Analysis: Optimising online sales

Converting visits into sales is the Holy Grail for online fashion retailers. A high conversion rate is a key indicator of a strong online store and a fractional advantage in conversion over a rival can be worth millions to the top line. But with thousands of businesses competing for the attention of audiences with ever-decreasing attention spans and even less patience, just one slip up along the way can result in a lost sale.

With average conversion rates hovering around the 3% mark, it can be easy to conclude that online fashion retailers have yet to crack the secret of how to turn website visits into hard cash. Yet there is no doubt that retailers better understand how customers interact with their websites now than was the case at the start of their online journeys.

As Lee Duddell, founder of user experience specialist What Users Do, explains: “Retail websites were initially created by designers as a platform to show their offerings in the best and most aesthetically pleasing way as a means of generating sales, but this approach completely ignored the journey a customer has to take to make a purchase.” As consumers have become increasingly sophisticated in how they shop online, fashion retailers have had to respond by becoming more user-centric.

Boden operations and IT director Ben Dreyer says it is the “50 little tweaks” to the online store that deliver the “great customer experience”, adding that fashion retailers must ensure the user experience, web design and the online user journey are all optimised to maximise sales. Nevertheless, common errors still blight the performance of many online stores.

Duddell cites key mistakes retailers make as: poor product information and imagery; a returns policy written by a legal department, rather than a web copywriter; the lack of a guest checkout or delivery choice; and poor localisation. These problems are easy enough to solve. However, the factors that determine whether a visiting consumer completes a purchase are often far more nuanced.

Inconsistent merchandising is a common fault, with product hidden away considered a particularly heinous crime by experts. Steve Borges, chief executive of Biglight, the specialist ecommerce agency, says: “There are some brands where you have to go through a lot of information to get to the product and that can impact on conversion. Even if you merchandise your home page with great looks and products, if you put a brand layer in front of that and have to click through to the stock it affects conversion.”

John Lewis head of online marketing Emma McLaughlin agrees the online journey has to be as seamless and straightforward as possible. “We’re always looking at how we can reduce the number of clicks customers have to make, or the stages of purchase they’re taken through,” she says.

That is not to say that style has no place. Emotion plays a key part in online purchasing despite the lack of a physical product to engage with. It is vital that retailers show off the product in the best possible light and tap into consumers’ emotional response to shopping.

Asos’ use of catwalk videos on its website helps it increase conversion rates, while TK Maxx aids the consideration process with helpful outfit tips. “The way in which the product is presented, the quality of the product, the sharpness of the colours, how good the zoom is, the content about the product is hugely important,” says Borges.

Duddell agrees it would be a travesty not to highlight the designers’ artistry. “However, what users do on retail sites is mainly driven by clarity, simplicity, trust and design, so a middle ground must be found that incorporates strong design elements with simplicity,” he says.

In the Drapers Etail Report 2012, consumers cited convenience and ease of browsing as reasons for buying fashion online, hence why online retailers who truly put the customer at the heart of their web design strike a balance between pushing the right emotional buttons while ensuring a slick, functional process. In practice, this means easy, quick navigation with logical ordering and manageable tabs as well as a well-configured search function.

For retailers that operate across multiple channels, consistency of branding is also a vital component. One of Next’s mantras is that the consumer just sees one brand, and it is therefore important that online stores reflect the in-store experience.

Getting each of these elements right can significantly improve an online retailer’s chances of converting a visit into a sale, but the fact remains there is no silver bullet for guaranteeing the customer will complete their purchase. Part of the reason why fashion conversion rates lag behind other categories such as entertainment is consumers’ fear over the quality and fit of the item. Poor fit is by far the main reason why clothes purchased online are returned. With fit often varying significantly between different brands, getting the right sized garment becomes even more of a minefield for consumers.

The cost of returns can be significant when you take into account the loss of sale, the cost of redelivery and the fall in resale value of an item. But beyond these tangible costs, a high rate of return can also damage the brand.

Heikki Haldre, chief executive and co-founder of virtual fitting room Fits.me, says: “Of customers who get the wrong size, 25% say I’ve learnt that this is not my size so I’ll try again; 57% will say I’m not willing to take the risk again so I’m going to buy less from that online shop, and 23% will say I’m going to buy less from this brand regardless of whether it’s the online or bricks-and-mortar shop.”

Menswear retailer Pretty Green has incorporated a Fits.me virtual fitting room into its online store, which uses a robotic mannequin to show how the item will look on the customer’s own body dimensions. The upshot has been an increase in conversion rates of 62% in 2012 and returns are down. “If customers visit the fitting room, they are much more likely to convert,” says Pretty Green head of digital Tim Kalic.

The growth in shopping through mobile devices has presented another set of challenges. What works on a desktop does not necessarily work on a hand-held device. Retailers have had to adapt their mobile offer to reflect this.

John Lewis recently made all the ‘continue’ and ‘place order’ buttons in the checkout on its mobile site larger so they are easy to touch with a thumb, and has changed the delivery date selection to use the phone’s native date picker.

Interestingly, fashion appears to work well on tablets, according to statistics from the Affiliate Windows’ M-commerce white paper, which found the average conversion rate for the iPad is 3.81% for fashion, compared with 1.92% for electrical and 1.21% for telecoms. Tablets also performed well against other mobile devices, suggesting that screen size and orientation, as well as variable bandwidth, are a barrier to completing sales.

Retailers will have to overcome all of those barriers if they are to improve conversion rates in the years ahead and turn clicks into cash.