As time goes on, more businesses transition to the online format to compete on top marketplaces. Now, more than ever, making your products stand out from the competition is a top priority. As many products are successful, there are many more that are not. Unsatisfied customers often blame their bad experiences on incorrect product information. Most of the time, products are returned because they differed from the expectations of the buyers. Across all industries, customers always look for a seamless experience with consistent product information that they can trust.
Accurate product data is essential to growing sales, but many sellers are incapable of keeping up with their many products, let alone proving quality content for each. The entire process is labor intensive, confusing, and challenging for many businesses, especially if they have no idea where to start. These are the key elements that we identified for an effective information business process.
Accurate and Compelling Product Data
To get straight to the point, accurate product information is necessary to sell products. At least 86 percent of customers are unlikely to buy products with inaccurate info. It sounds obvious, but getting it right is easier said than done.
One of the biggest challenges businesses face is maintaining hundreds, if not thousands, of product listings across multiple online marketplaces. Creating accurate, compelling content for one product on Amazon, Walmart, and eBay is difficult enough, let alone for hundreds. According to a Ventana Research study, at least 80 percent of online retailers not confident with their product data.
Most customers report that they find the most accurate product information on manufacturer websites. When retailers create product listings, they often copy this information. This is a quick, time-saving solution that negates the need to create original content on their own. However, manufacturer information is often scarce, dry, and unconvincing. Worse, because this practice is so common, search engines recognize and ignore duplicate content, eliminating them from their search results.
While it may not be a quick and easy fix, investing in creative, GS1-certifed, original product content is a solution that yields long-term benefits. When customers read quality content, they know that an effort has been made to create a quality product that satisfies their needs.
Quality Product Imagery
Customers love reading quality product content that gives them accurate information in an enticing package. However, with most products, words are not enough; eye-catching imagery is just as important, if not more so.
The challenges sellers face with imagery are the same as with content. Not only do they have to write accurate, compelling content for each product, but most product listings feature pack shots of at least four images. The workforce required for imagery is great, usually including studio and storage space, equipment, photographers, editors, and post-production.
According to a market survey, 26 percent of customers abandoned products due to poor images. Buyers who seek accurate information will look elsewhere if your product page contains low-quality, pixelated images. Worse than the loss of potential customers, however, are unsatisfied customers. At least 42 percent of online returns are attributed to products not looking as expected.
To avoid the hassle of creating imagery in-house, many sellers outsource to content agencies, like Tulfa. These agencies specialize in creating quality imagery using industry-standard equipment and cutting-edge technology. Along with traditional product photography, new formats like 360-degree spin images and fully interactive 3D models are quickly being embraced at the forefront of the eCommerce industry. Outsourcing guarantees quality content that makes your product pages stand out from the competition.
Platforms for Customer Feedback
With many decisions in life, especially financial ones, most people seek out the opinions of others before acting. Buying products online is no different, and the practice of reading customer feedback is now common in this digital age. According to Invespcro, 90 percent of customers read online reviews before visiting a business, and 88 percent of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
It is important to create and consistently update a platform on which customers can leave feedback for your products. Most marketplaces already have this platform in the form of reviews and Q&A sections, but your website should also include these features. Another effective platform that engages current and potential customers is a forum, or message board.
If customers browse your products and are not able to read feedback from others, they are likely to shop elsewhere. Still, a worse way to steer customers away than no feedback is negative feedback. 86 percent of people hesitate to buy a product if it has negative reviews. Just one can undo the effectiveness of ten positive reviews. However, it is not impossible to recover. Quickly responding to each negative review with a solution demonstrates that your business cares about its customers and takes the time to read their feedback. Most people are forgiving if they feel that an effort is made to hear and solve their problems.
Trust the Experts
Accurate data, eye-catching imagery, and customer feedback are three essential elements when creating an effective information business process. We hope this blog has shed light on the strategies we use to help our clients. For more information, questions, or assistance in creating an effective information business process, reach out to us by email at hello@tulfa.com.
