The client on this e-commerce project provided a list of benchmarked sites they felt they should be able to stand up to with their new site. I wanted to make sure I understood what it was the client was responding to in their selected sites, what made them feel like they were top shelf experiences, even if they weren’t sure themselves how to articulate the appeal. I knew they wanted some tactical feature sets out of the benchmarks, and for that I gave them the list of common elements & opportunities/trends, but I also wanted to explore why their selected sites generated an emotional response and connection to the brand. This was my evaluation.

Nike

Nike has the farthest reach of all the benchmarked shopping experiences. The brand plays a major role outside of product purchasing, venturing into entertainment and training. Beyond that, Nike participates in and facilitates community engagements that promote the active Nike lifestyle. Further Nike extensions include streaming workout playlists, instructional workout programs on an iPhone application, desktop widgets, social media integration of customizable tools, music videos, musician interviews, and news. Their digital experience allows exploration of the brand/product though a traditional product focus, or through the lens of athletes or friends.

The NikeWomen’s newsletter, for example, has several calls to action within one communication. Training tools, product stories, blog content, and a facebook link are only part of the appeal. Info about their music player, specific products, the new collection, as well as programs to take part in, and athlete inspiration provide further opportunities for involvement.

Nike is a leader in making the most of its digital presence, and can be part of the life of the consumer wherever they go. Interestingly, while Nike is adventurous and a leader in digital presence, they sometimes fall short in quality and experience. We run into errors and dead ends when trying out their more experimental tools, and some of the user experience is confusing. Other benchmarked sites had simpler navigation, and did a better job providing a richer interaction (e.g. product views and rollovers without mouse clicks). Overall though, even without flawless execution, the experience is comprehensive and compelling in its coverage.

Lessons
Nike’s content is engaging and varied. It tells a story of a lifestyle that extends past the shopping experience, and lets people engage in different ways and explore at different levels. They reach out to multiple personas, allowing deeper experiences for more technically connected customers, or simple product placement for basic shoppers. Their brand content shines despite some imperfections in implementation.

Free People

Free People injected the most personality and human touches in their online presence. While not as feature rich as Nike, they successfully exist in multiple touch points within the customers’ lives. They have a blog filled with design and culture content that feels well matched to the brand, along with insights into company culture in an authentic way. They also have a You Tube channel, with interviews, instructional videos on knitting, make up lessons, and a recurring program called ‘Dog Talk.’

Lessons
Free People doesn’t have the most robust set of tools, but they excel at using content, photography, and copy on the site to convey a brand personality. They support and augment that brand with fun external content that speaks to and connects with their customers, who come across more like fans than consumers. Their site doesn’t disappoint in functionality, but their strength is not in features, it is the content which draws you in.

Anthropologie

Anthropologie provides a pleasant but common shopping experience that embodies the brand well. In addition to product grid navigation, customers can shop by outfits, and through the print catalog. There isn’t a focus on editorial or lifestyle content, but the Anthropologie lifestyle is communicated effectively through design and photography.

Anthropologie dabbles in some external tools, although it doesn’t feel like they have a foothold yet. They have created a desktop widget, which displays a product and a button to buy the product, but the execution isn’t very engaging.

Lessons
Anthropologie’s execution of the shopping site feels premium and inline with the personality of the brand. This isn’t accomplished through any standout technical implementation; tactical e-commerce execution is comparable to any major online retailer. While there is experimentation with external tools, what little there is feels unfinished and takes away from a premium message.

Gap

Gap and their other properties were evaluated collectively. Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and Piperlime are presented in separate tabbed shopping experiences, but with unified checkout and shipping. There are often engaging views of product outside of product grids, giving each of the separate shops distinct personalities, and making the experience feel more human and relatable.

Gap does not currently extend their reach into editorial content, external tools, or community outreach. The exception is a Behind the Music feature with musician stories and free sample tracks in the Banana Republic site. This is currently their most meaningful foray into lifestyle.

Gap doesn’t make any mistakes in their execution. They make it easy to shop and simple to understand. They use copy and imagery effectively, providing is painless buyer experience.

Lessons
Gap provides a basic, solid e-commerce experience. Their strength is in a straightforward product viewing experience, good photography and layout, with exceptional usability in getting zoomed and alternative product views. Shopping is focused, easy and enjoyable.

Note: J. Crew had a similar experience and has not been profiled separately.

Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus had a somewhat comparable feature set to the other benchmark sites. It lags behind the rest in terms of its effective use of the digital platform. This makes it feel less premium, despite being the one luxury example in the bunch. There is some good video and blog content, but it isn’t prominently featured, and the overall experience is slanted toward a quick purchase funnel. Product photography is cold, and transitions into content seem sudden, dropping users into lists and product grids without the cushion of engaging content. Neiman Marcus was the only benchmarked site that breaks continuity with the shopping process: when an item is added to the cart, users are navigated away from the page to a shopping cart page.

Lessons
A site with all expected features isn’t able to fully recover from a lack of effective integration of engaging content. While fashion shows and videos are available, they are segregated from the browsing experience. They don’t connect the feeling of shopping with the stylized, high fashion perspective of the editorial content.