Put the right products in front of the right people at the right time.

1. #monetatesummit
LaurenFreedman,
Owner,the e-tailinggroup
Merchandising
onYour Terms
Puttheright productsinfrontof
theright peopleat therighttime

2. the e-tailing group
• 20 years e-commerce consulting
• Author, It’s Just Shopping
• 50+ years traditional retail and catalog
experience
• Fortune 500 client projects ranging from
strategic planning, merchandising,
marketing, to technology development and
messaging
• Cross-category and international projects
spanning specialty retail to department
stores
• Proprietary research studies on mystery
shopping, merchandising, mobile and
consumer behavior
The Voice of Cross-Channel Merchandising
Straight talk from “in-the-trenches” online merchandising experts

3. the e-tailing group
State of Merchandising
• KPIs are flat
• Merchandising is cookie-cutter where little differentiation exists from one
retailer to the next
• Amazon is ever-present
• Not all shopping is surgical so onsite search doesn’t always solve
shopper problems
• Visualizing the assortment can be challenging
• Analyzing the data to impact future marketing and merchandising can be
overwhelming
• Mobile forces retailers to reevaluate merchandising strategies and
deliver a “responsive” approach

4. the e-tailing group
Conversion rates fixed in the 1-3% range
Q15
e-tailing group 2013 Merchant Survey

5. the e-tailing group
For half of shoppers most/all of their
holiday purchases included a promotion
Q16
Gender*Note
Women*significantly*more*likely*to*have*
all*or*most*of*their*purchases*include*
promo>ons
e"tailing)group)Holiday)‘13)Survey

6. the e-tailing group
Amazon is larger than the next dozen largest e-tailers
Holiday Hit Parade
• Amazon customers order more than 36.8 million items on
Cyber Monday selling 426 items per second during its
best ever holiday season
• More than 1 million customers around the world became
new Prime members in the third week of December
• Amazon shipped to 185 countries during Holiday ’13
• Amazon customers purchased enough Rainbow looms
from third-party sellers that the bands can stretch around
the circumference of the earth
• Amazon customers purchased enough winter boots to
keep everyone living in three of the coldest cities in
America-Duluth, MN, Butte, MT, Watertown, SD (warm for
the winter)

7. the e-tailing group
Important brand factors start with price and promotion and
are quickly followed by the website experience
Q21e"tailing)group)Personaliza9on)Survey;)2014

8. the e-tailing group
Most features are important to shoppers and expectations
are high for ecommerce experiences in general
Q24 e"tailing)group)Holiday)‘13)Survey
1"in"3&desire&
efficiencies&in&
finding&product&
and&checking&
out&quickly&&
33%
33%
27%
27%
24%
18%
18%
18%
15%
14%
12%
10%
A simple, streamlined shopping cart that makes
Being able to find what I want on a retailer's site by
Seeing product on web pages that are
Seeing web pages that include robust photography
More accessible and responsive customer service
User-generated content and tools (e.g., reviews,
A frequent buyer or brand loyalty program
One-click checkout
Seeing web pages that include product videos that
Live chat (ability to message with customer service
Product recommendations that are tailored to me
Access to a creative gift center that includes ideas,
Q. How important are each of these areas when selecting
a retailer?
Extremely Important

9. the e-tailing group
Mobile matters
• Mobile e-commerce grew 50% year-over-
year to account for 29% of holiday
e-commerce sales
• More than one in four US e-commerce
orders this holiday season came from
mobile devices
• iOS devices made up 83% of mobile
e-commerce sales
• 65% of marketing emails were opened
on mobile devices during Q4’13

10. the e-tailing group
Challenges, Trends & Visualization Tools
Merchandising

11. the e-tailing group
The Challenges
• Weak visual display not in keeping with the brand
• Insufficient product information
• Only able to truly show limited assortment
• Focus on the surgical and not the discovery
• Presence of features but poor execution
• Retailers may know what needs to be done but inadequate tools
to accomplish the task at hand in a timely fashion
• Inability to direct the customer experience due to inadequate data

12. the e-tailing group
Top merchandising tactics that deliver from an ROI perspective
Q4A11
e-tailing group 2013 Merchant Survey

13. the e-tailing group
EG100 Retailers
1A800*Flowers Crutchfield J.Crew Overstock Target
Abt*Electronics Dean*&*Deluca JCPenney Party*City The*Body*Shop
Amazon Dell Jos.*A.*Bank Patagonia The*Children’s*Place
American*Eagle*OuUiVers Dick’s*Spor>ng*Goods King*Arthur*Flour Petco The*Home*Depot
Ann*Taylor Discovery*Channel L.L.Bean PetSmart The*Men’s*Wearhouse
Apple DSW*Shoes Lands’*End PoVery*Barn Things*Remembered
Aveda eBags Lane*Bryant Puma Tiffany*&*Co.
B&H*Photo Foot*Locker Lego QVC Title*9
Ballard*Designs Frontgate Lenovo Ralph*Lauren Toys*‘R*Us
Bare*Escentuals GameStop Lowe’s REI Tumi
Barnes*&*Noble Gap Macy’s Room*&*Board Ulta
Belk Garnet*Hill Michael*Kors RossASimons Under*Armour
Best*Buy Giggle Moosejaw Saks*Fich*Avenue Urban*OuUiVers
Bloomingdale’s GNC Neiman*Marcus Sears Victoria’s*Secret
Blue*Nile Godiva Newegg Sephora Volcom
Chico’s Golfsmith Nike Shop*PBS Walgreens
Clinique Gucci Nordstrom Staples WalAMart
Coach Harry*&*David Northern*Tool*+*Equipment Steve*Madden WilliamsASonoma
Cooking.com Hayneedle Office*Depot Sundance Wine.com
Crate*&*Barrel HSN Orvis Sunglass*Hut Zappos

14. #monetatesummit
Faceted Navigation
EG100: 75%
Respect theroleofsearch

15. #monetatesummit
Merchandised drop down
EG100: 90%*
• Visual search
• EG100: 29%
Butfosterdiscoverythroughnavigation

16. #monetatesummit
Discover bytrend

17. #monetatesummit
Embrace seasons&holidays

18. #monetatesummit
Gift Center
EG100: 80%
Score: 2.03/3.00 where 3 is best
Showcasethe powerofgifting

19. #monetatesummit
Educate toexcite

20. #monetatesummit
Runway
Street Style
Imagerybringsbrandstolife

21. #monetatesummit
Alternative Views
EG100: 89%
Butthe devilisinthedetails

22. #monetatesummit
Video Gallery
EG100: 42%*
Category Page
EG100: 39%*
Videovaults inimportance

23. #monetatesummit
Must-Haves Best Sellers
EG100: 64%
Tacticalmerchandisingtoolsset
the tone forselling

24. #monetatesummit
Pinterest/Customer favorites
EG100: 70%
Retailers embrace socialdynamics

25. #monetatesummit
Lauren Freedman
lf@e-tailing.com
773-975-7280
www.e-tailing.com
Remember,merchandisingis
bothanart andascience