Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

Hi

I think that the statistics quoted for converting reach to interest to order are appropriate for a run-of-the mill, me-to site, but they improve dramatically if you have some areas of differentiation which will drive up the conversion ratios.

Still, moving from 50 hits a day to something which will pay the bills (Shoes or no shoes) is going to take every promotional trick the other contributors have suggested – and thy are good suggestions. Driving up the visitor numbers by a factor of 500 to 1000 is a tall order, but it is possible if you can get the right level of publicity in conjunction with every trick in the optimisation arsenal.

You can have the best prices, the most stylish products and a level of service to equal the best, but if you can’t get thousands browsing the site, your concept will not work as a business.

OK, let’s say that you take the advice and publicise the site so that the viewing figures go up. What do they find when they get there? They’ll find a nice site which has some nice products but has nothing to make the visitor feel special. A few years back, a shopping basket and an on line catalogue was sophisticated and I have to say that it would have worked. But not any more. Yours is the world of fashion, where the money is made by either shifting a high volume of value for money merchandise or by selling a smaller number of quality products which fulfil a dream.

If you go for the former, then your catalogue must be extensive, cater for all tastes, and be comprehensive in putting people at ease with the security of their order and the basic quality of the product. You will want Mrs average and 10,000 of her pals to say “This place is value for money, lets go there every month and see what we can buy” The site can afford to be bright – even brash, with special offers, endorsements, time limited promotions, two for the price of one and basically read like an on-line catalogue, but with better prices, terms and delivery.

If you go for the latter, the site must pander to your customer’s dreams, not just yours. Think what it is like when you go into an up-market fashion store. You take a break from reality – someone else’s interior designer makes you feel that you are suddenly part of a different world. An assistant makes you feel like a new member of an exclusive club. You are invited to contemplate fashion ideas which from the outside looked enticing, but not necessarily in your current orbit. The mood is heady and before you know it you are envisaging wearing these creations. Soon you are trying them on and you are now wondering how your friends will react when you turn up at a party, clothed in something they’ve only read about in Vogue. The credit card gets hammered and you leave ecstatic at your purchase.

Wow! You’ve got to do this on a website, but it can be done. You’ll need subtle design, dynamic graphics, terrific photographs, a catalogue which tells a story and a site experience which conveys more of a lifestyle rather than just a wardrobe.

You’ve got a big job on your hands, but the transformation from the “Tell it as it is” style you have at the moments with its bold print and simple graphics is a good starting point, because you can go in either direction. You also have the summer to master some sophisticated site design packages like Dream weaver and Flash. If you move up market, you’ll need to invest in the site design, especially adding dynamic elements and creating a theme and a mood. If you go for the volume, you’ll need to expand the range and pump a huge effort into promotion to get the numbers. Here’s the nub of the difference – success in PR in the tabloids will drive the volume based on a wide range of classy clothes at a decent price. A plug in the glossies will drive a fraction of those numbers towards your site, but if the products are really good and the site is “cool” they’ll spend 50 times as much money as the visitors to a volume site, and tell their wealthy pals about it for free.

A funny thing is that a celebrity endorsement works wonders at both ends of the spectrum – it’s just easier to get them to do it for a high class site than for a volume site.

Two successful examples from the UK spring to mind. Matelan, a quality but low price store has re-vamped its on-line business to compete with the mass market catalogues and has jumped by over 50% as a result. Liberty have revived their exclusive and expensive image and hauled business back from other top London stores. Their stock has gone up by about 37%. I was told that Matelan have 5000 times more visitors than Liberty. Those at Liberty spend about 90% in total more than Matelan in total! Have a look at the websites to see what I mean.

Disclaimer – I’m male, like Armani, dress largely in casual clothes but have a few tailor made suits for business. I spend more on a decent winter coat than most people spend on their whole winter wardrobe and dress in second hand trousers because I like the styles from 2001! I also want to blow my next big bonus on a Chanel number for my wife whilst spending another hundred on a lot of summer shirts from my favourite on-line store where the prices are around £12 - £20 each!

Good luck – you’ve got a good concept.

Steve