Visual Merchandising Online - Term Paper Example

Visual Merchandising Online [Name] [Professor Name] [Course] [Date] Abstract: The retail industry is today faced with unprecedented change. A succession of technological advances and economic turmoil has combined to model out the retail landscape rapidly. Retailers have been forced to question the functions and roles of stores and how they connect with the shifting customer expectations. One major change is visual merchandising online. In addition to outlining the past, current and future of visual merchandising on-line, this essay discusses its concept in detail. Key Concepts: visual merchandising, online visual merchandising, online store, e-retailing, ecommerce Introduction In the modern-day market environment, the need to attract and retain customers has become increasingly challenging. Customers today have unlimited alternatives that provide them with information and means to make their purchases. Within that context, visual merchandising online or webmospheric (the deliberate designing of online store to create certain visual and emotional effects on the online shopper) has become a useful tool for differentiating retail stores and creating pleasant online shopping experience (Evanschitzky 2007). Visual Merchandising Online Visual merchandising online refers to the techniques applied to ensure the presentation of an online store is attractive and eye-catching to potential customers. Basically, the context of the merchandise is set in an aesthetically pleasant way to convert the visitors online into prospective and ultimate buyers of products (Jain, Sharma and Narwal 2012). Customer satisfaction in online trading is anchored in the customer’s assessment of a range of crucial factors such as the convenience of using a website, its design as well as perceptions of the utility and ease of using it (Anon. 2004). The primary purpose of visual merchandising is to increase sales through the power of visual display. Indeed, removing latent confusion and improving the capacity to enjoy shopping is a key aspect of online retailing (Deloitte 2012). A critical component of selling products online is the design of online stores. Ertman and Hedinge (2010) suggest that online stores should endeavour to accomplish much more than just basic requirements. Rather, they should focus on offering improved user experience for online store visitors. This is significant because e-retailing is a continuous flow of innovative concepts to make the store stand out from the crowd. The significance is to recreate the attractive atmosphere existing in the product’s physical retail store. This can be realised by recreating the associated appearance with the specific product (Jain, Sharma and Narwal 2012). Visual merchandising online is therefore based on the human senses and should as a result increase an effective experience for the online store visitor, with anticipation of higher purchase probability and increased customer loyalty (Anon. 2004). Evanschitzky (2010) advises that in order to create an effective online store for a product, it is critical that the features of the physical product be united and carefully integrated to fit the specific product’s characteristics (Pittarese 2010). Ertman and Hedinge (2010) lists visual tools as including slideshows, colour schemes, video clips, pictures, 3-dimesional product view, text font and style, zoom capability and interactive media (Pereira et al 2010). Okonkwo (2010) noted that the homepage, like a shop front, must be designed to create a high-impact as well as to strengthen the features personality and heritage of the products. Among other effective tool is the sound, which can be used to evoke a shopper’s subconscious feelings just as it happens in traditional visual merchandising. In Ertman and Hedinge’s (2010) view, the most effective method of using sound is to ensure that it suits the product’s personality. Clear control tools should however be available to allow the visitor to adjust the sound. Usability is also an effective tool. Okonkwo (2010) described usability as the basis for a website while at the same time suggested that a website’s value depends on its functionality, navigation and interactivity, which add to the ease of using the online store and hence enhance the customer’s experience. Early visual merchandising online Despite the fact that online trading took off in the United States in the mid 1990s, the traditional retail store trading has been in existence for years. Indeed, the history of visual merchandising online goes hand in hand with ecommerce. The history of both concepts goes back to 1960, when people felt the need to send an interactive content (videotext) that could be displayed on television. This prompted the need for researches, which escalated when Michael Aldrich of Redifon Computers Ltd conceptualised the idea of teleshopping in the United Kingdom. In 1982, online service of videotext called Mintel was launched in France. It used telephone lines. This was a real success until the discovery of World Wide Web (InstantShift 2010). In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee, British Scientist who was researching at CERN laboratory designed the first web browser, which ultimately altered most ways of businesses, as a new market called the “web world” evolved. In 1994, Netscape launched a browser that enabled any online user to type a word in the Navigator browser and to visit a webpage. Early online stores were few and less interactive, difficult to navigate, less secure and were generally less attractive. They mainly featured stock prices which could be bought online (InstantShift 2010). Business transactions continued to be performed online, with companies adopting “.com”. To deal with security issues, Netscape 1.0 launched SSL encryption to ensure online secure transactions. In 1995, Amazon.com began trading products online. Online auction was also started in eBay.com. In 1998, the United States began selling electronic postal stamps online. The website was less interactive with less attractive visual display of the stamps. More online stores started to become interactive in 1999, when eCompanies acquired Business.com and Napster, a peer-to-peer file sharing software was launched. This allowed for home decorative items to be sold online. Most importantly, designs for visual merchandising online were specifically concerned with browsing and surfing (Lombart and Jeandrain 2003). According to Jain, Sharma and Narwal (2012), such visual merchandising techniques lacked trendy themes and had no category signage to guide shoppers through an online store. In addition, the graphic packaged majorly displayed the prices and descriptions and were less professional looking. Present Day visual merchandising online In the present-day visual merchandising, the customer experience has changed as consumers have adapted to technology and become more connected online through desktop computers, smartphones and other portable devices. Social media platforms such as Facebook have also offered means for visual merchandising. Further, consumers are more in control of the technology they use and expect the online retailers to also use the latest technology. The online stores have hence evolved from that of the 1990s and earlier to build a complex relationship between the online retailers and shoppers. Consequently, visual merchandising online have sought to strike a balance between providing shoppers inspiration and emotional engagement while at the same time offering new means of experiencing the breadth of the range. The present day online visual merchandising has deeply evolved to suit customer expectations of the shopping experience in online stores, based on learn and share, find and select, purchase and pay, pickup and delivery and lastly return and service. Concerning learn and share, online stores today give customers touch and feel experience. For instance, online retail website provides in-store theatre while at the same time providing recreation of the products and content information. With regard to find and select features, the online stores offer personalised service to online visitors and guided shopping experience. Shoppers can access, browse as well as select a wide range of products from the store, which they can order in time. Purchase and pay features come in attractive visuals and have increased the usability experience of shoppers by allowing shoppers to use the same account, PayPal or credit cards to pay for products selected. Pickup and delivery features have allowed customers to use the online stores conveniently, flexibly and efficiently in a way that suits their needs. Customers can quickly locate the products of interest through easy search and navigation. Return and service feature allows customers to reject products displayed and selected that are not of interest. Further, customers can make fast product swaps and receive fast refunds. Future of visual merchandising online Visual merchandising online is expected to evolve further to become a component of the complex and challenging relationship between customers and online retailers. According to Deloitte (2012), the role of visual merchandising online is expected to shift the role of online stores from driving sales of products in physical store to being the showroom for products. Deloitte (2012) predicts that despite visual merchandising accounting for small share of sales at present, online sales are expected to grow and hence, retailers need to evaluate the use of visual merchandising online, with less focus being to drive sales and more on engaging customers. Online stores are expected to serve as entertainment destinations. Retailers are expected to free up space on their websites to create new customer experience by entertaining customers. For instance, fashion retailers will leverage more on video content and interactive displays in online stores. The key would be to keep frequently updated yet relevant content to engage visitors. Visual merchandising online is expected to improve customer knowledge. Online retailers are expected to increasingly leverage stores towards conducting community and learning events allowing customers to interact with other customers and the product within a social media platform. Technologies such as magic mirrors and touch-screen will allow customers to interact with the product (Deloitte 2012). Conclusion The most effective and influential medium that can pique the interest of an online shopper is the aesthetic value of the site. Because of technological advancements such as fast internets, present-day consumer has vast and more sophisticated expectations of retailing compared. Within the new multichannel reality, the delimitations between physical retailing and online retailing have become more distinct. 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