How RIA (Rich Internet Applications) are Transforming the Shopping Experience
In existence for about 10 years, e-commerce is still young. But you can also argue that it has matured considerably. By now, we all have a clear idea of what it’s like to buy online. You “go to the store,” meaning you visit the home page of an e-tailer. You find products of interest, you click around, page by page, and examine the products in more detail. You make a decision, and “go to check-out.”
But some merchants are questioning these assumptions. They are saying that the online shopping experience should better mimic that of offline. And even more important, that retailers should have the capability to create a shopping experience that is unique to their brand.
Some experiments are happening in this area, fueled by the widespread adoption of broadband, and the new Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies from companies like Allurent and Scene7, which allow merchants to move beyond the concept of a “page.”
RIA takes advantage of the power of the personal computing desktop environment, allowing some of the information from the website to be stored inside the local PC browser, for faster access. Rather than click-and-wait, where information is all called up from the central server, with RIA users can move around the environment—the “store”—fluidly. Google Maps is perhaps the best known example of RIA today.
So what are some of the useful applications of RIA for e-commerce?
Dynamic Imaging
Shoppers want the best possible feel for what they are buying, so the ability to examine the product closely is a boon to conversion rates for merchandise purchase. RIA gives e-tailers a variety of useful functions:
- Free-form or guided zoom on product shots, whether in context or in silhouette
- 360-degree spin
- Color-swatching, to show what the product looks like in various colors
- Data-driven templates to display monograms or personalization
- Integrated product viewing, including color swatches, videos, personalization, zoom—whatever functionality is needed to help customer make a selection
According to Scene7, whose clients include such well-known merchants as Levi Strauss, Williams Sonoma, Harrod’s and Office Depot, dynamic imaging can increase conversion rates by 90%, while reducing photography and image management expense by 80%
e-Catalog
For mail order marketers who have a loyal customer base that is accustomed to shopping from a print catalog, Scene7’s solution lets merchants convert the print catalog to a convenient, shoppable electronic edition. The e-catalog is flexible to manage: merchants can automatically crop photos, assemble pages and sequence products, and then serve up instantly updated catalog versions on the fly. Best of all, the e-catalog delivers flexibility to the shopper, too. Users can configure the catalog viewer based on 100 different variables, like image maps and zoom behavior.
Creative brand experiences
E-tailers are using RIA to develop shopping environments that are unique to their brands. ShopComposition, an eclectic high-concept collection of jewelry, bags, housewares and shoes, has built a shopping site using Allurent technology that is equally eclectic and high concept. Visitors don’t find the typical 3-column e-commerce home page. Instead, they can browse around on artfully placed bars, and browse among the merchandise based on whimsy and impulse. The shopping experience is nicely tied to the brand image.
Etsy.com, too, uses Allurent’s tools to give visitors a unique brand experience. Etsy is a marketplace where craftspeople and artists can display their creations. To help users find interesting products, Etsy offers some unusual ways to browse. The Time Machine, for example, shows products that have been recently added to the site, all swirling around the page and available for closer inspection. Another section displays a palate of colors that grow when moused over, and users can click on a favorite color to identify products that match.
Over time, the online shopping experience will continue to evolve, and, marketers hope, conversion rates and sales levels will continue to grow.
Amazon.com’s merchandise e-catalog is easy to produce and easy to browse.
ShopComposition’s home page reflects the brand’s whimsical product mix.
Etsy.com, offers product searching by color. As you move the cursor over the color grid, product images pop up.
Etsy’s Time Machine interface lets shoppers search the most recently listed products. This print was posted 22 minutes earlier.