Online shopping is generally a very one-dimensional affair. That wasn’t my opinion a couple of weeks ago, though. I thought the experience at places like Amazon – clean, functional, straightforward – were a good benchmark. And they are – the profits tell the story there. But I’ve been pointed towards a few great examples of innovative online shopping experiences recently that have changed my mind a bit – because it’s clear that the online shopping experience can be something quite profound.
Take a look at the ‘Explore‘ options on craft retailer Etsy.com – in addition to the standard browsing options, you can explore by colour, by time, by location, even by a seller’s birthday! The colour one is particularly cool. Thanks to our interactive producer Trudy for finding that one!
Then we have this great experience over at the Swedish H&M site. Instead of just showing stock like pillows, blankets and curtains by themselves – you can instead see exactly what their entire range looks like in the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
And over at the Japanese Uniqlo site for their Girls Collection, once you get past the head-caving party intro, you can again get an idea of what the range looks like when it’s actually being worn by someone. Much better than a shirt on a white background! Thanks to Adverblog for those two examples.
So online shopping is already a long way from being a point-and-click experience for many forward-thinking retailers. Savvy online shops will want to make their buying experience as exciting as trying out the real deal in-store – if not better! It won’t always be appropriate – books and hard drives can stay on Amazon – but there’s great opportunity for other categories to explore.
What’s the opportunity for your brand?
The navigation of the catalogue in the ‘collections’ section of the Manning Cartel website (http://www.manningcartell.com.au/ ) is another unusual design for such a retail product.
The experience of flicking through the clothes with your mouse feels just like flicking through a clothes rack at a boutique!