Business-to-consumer retailers are ramping up their online
efforts in preparation for Christmas 2009. Here’s a roundup of
what some of them are doing to attract more business in this
crucial trading period.
Animal launched a transactional site in
September, offering a wide selection of Animal-branded clothing,
footwear, watches, luggage, and accessories. The site, built on
the Venda platform, includes
zoomable images
product bookmarking facilities, including Facebook, Twitter, and
send-to-a-friend
recently viewed items
a “we recommend” cross-selling feature.
Astley Clarke, the online jewellery store,
relaunched its website on Snow Valley’s MUSE platform. Among the
changes are
a wish-list functionality
an improved tell-a-friend function
guided navigation, allowing customers to view products grouped by
type or colour.
Clogau Gold released a new version of its
website on 9th September with
improved usability and navigation, including an advanced search
function
a design revamp to bring it in line with the company’s branding.
Dwell’s new-look website coincides with the
addition of 280 products to its range of contemporary decor. Site
features include
improved search
zoomable images
a “live like this” section showing complete room
set-ups.
Figleaves.com added more brands and more
social-media elements to its website’s latest incarnation,
including
Style Leaves, a section with updates on fashion news and trends
and a platform to showcase product launches
the ability to add matching items or complete an outfit from one
page instead of navigating to a new product page
a new e-gift card facility.
The Holding Company, which sells home storage
products, launched its updated website in August. Built by
Paraspar and using a more structured hierarchy of categories and
products, its features include
a search functionality that allows users to seek and sort
products by function, material, colour, width, depth, height, and
price
recently viewed items and save-for-later functions
a quick-order form for customers using catalogue product codes
a module that allows discounts after a specific order threshold
has been reached.
I Want One of Those.com relaunched its website
to include
more videos and product images
better search functionality
links to online coalition loyalty programme ipoints, which it
joined in September.
John Lewis upgraded the fashion portion of its
website, adding
drop-down menus
100 brands
zoomable photos
revamped editorial features such as Work the Look, written by the
company’s head of buying for womenswear.
Kiddicare.com is using the 10CMS Flash
Merchandising platform and more rich-media content in its new
site. Customers can also expect
larger, zoomable, and multiangled product images
new navigation with improved drop-down menus
audio help, such as clips of stock levels
product videos including Buggy Walk demonstrations
social-networking widgets.
Staples made sure its revamped website was ready
before the school year started. New features include
an improved search function
a quick-order function
a product-comparison facility
easy switching between prices that include VAT for consumers and
are VAT-exclusive prices for business customers.
Wallace Sacks, the home furnishings brand, has
gone live with an improved website designed and built by Screen
Pages on the open-source Magento platform. It features
a stronger focus on search engine optimisation
single-page checkout
multiple product images and zoom
social-media elements including product reviews, RSS feeds, and
tags so that customers with online accounts can search by
user-defined
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