What Men Want ...

From Their E-Commerce Sites

 

If you haven't figured it out by now, the crew here at Valet. are pretty avid online shoppers. And we're not alone. According to a recent iProspect survey, 70% of men regularly research and buy online, with most making multiple purchases via the web every month. And apparel is the fastest browning category. I consider myself lucky that it's a part of my job to spend the majority of my idle time perusing shop inventory in various tabs—a process I like to call "multiple window shopping." And because of this, there are a couple of things I've come to expect from quality e-commerce sites.

First off, you've got to have great product images. Look, I'm sure your stuff looks great on a model, but if I wanted to see it all styled, primped and pinned, I'd take a gander at your look book. Like plenty of similarly-minded male shoppers, when I'm on the hunt for a particular product, I want to see the product. Guys want to examine the details, which means large, clear photographs focusing on the item itself are quite helpful in discerning things like color, construction and other minutiae. Is it the same as handling a garment or shoe in person? No. But sometimes, it's better.

But only when the e-commerce site has done their homework. Guys want information. Again, it comes down to details—what's it made of, where was it made, what are the measurements, etc. You may not care about all of it, but it does help you make an informed purchasing decision among the many options before you. (Which is why we try to cull as much data for Valet.'s Shopping Engine as possible).

And speaking of options, please give us the ability to "View All." Because frankly, scrolling through multiple pages of disparate products is just plain annoying. A long scroll of stuff makes it a lot easier for those things I'd be interested in buying to pop out at me. It's essentially the online version of perusing a shop until you find something you think looks cool. Which is the very nature of shopping.

Of course there are other nerdy, nit-picky things I could go into, but these basic tenets are a pretty good start. If more e-commerce sites adopted these practices, I'm sure I wouldn't be the only happier shopper.

  •  
    The sales of men's apparel was on track to grow 8.26% in the first half of 2012,
    compared to 2.44% for the ladies.

(Source: IBM Global Business Services)

 

Published on

August 23, 2012
 

Written by

of Valet.

 

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