The issue of high conversions and sales is a valid concern for every online store owner, and e-commerce businesses selling supplies and equipment are no exception. And if you’re one of them, take our advice and attract customers in all possible ways and tools, including visual merchandising.
This may seem overly simple, but trust our multi-year expertise: the strategy does work! Using visual merchandising, you’ll build a profitable online business supplies and equipment store, ensure stable sales, and create a loyal customer base.
Not sure where to start? Then read our article first—it’ll reveal the best approach to the matter.
What Is Visual Merchandising of a Retail Store?
Visual merchandising is a set of design and communication solutions that ensure customers’ emotional involvement in purchasing. This strategy applies to both physical, brick-and-mortar stores and online ones; the difference is in the tools used.
The purpose of visual merchandising is to help you properly present your online business supplies and equipment store to the public and make it as attractive as possible to potential buyers.
User Experience and Visual Merchandising
Many online store owners focus solely on loyalty programs and pricing, which is a losing, one-sided view of the problem. Alas, only some eCommerce businesses understand the importance of the shopping experience and the impressions the purchasing process leaves customers with. That’s when visual merchandising and the spectacular product line display come into the picture.
Supplies and equipment, at first glance, may seem to have nothing to do with emotional customer involvement, but this is far from the case. Emotions influence even the most rational of us, whether we like it or not. The thing is, most people are visual, so logical thinking is activated only after we react emotionally to what we see.
Therefore, avoid making the same mistake as your competitors. Stand out from their crowd by using visual merchandising for your commercial store.
Learn about a simple yet efficient tool to increase online sales for eCommerce stores. Sell your supplies and equipment in the smartest way.
Let’s go through the main points that should make up your physical merchandising strategy.
#1. Intuitive & User-friendly UI
To build a profitable online business supplies and equipment store, you have to ensure it has an intuitive and user-friendly interface. It’s all about ease of use, well-designed navigation, and clear structure, which form the basis for elevated user experience.
Let’s give a couple of tips:
- get to know your customer and determine their behavior patterns. What do they expect to see when visiting your online store?
- analyze successful businesses in your niche and understand their approach to structuring information and arranging products in the catalog. Perhaps you should adopt some of their ideas, too; why not, after all?
#2. Detailed Product Description
Of course, any eCommerce website owner must describe in detail their goods, but if we’re talking about an online business supplies and equipment store, the importance of product descriptions increases several times.
So be sure to provide accurate and comprehensive information about the supplies and equipment, including specifications, dimensions, features, and benefits.
#3. High-Quality Product Photography
One of the crucial visual merchandising aspects that will increase online sales for eCommerce stores is quality product photography. It can significantly influence a customer’s decision to make a purchase, and here’s why:
- Pictures allow customers to examine the product in more detail and see its features and quality.
- Product photography will allow buyers to understand better how an item can be used in their work or home environment.
- And finally, you increase trust in the brand since high-quality photo content indicates that your company pays attention to all the details.
Of course, such a product as supplies and equipment is challenging to show beautifully to customers on an online storefront. However, an experienced photographer will handle this task and demonstrate your goods in a way that best conveys their functionality.
So don’t hesitate to invest in professional photography. And don’t forget to ask the photographer to offer multiple camera angles so that buyers can look closer at the item before purchasing.
#4. Incorporating VR & AR technologies
High-quality photo content is a great way to build a profitable online business supplies and equipment store, but it’s far from the only one. There are also more effective methods of stimulating conversions, such as VR and AR.
Incorporating these technologies into your online store will make the shopping experience more interactive, visual, and even fun. You give your customers the opportunity to virtually “try on” equipment or supplies, thereby helping them make more informed purchasing decisions.
#5. Smartly Managed Online Catalog
Finally, we reach the most critical point of working with any online store. Indeed, we’re talking about a catalog, which essentially links customers and your product range. Be sure to take good care of its management and pay special attention to the following:
- Smart Categorization: A well-structured catalog with logical categories and subcategories makes it easy for customers to browse and locate products.
- Clear Navigation: Implementing an intuitive search functionality and filters by attributes such as price, brand, or specifications streamlines the browsing process and saves customers’ time.
- Product Range Variety: Many eCommerce businesses have the wrong approach to product placement, and certain items are unnecessarily revalent over others in the front rows of their catalogs, leaving customers with the impression that the assortment lacks some critical positions. Don’t make the same mistake and show everything your online business supplies and equipment store has to offer.
- Consistent and Up-to-date Inventory: Regularly update the catalog to reflect the availability and stock levels of each product. Providing real-time information prevents customers from ordering out-of-stock items and helps manage their expectations.
- Cross-Selling and Upselling Opportunities: Utilize the catalog to suggest related or complementary products to customers, encouraging them to explore additional options or upgrade their purchase.
- Regular Maintenance and Optimization: Continuously monitor and update the catalog to fix any errors, broken links, or outdated information. Analyze customer behavior, search trends, and sales data to identify opportunities for improvement and optimization.
As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done on an ongoing basis. To simplify this process and improve your catalog management, take advantage of the solutions offered by modern digital technologies, such as Sortler, a user-friendly visual merchandising tool.
Sortler is a cloud-based system for smart catalog management. By implementing it into your business operations, you can achieve the following:
- Diversify product display.
- Create beautiful combinations of matching products.
- Show only relevant and available items on the top catalog rows.
- Increase sales of underperforming products.
- And much more!
Working with this tool is incredibly simple: just create display product rules, and Sortler will start following them. Another option is to use the drag-and-drop feature and visualize the catalog management process.
In the article at the link, we offer a practical example to explain how to use Sortler to increase conversions.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned techniques will help you build a profitable online business supplies and equipment store and give your customers a unique and memorable shopping experience. And remember, visual merchandising isn’t just about product photography; it’s about creating a unique brand identity, incorporating new technologies, and paying attention to efficient catalog management.
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