designer Shoe Warehouse” on the site. Maybe they feel like their brand tells the whole story but they’re passing up an opportunity to tell customers what makes shopping with them unique and interesting.

C’mon. There’s got to be SOMETHING that makes you really different and better. Just remember, if you don’t tell me what it is, then I’ll just assume you’re basically the same as everybody else.

How does your site differentiate? Email your customer experience questions and ideas to tamara@fellswoop.com. I will publish replies in future versions of the newsletter.