Strategies for Managing Small SKU Populations in B2B Ecommerce
Successful B2B ecommerce is all about presenting your product population as effectively as possible. Doing so helps visitors find what they are looking for and encourages them to purchase. We've already looked at strategies for managing large SKU populations on B2B ecommerce sites and you might assume that smaller B2B SKU counts should be easier to wrangle.
Well, yes and no.
Yes, in that smaller SKU counts make for simpler site navigation and taxonomy. No, in that the smaller the SKU population, the greater the risk that your site looks small or amateur-ish to your site visitor. This can be especially concerning if you are a major B2B company with 20 SKUs, each with expensive price tags.
In fact, smaller SKU counts are often more difficult to effectively merchandise. Care must be taken to focus the visitor on the products and not on the (limited) number of products available.
Consider a small box of luxury chocolates. The emphasis is on quality, not quantity. Each candy is artfully crafted and beautifully displayed in a decorative box. They make you want to eat one NOW, not wonder where the rest of the chocolates are.
Utilize the same idea for B2B ecommerce sites with only a few products to offer. Package them so that the visitor only sees the products and never thinks to count how many items are offered.
Here are some suggestions on how to successfully merchandise a small number of products:
- Limit the depth of the site’s taxonomy. A flat site navigation will keep your visitor from landing on a category page with only one or two items on it.
- Consider non-traditional ways to categorize your products. Instead of listing your SKUs by type of product, consider categorizing them by application or intended audience.
- Focus on a robust presentation for each product. Techniques that support this strategy include using larger images, multiple images or alternate product views; flash animations, product demonstration videos and personalized content from social media venues.
While a small SKU population can be challenging in ecommerce, with the right approach any ecommerce site can be successful regardless of SKU count.
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