blog logo
[ultimatesocial count="true" networks="linkedin,facebook,twitter" url="https://www.lyonscg.com/2017/01/18/inspiration-conversion-simplicity/" skin="minimal"]
thumbnail

Turning Inspiration Into Conversion

Robbin Farrell • January 18, 2017

Shoppers are creative people. When they come to your site, most shoppers aren’t just searching for a product, but they are looking for inspiration. Walk into any large hardware store, and the first question an associate asks isn’t “what are you looking for?” it’s “what’s your project.” Applying the same approach to your eCommerce experience, and ensuring shoppers can access all needed components, can turn shopper inspiration into customer conversion.


Missing the Forest Through The Trees

Traditionally, web content was used to support products. If a shopper searched for jeans, then they received content around jeans. Coupons, e-mail, predictive merchandising, etc. all revolved around the product the shopper was interested in.

This product-centric eCommerce approach may eventually have driven this shopper to purchase a pair of jeans. Success, right? Think again. Focusing on one piece of an outfit – jeans – may have sacrificed additional conversion and consumer engagement in order to sell a simple product. Perhaps our shopper was in the process of completely re-structuring their wardrobe. The jeans are a piece of that, but focusing so narrowly on one component may have lost you the opportunity to sell a complete outfit. Our shopper was in need of inspiration, and we gave them jeans.

Your brand needs to about more than just products: it needs to be about inspiring creativity and innovation in your shoppers. Organizing content around holistic inspiration, engages consumers on a much more personal level than a mere product.


Simplicity Sells

We’ve established that shoppers will engage much more personally with inspirational ideas than with simple products. The key to driving purchases at a system level all revolves around simplicity: how can I make it as easy as possible to gather the components needed to bring this idea to reality?

Our hypothetical shopper is a true baking aficionado. Wearing their comfy new jeans, they go online to search for a creative cake project to bake for an upcoming event. Settling on a creative hedgehog design, they peruse helpful, engaging content around the project such as ingredient lists, tools, instructions, and more. When it comes time to purchase the ingredients, the shopping process looks something like this:

Inspiration Process Now

As you can see, this is rather inefficient. Our shopper has to reference, search, find, and measure every component separately before making their final purchase. A disconnect between the content and the shopping experience requires the shopper to spend valuable time and energy pulling together the components of their idea. Spending time and effort just to put together their vision dissuades shoppers from making a purchase. Our shopper wants to work on baking the cake, not buying the pieces needed to make it.


Simple Solution: Order As A Package

Making the purchase process easier for a shopper is a win-win solution. The shopper can turn their vision into reality, and you earn their business. This goes doubly so when a shopper is putting together pieces of a greater whole.

In order to simplify this process, you don’t have to do much. Rich, engaging content enables users to discover ideas and inspiration. Connecting this content to products turns this inspiration into reality, and “Add All To Cart” functionality removes the tightest bottleneck within this shopping journey. Compare the image below to the one above. One simple “Add All” function completely addresses this bottleneck, and exponentially simplifies the process of turning a shopper’s inspiration into reality.

Inspiration Flow AfterHere at LYONSCG, we call this “Completing the Promise”. It is a philosophy that seeks to eliminate consumer inefficiencies, deepen brand engagement through rich, inspiring content, and drive higher conversions across the board. Removing design bottlenecks such as page swapping and SKU searching requires the shopper to merely learn, like, click, and buy. The most powerful part of this solution is its ability to translate across industries: these concepts apply to any eCommerce business.

As you contemplate your eCommerce Content Strategy, consider how you can deliver next-level value through enhanced, connected content experiences. Leveraging inspirational stories, style guides, how-to videos, user generated content, and more is important, but determining the best approach for your consumer and brand is the key to boosting ROI and brand engagement

To learn more about how LYONSCG “Completes the Promise”, give us a shout and access our most recent webinar: Building an eCommerce Design Roadmap.

 


Robbin Farrell

About the author

Robbin Farrell

Subscribe to our blog

Let's discuss the next step in your commerce journey.

XSchedule a meeting