Last week Swedish retailer H&M announced the arrival of its long-awaited U.S. e-commerce site, after delaying the launch date from last fall. The site will provide flat rate $5.95-per-order shipping, as well as additional sizes and online-only products such as those in its H&M Home line.
Although the site is functional and user-friendly enough, H&M is late to the game when it comes to taking their stores online. Other popular retailers have been beefing up their e-commerce sites recently, implementing updates such as more intuitive search engines and social media sharing capabilities. Let's take a look at some of the innovative changes major retailers have been making:
1. WAL-MART
Website: www.walmart.com
What they changed:
- search box with drop down menu
- more use of white space
- Trending Now grid of best-selling products
- My Store tab with nearest store location and hours
- Just Sold feed of recently purchased products
- coupon to print for in-store redemption
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer by sales alone, re-launched their site overnight on May 3rd, 2013. Their updated retail site's improved, larger search bar makes use of search engine marketing by featuring a drop-down menu that suggest departments and similar products. It integrates social networking aspects, taking cues from the popular site Pinterest, with a "Trending Now" tab at the top of the homepage that features what products are being pinned and what is selling the most online. The user is also able to see what products are popular sellers in their own cities when they search for the closest retail store location.
2. BEST BUY
Website: www.bestbuy.com
What they changed:
- improved site search and product recommendations
- easier to add Geek Squad services to cart
- price-match program
- shipping web orders from stores
Although electronic goods site Best Buy faces much competition from sites like online marketplace giant Amazon, they announced a turnaround program in the fall of 2012 called Renew Blue in an attempt to boost online sales. A focus of the program is a new price matching policy that offers to meet the pre-tax price of a local store rival or 19 major e-commerce sites. Best Buy has also started shipping products from stores to fulfill web orders when the online inventory is exhausted.
3. EBAY
Website: www.ebay.com
What they changed:
- improved website navigation
- updated logo
- more buyer protections
- changes focused on merchants
- launch of eBay LifeStyle Deals
Recently eBay has implemented a series of updates to make the marketplace more attractive to sellers, specifically more than Amazon. They have been describing themselves as the "most competitively priced commerce platform" because they do not buy or make their own products that complete with the products posted by individual merchants. Though some sellers expressed fear the buyer protections eBay introduced in 2012 were not protecting them against dishonest buyers, eBay now will remove any negative feedback left for a seller if a dispute arises.
4. UNIQLO
Website: www.uniqlo.com/us/
What they changed:
- viral marketing campaigns
- discounted overnight shipping
Japan-based retailer Uniqlo entered the US e-commerce field last fall hoping to cultivate a hip, edgy image with their viral marketing campaign of Twitter followers uploading videos of themselves dancing in their Uniqlo shirts. The site has more sizes than stores, for example stocking sizes XXS-XXL in a pair of women's leggings. Uniqlo offers $7 overnight shipping for customers near their fulfillment center in Seacaucus, NJ.
5. ZARA
Website: www.zara.com/us/
What they changed:
- addition of home goods line
Although the US online retail store has been selling apparel since September 2011, last fall Zara added a new site called ZaraHome that features bed, bath and table linens, furniture, cutlery, tableware and decorative accessories. The site has a kids section, videos featuring housewares in a home environment, gift ideas, a look book and a virtual catalog. The Spain-based company has made a name for itself as being one of the most popular "fast fashion" brands (Uniqlo and H&M are two others), but they are hoping to capitalize on trendy housewares too.
6. MEN'S WEARHOUSE
Website: www.menswearhouse.com
What they changed:
- upgrades and personalized features
In May, Men's Wearhouse announced a comprehensive overhaul of its website with additions such as suggestions for wardrobe essentials, tips for how to elevate personal style, recommendations based on browsing history and improved shopping filters. By the end of the year, the brand hopes to incorporate more features, including a new checkout process, international shipping and in-store web order pickup.
7. FAB.COM
Website: www.fab.com
What they changed:
- navigation updates
- no longer a flash sales only site
Although Fab.com once was a flash-sale retailer of design-focused goods available for a limited time, the site has decided to change directions and focus on the inventory they keep in stock on a regular basis. Their new navigation sidebar allows for the customer to shop by category, room, designer, color and price. They also now offer the ability to use social media logins, such as Facebook information and username, so users do not have to create a new account on the Fab.com site to shop.
8. DISNEY STORE
Website: www.disneystore.com
What they changed:
- better filtering options
- ability to create wish lists
- social media sharing capabilities
In time for holiday season last year, Disney released a new feature called "Disney Magical Message" which allowed customers to add a brief video message to their gift recipient. Certain Disney characters became animated when the cursor was hovered over them and the buffering symbol on the site turned into the shape of a Mickey Mouse ears and head.
9. LENOVO
Website: www.lenovo.com
What they changed:
- new product selection tool
In order to improve the site's sales, Lenovo brought in a market research firm to test the site's usability with consumers in the lab at three stages in the redesign process. They found out some key information, such as how many people thought their IdeaCentre desktop PC was a television, and streamlined the process of configuring products to help customers find and purchase what they need. Their new "Help Me Decide" product selector tool takes into account features such as touch screen capability, battery life and optical drive to help customers pick which PC is right for them.
10. HSN
Website: www.hsn.com
What they changed:
- rotating Trending Now product bar
- social media sharing capabilities
- mobile commerce site updates
Although it took 18 months for HSN to fully integrate all their updates, their customers are now able to have a higher level of personalization and a seamless shopping experience from device to device. HSN now has a Trending Now bar across the bottom of the homepage advertising Best Seller, 5-Star Review, Most Favorited products that are rotated frequently. Another new social shopping aspect of the site is The 20, highlighting daily top sellers, which lets the customer vote on the product of the day and share results via Facebook or Twitter.
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