[tweetmeme]The VP of Merchandising for HP Shopping in an article at the Internet Retailer magazine shared a very insightful lesson for those selling online:
“The whole idea is to show more than just the basics …. Not all shoppers want to research a product by just its features and functions. They may want to research how a product fits their lifestyle or figure out exactly what they want a product to do.”
This is idea behind their “Learn, Use, Create” section, which shows customers how to use their products. They have guides on how to buy the right camera and printers, how to take better photos, how to print and share photos, even online lessons on how to more efficiently use their products.
HP’s strategy is excellent. Selling online is not just about putting up a picture and writing a description of the product features. You need to engage the customer. Unfortunately with the Web, that is not easy to do. The prospective customer cannot touch, feel or try the product unlike the traditional store experience.
So as an online retailer, you need to put some context into the product: how it should be used and how it can make their live better. HP’s guides and how-tos help users get more excited and engaged with the products — and that gives them more reasons to buy the products.