"That site's just brochureware." Such has been the common reaction to sites which concentrate most of their efforts on simply posting information - information about products, services and the organisations that deliver them. The sort of information you find in printed brochures.
The numbers, however, suggest Internet brochureware is alive and well. And more powerful than most site managers think.
For years Internet commerce analysts have reported "product research" as one of the Internet's most popular activities. Back in 2000, a Forrester Research survey found more than 40 per cent of Internet users were doing it. That ranked it the number three Internet activity, behind email and search engine use, and ahead of software downloads, instant messaging and stock quotes.
Now, such "online-influenced" sales lack the glamour of direct e-commerce, where users order stuff over the Web. And their effect is hard to measure directly. But stack up the value of goods and services sold in the traditional way (huge) against those sold on the Internet (growing, but small). Now online information-hunting starts to look more significant than online sales.
It certainly provides better investment returns than most alternatives. Late in 2001, in a report ("Back to Basics: Enhancing User Experience at Low Cost") on how sites could spend money more wisely, research group Jupiter Media Metrix delved deeper. When Jupiter asked consumers what would make them use "commerce-oriented" Web sites more frequently, 59 per cent said they wanted more detailed product information. That response was more than twice as popular as any other reply. Also last year, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (aBigManagementConsultancy) published a report suggesting sites should junk some of their fancier chat and personalisation technology in favor of decent search capabilities and product information, including high-quality images of products.
Now consumers' actual behaviour differs markedly from what they tell market researchers - let alone what ends up in the researchers' reports. But the backing for better product information is too strong to ignore.
The strategies most popular with major e-commerce players have one thing in common: give shoppers as much as you can without actually sending them the product. That's easiest for media products. Amazon has introduced "Look Inside", which shows readable images of dozens of pages from thousands of books available at its site. The major movie studios now release not just trailers but in many cases excerpts as part of each movie's pre-release marketing (a rare appropriate use of Web video). CD retailers, including Amazon, post excerpts from many tracks on most albums.
The product information mindset is slowly spreading to sites that sell non-information goods. US consumer research group J.D.Power claims in a November 2001 report that a striking sixty-two percent of all new-vehicle buyers seek out Internet information while shopping. By contrast, the firm says six per cent of cars are sold through Web sites. Studies by Jupiter and the Gartner Group have produced similar figures. And car sites have done some of the best work showing off their products and providing specifications. Even car sites, though, might do well to back up their interactive tools with some simple, large photographs of their vehicles.
Many firms can do better. Camcorder buyers, for instance, will find surprisingly sparse information about thir potential purchases online, and too much of it is grey, unintelligible technical specifications. Pictures would help - the kind these same firms put in their store brochures. So would plain language that addresses real consumer concerns: Will it break? Is it too heavy? Can I put it on a tripod?
Product information won't solve most of your problems. You still need to build a system that allows people to transact easily, be it online or offline. And if you're dealing with users who have already decided they want to buy your product, extra product information is the last thing you want to throw at them. But there's a good chance many of your site visitors want information - and lots of it.
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