Understanding the "dark side" of ecommerce

Ecommerce is a major player now in the retail world, however, these virtual stores have a lot of hidden / deceptive problems that 95% of webmasters and ecommerce employees are not overly aware of or if they are do not know how to quantify and qualify them. This deck identifies, discusses and provides some solutions as to how to potentially tackle them - enjoy.

Hit me up on twitter with any feedback or questions: @sampenno_MUFC

Transcript

1. The “Dark Side” of
   Ecommerce
   @sampenno_mufc
   Sam Pennington
   New Look
   

   View Slide

2. WHAT IS THE
   “DARK SIDE” OF
   ECOMMERCE?
   

   View Slide

3. WHAT IS THE
   “DARK SIDE” OF
   ECOMMERCE?
   

   View Slide

4. WHAT IS THE
   “DARK SIDE” OF
   ECOMMERCE?
   

   View Slide

5. WHAT IS THE
   “DARK SIDE” OF
   ECOMMERCE?
   

   View Slide

6. WHAT IS THE
   “DARK SIDE” OF
   ECOMMERCE?
   ECOMMERCE
   PROBLEMS YOU
   MIGHT NOT KNOW
   YOU HAVE…
   

   View Slide

7. HOW MUCH
   STOCK DO I
   NEED?
   

   View Slide

8. IS MY PRODUCT A
   SUCCESS OR A
   FAILURE?
   

   View Slide

9. WHY ARE MY
   PRODUCTS
   GOING INTO
   “SALE”?
   

   View Slide

10. WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    

    View Slide

11. WHEN SHOULD I
    DISCOUNT MY
    PRODUCT?
    

    View Slide

12. HOW MANY
    OPTIONS PER
    CATEGORY?
    

    View Slide

13. HOW VISIBLE ARE
    MY CATEGORIES?
    

    View Slide

14. AM I SHOWING
    CUSTOMERS THE
    BEST PRODUCTS?
    

    View Slide

15. ECOMMERCE
    QUESTIONS:
    HOW MUCH STOCK DO
    I NEED?
    IS MY PRODUCT A
    SUCCESS OF FAILURE?
    WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCTS GOING
    INTO SALE?
    WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    WHEN SHOULD I
    DISCOUNT A
    PRODUCT?
    HOW MANY OPTIONS
    PER CATEGORY?
    HOW VISIBLE ARE MY
    CATEGORIES?
    AM I SHOWING
    CUSTOMERS THE BEST
    PRODUCTS?
    

    View Slide

16. ECOMMERCE
    QUESTIONS:
    HOW MUCH STOCK DO
    I NEED?
    IS MY PRODUCT A
    SUCCESS OF FAILURE?
    WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCTS GOING
    INTO SALE?
    WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    WHEN SHOULD I
    DISCOUNT A
    PRODUCT?
    HOW MANY OPTIONS
    PER CATEGORY?
    HOW VISIBLE ARE MY
    CATEGORIES?
    AM I SHOWING
    CUSTOMERS THE BEST
    PRODUCTS?
    1 2 3
    4 5
    

    View Slide

17. FOCUS
    PRODUCTS:
    BLACK HIGH WAIST SLIM
    TROUSERS
    GREEN CRINKLE STRAPPY
    TIE FRONT JUMPSUIT
    BLACK BUTTERFLY MESH
    FRILL CAMI
    PALE BLUE DENIM BUTTON
    FRONT BELTED UTILITY
    PLAYSUIT
    PRODUCT CODE: 827586030
    PRODUCT CODE: 827075909
    PRODUCT CODE: 818986345
    PRODUCT CODE: 828930601
    TRACKED OVER 16 WEEKS
    The following products were randomly selected and
    tracked over 16 weeks to understand their product
    lifecycle
    

    View Slide

18. FOCUS
    PRODUCTS:
    IS MY PRODUCT A SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
    WHY ARE MY PRODUCT VIEWS DROPPING?
    WHEN SHOULD I DISCOUNT MY PRODUCT?
    HOW VISIBILE ARE MY CATEGORIES?
    WHAT MAKES A PRODUCT END UP IN SALE?
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    

    View Slide

19. IS MY PRODUCT A
    SUCCESS OR
    FAILURE?
    1
    STOCK % SIZE
    AVAILABILITY %
    SUCCESS
    RATING
    LAUNCH 100% 100% 0 / 10
    WEEK 4 65% 72% 3.5 / 10
    WEEK 7 42% 50% 5.8 / 10
    WEEK 10 27% 32% 7.3 / 10
    WEEK 13 15% 26% 8.5 / 10
    WEEK 16 12% 23% 8.7 / 10
    

    View Slide

20. WHAT MAKES A
    PRODUCT END UP
    IN SALE?
    2
    SELL THROUGH RATE
    VISIBILITY
    AGE
    SEASONALITY
    FRAGMENTATION
    OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
    PRICE POINT
    DISCOUNT / PROMO
    AVAILABILITY
    VARIETY / NO. OPTIONS
    

    View Slide

21. WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    3
    VISIBILITY
    Quantity of categories a product
    features in plus findability of
    those categories.
    NEWNESS
    Adding new products to site
    typically pushes older products
    out of the visibility window.
    1
    2
    

    View Slide

22. WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    3
    NO.
    CATEGORIES
    AVG.
    POSITION
    VISIBILITY
    SCORE
    LAUNCH 9 8 182
    WEEK 4 8 39 141
    WEEK 7 6 65 95
    WEEK 10 6 81 79
    WEEK 13 3 76 54
    WEEK 16 2 63 57
    0
    50
    100
    150
    200
    WEEK
    1
    WEEK
    4
    WEEK
    7
    WEEK
    10
    WEEK
    13
    WEEK
    16
    

    View Slide

23. WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    3
    NO.
    CATEGORIES
    AVG.
    POSITION
    VISIBILITY
    SCORE
    LAUNCH 8 4 176
    WEEK 4 8 44 136
    WEEK 7 4 87 53
    WEEK 10 9 13 177
    WEEK 13 9 36 154
    WEEK 16 4 91 49
    0
    50
    100
    150
    200
    WEEK
    1
    WEEK
    4
    WEEK
    7
    WEEK
    10
    WEEK
    13
    WEEK
    16
    

    View Slide

24. WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    3
    NO.
    CATEGORIES
    AVG.
    POSITION
    VISIBILITY
    SCORE
    LAUNCH 7 25 145
    WEEK 4 6 33 127
    WEEK 7 6 48 112
    WEEK 10 2 36 84
    WEEK 13 9 47 143
    WEEK 16 8 71 109
    0
    50
    100
    150
    200
    WEEK
    1
    WEEK
    4
    WEEK
    7
    WEEK
    10
    WEEK
    13
    WEEK
    16
    

    View Slide

25. WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    3
    NO.
    CATEGORIES
    AVG.
    POSITION
    VISIBILITY
    SCORE
    LAUNCH 5 14 136
    WEEK 4 5 33 119
    WEEK 7 5 67 83
    WEEK 10 9 56 134
    WEEK 13 9 86 104
    WEEK 16 8 93 87
    0
    50
    100
    150
    WEEK
    1
    WEEK
    4
    WEEK
    7
    WEEK
    10
    WEEK
    13
    WEEK
    16
    

    View Slide

26. WHY ARE MY
    PRODUCT VIEWS
    DROPPING?
    3
    1 2 3
    DATA LAYER MANUAL TOOLS
    Add an element in to the
    pages data layer to track
    products positions – be
    sure to consider
    pagination.
    Periodically check low
    performing products to
    see how visible they are
    and consider ways of
    giving them new life
    I use the “product
    visibility tool” from
    Mediavision which was
    specifically built for this
    problem
    

    View Slide

27. WHEN SHOULD I
    DISCOUNT MY
    PRODUCT?
    4
    GOOD GOOD BAD
    GOOD GOOD BAD
    GOOD BAD GOOD
    GOOD BAD GOOD
    PERFORMANCE VS PLAN
    COMPETITION (PRICE POINT)
    VISIBILITY X AVAILABILITY
    SEASONALITY X AGE
    GOOD = NO DISCOUNT
    BAD = DISCOUNT
    NO DISCOUNT DISCOUNT DISCOUNT
    

    View Slide

28. HOW VISIBLE ARE
    MY CATEGORIES?
    5
    1 2
    3
    NAVIGATION
    INTERNAL
    LINKS
    SITEMAPS
    Does your category
    feature in the navigation?
    How many internal links
    are there to your
    categories?
    How easy is it to navigate
    to my category when on
    site?
    Does your category
    feature in your sitemaps?
    4 EXTERNAL
    LINKS
    Are there links to my
    category from 3rd party
    sites?
    1 / 9 CATEGORIES FEATURES IN
    THE NAVIGATION
    7 / 9 “WOMENS TROUSER”
    CATEGORIES ARE INCLUDED IN
    THE SITEMAP
    341 LINKS WITH “TROUSER”
    ANCHORS
    

    View Slide

29. HOW VISIBLE ARE
    MY CATEGORIES?
    5
    INTERNAL LINKS EXCLUDING NAVIGATION
    

    View Slide

30. HOW VISIBLE ARE
    MY CATEGORIES?
    5
    HOMEPAGE
    NAVIGATION? CLICK DEPTH VISIBILITY SCORE
    TROUSERS YES 1 10 / 10
    WORK TROUSERS NO 3 4 / 10
    SMART TROUSERS NO 5 1 / 10
    SLIM LEG TROUSERS NO 3 4 / 10
    SCHOOL TROUSERS NO 3 4 / 10
    HIGH WAISTED TROUSERS NO 2 6 / 10
    CIGARETTE TROUSERS NO 3 4 / 10
    CASUAL TROUSERS NO 3 4 / 10
    BLACK TROUSERS NO 2 6 / 10
    Tip: Try this yourself
    Pick 5 categories at random, then pick 5 more
    as “start points”, now without using the
    navigation try to click your way to the first 5
    categories from each start point and record
    the number of clicks.
    

    View Slide

31. HOW VISIBLE ARE
    MY CATEGORIES?
    5
    NOT AS VISIBLE
    AS YOU THINK!
    

    View Slide

32. 5
    IS MY PRODUCT A SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
    WHY ARE MY PRODUCT VIEWS DROPPING?
    WHEN SHOULD I DISCOUNT MY PRODUCT?
    HOW VISIBILE ARE MY CATEGORIES?
    WHAT MAKES A PRODUCT END UP IN SALE?
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    SELL
    THROUGH
    RATE
    VISIBILITY AGE SEASONALITY FRAGMENTATION
    PRICE
    POINT
    DISCOUNT
    / PROMO
    AVAILABILITY
    VARIETY /
    NO.
    OPTIONS
    SUMMARY:
    

    View Slide

33. Thanks
    @sampenno_mufc
    Sam Pennington
    New Look
    

    View Slide