If you are a multichannel retailer, chances are your website has a store locator. But, according to a new report from Tempkin Group, online store locators are missing a key part of the shopping experience. The report, issued in December, evaluated five retailers – The Home Depot, Kroger, Target, Walgreens and Walmart, as well as five banks. Companies were rated across six criteria: start, locate, interact, complete, end and brand coherence.
Tempkin Group found that most of the sites' store locators were mediocre because they had poorly organized results pages, lacked important information and made it hard to find the store locator on the homepage.
While store locators are often a ‘checklist’ feature, is critical to get it right, or you risk losing traffic (and therefore sales) to your competitors. There is no reason that the store locator should become one of your ecommerce challenges. Based on the Tempkin Group’s criteria, as well as our own experience with big-ticket retailers who rely heavily on cross channel commerce, we put together the following tips to ensure your store locator makes the grade:
1. Ensure your store locator is easy to…well, locate! The store locator should always be easy to find - not only on the homepage, but within search results and product pages.
2. Include all the information needed to find the store, not just the address. Include local store hours, a phone number, a map and directions.
3. Keep everything “above the fold.” Maps should never push important information to the bottom of the page. Be sure to test your page within multiple browsers and on different size screens to ensure pertinent information is always above the fold.
4. Offer local inventory checks so a consumer can check whether a product is in stock before making a trip to the store. If a product is not in stock, suggest the next closest store where the product can be found and/or offer to have the product shipped to the customer's home or closer store location.
5. Enable the shopper to text, email or click on a printer-friendly version of the store info and/or directions.
6. Finally, for mobile retail sites and applications, create a GPS-enabled store locator function to make it as easy as possible for the on-the-go shopper to find your store.
As Tempkin advises, think the entire customer process through when designing your store locator.
Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce
Tempkin Group found that most of the sites' store locators were mediocre because they had poorly organized results pages, lacked important information and made it hard to find the store locator on the homepage.
While store locators are often a ‘checklist’ feature, is critical to get it right, or you risk losing traffic (and therefore sales) to your competitors. There is no reason that the store locator should become one of your ecommerce challenges. Based on the Tempkin Group’s criteria, as well as our own experience with big-ticket retailers who rely heavily on cross channel commerce, we put together the following tips to ensure your store locator makes the grade:
1. Ensure your store locator is easy to…well, locate! The store locator should always be easy to find - not only on the homepage, but within search results and product pages.
2. Include all the information needed to find the store, not just the address. Include local store hours, a phone number, a map and directions.
3. Keep everything “above the fold.” Maps should never push important information to the bottom of the page. Be sure to test your page within multiple browsers and on different size screens to ensure pertinent information is always above the fold.
4. Offer local inventory checks so a consumer can check whether a product is in stock before making a trip to the store. If a product is not in stock, suggest the next closest store where the product can be found and/or offer to have the product shipped to the customer's home or closer store location.
5. Enable the shopper to text, email or click on a printer-friendly version of the store info and/or directions.
6. Finally, for mobile retail sites and applications, create a GPS-enabled store locator function to make it as easy as possible for the on-the-go shopper to find your store.
As Tempkin advises, think the entire customer process through when designing your store locator.
Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce
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