Sales Strategy
What’s Your Perfect Online Assortment? January 04, 2017 (0 comments)
Louisville, KY—“Omnichannel” is not just a new retail buzzword, it’s the new normal for consumers, says this article on RetailCustomerExperience.com. Consumers expect to be able to shop anywhere, any time.
But what is the right product assortment for e-commerce? Should you make everything in your showcases available online? Should you limit your online offerings to your fast-turning best-sellers?
It’s a tough question for any retailer, but more so for jewelers who don’t necessarily have deep back-stock on many items. Figuring out the optimum assortment for profitability vs. customer experience online can be tricky.
The Retail Customer Experience article examines the benefits of offering “long tail” SKUs vs. maintaining a carefully curated selection. Long-tail SKUs are those that don’t generate high sales volume but that add to overall revenue by creating a source for unique items and hard to find styles. Since online inventory can be stored offsite from the retailer’s showroom, there’s more room and lower cost to keeping more in stock and offering consumers more choices, says the article. (Editor’s note: whether that’s practical for high-end items like jewelry with its associated carrying costs is another matter the article didn’t address.) But studies also have shown that there’s a valid argument for keeping a curated assortment online as well as in the store, so as not to overwhelm consumers.
Top image: onlinegifts-shopping.blogspot.com