E-commerce is huge. Just ask Amazon, which is gobbling up an ever-increasing share of retail revenue and making even the big-box giants nervous. Businesses now realize their online storefronts are just as important as their brick and mortar ones – more so, in some industries. That presents a challenge to marketers as they look for ways to translate traditional visual and lifestyle-based merchandising to an online format.

Instead of merchandising experts curating collections for in-store visitors, online shoppers are gathering their own displays. They have an untold wealth of options and sources, putting together new looks in everything from antique furniture to automated processes with a few taps. That’s good news and bad news; while it lets retailers reach larger markets, it also allows shoppers to go to another virtual storefront in microseconds. For marketers, keeping customers on the page and in the e-commerce shop depends on developing innovative ways to merchandise.

Thinking Beyond the Grid
E-commerce sites that showcase products in a neat array of rows and columns make sense when what you’re selling is more a matter of function than form. What about items that in-store shoppers choose in part based on visual appeal, though? How do you make a marching grid of khakis dance off the screen and into carts? For many retailers, mouse-overs are the answer. They stage the merchandise just as they would in a department store, but unlike an in-store display, customers can easily hover a cursor or a finger over the desired item and tap to pull up its information.

Mousing over also breaks up the grid when viewers can hover over an item to get different views of it. For products that lend themselves to multi-angle views such as clothing, furniture, and cars, this technique works especially well. Site design that snaps an item of interest to a larger window or onto a customer’s own comparison list is a good way to showcase the differences in similar items. When shopping for the perfect pair of work boots or jeans, being able to compare at a glance is a must, and merchandisers need to offer that capability to keep customers on-site.

Group Up
Let’s take another look at Amazon and one of their most useful features, the listings at the bottom of a page. The e-commerce retailer helpfully lists other products that resemble what you’re looking for, items other shoppers like you have bought, and past purchases you’ve made. By putting so much information on the page, Amazon helps potential buyers make decisions quickly while boosting sellers’ revenue with upselling and cross-promotion. Bundling – that is, putting related items together and giving shoppers a single price, sometimes at a discount – is another proven way for Amazon to increase sales value through on-site merchandising.

Browse a well-designed e-commerce shop’s merchandise, and you’ll notice how many different ways the same item is grouped. In-store retail can’t match the flexibility of e-commerce when it comes to overlapping merchandising. The same suit can only be on one rack in the store, but online, it can be a part of dozens of categories grouped by size, color, fabric, manufacturer, style, trend, and any other subset retailers decide to label it. The importance of this fluidity in merchandising is impossible to overstate.

Creativity and technology can not only turn a thoughtfully merchandised online shopping trip into as exciting an experience as a visit to a brick and mortar location, but give shoppers new perspectives no in-store shopping could match. Well-designed e-commerce sites let shops rearrange and display their merchandise in different and compelling ways every time the customer visits. Let’s see a brick and mortar location top that feat.