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The article mentions several tools etailers can use to improve their online merchandising and boost conversions including site search, better use of imaging, product reviews and recommendations, live chat, streaming video, gift registries, and more...

Quote:A Forrester survey conducted for a recent report, “How to Master Online Merchandising,” found that the penetration of tools and technologies that improve online merchandising still has far to go among retailers. The most commonly used online functionality falling under Forrester’s definition of online merchandising tools was site search. With 54% of retailers surveyed saying they use site search, that means more than a third of the retailers still don’t have a site search function...

“Even though online retail sites have evolved and matured, most consumers who come to those sites just don’t purchase,” says Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru. “By engaging in efforts that place products more effectively throughout a web site and present features in a more engaging way, retailers can drive the incremental conversion improvements that dramatically affect overall sales.”

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=18543

A related article:

Quote: Retailers in the bricks-and-mortar world have had at least 100 years to perfect modern merchandising techniques. But for Internet retailers, getting the right product to the right customer is still very much what one merchant describes as a 'test-and-learn' process. Retailers still haven't found how to bring to online shopping the salesperson's expertise that results in consumers finding what they want-and sometimes more than they wanted.

That's not because online merchants aren't trying. Retailers are using everything from tools that allow shoppers to focus on even the most minute features of a product-a waterproof zipper, for example-to so-called virtual search reps that deliver detailed information on an item straight from the manufacturer's web site...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=18775