Multi-stores seem to be catching on. What are the advantages?

Some trend reports have suggested that the fatigued e-commerce customer is now veering towards focused (niche) websites that offer a deeper range in fewer categories. It appears that large ecommerce players with many categories might be responding by exploring the “multi-store” option, which is not a new option but hasn't really become too popular, so far.

How can I tell? Because for one, I am getting a string of promotional newsletters from a bunch of stores which fall under the same umbrella- watchkart, bagskart, sunglasseskart…not amusing.

So here is the warning: go easy on the “multi-promotions” unless you want your earnest marketing efforts to antagonise potential customers.

If you are a typical broad-spectrum online retailer, you would have multiple product categories and sub-categories and some of you biggest challenges (apart from supply chain and inventory management etc) would be:

•       Search Engine Optimisation: given the wide range and variety in the stock defining your range in a simple key phrase is next to impossible, let alone designing a phrase that people will use to actually search on.
•       Designing neat and easy site navigation: obviously the range needs to be neatly ordered, categorised and placed such that the products are easy to find by any visitor. You either end up with too many top level categories or deep nested categories, both of which are avoidable.

This is why most top e-commerce platforms are now offering the multi-store solution and hosting solutions providers are happy to consider it as well. A multi-store is basically an option that allows you to you split your inventory up into two or more stores, all being run from a single platform instance/ source.

These multi-stores have a single administration, a single list of orders, and a single hosting plan making them easier to handle at the back-end. But for visitor navigation and Search Engine Optimisation, the advantages are almost like having separate niche websites, because by splitting your inventory into smaller and focused areas, it becomes easier to target the necessary keywords and phrases.

So by having a site dedicated to a single large area of inventory, e-tailers can use fewer but more obviously defined categories. These focused category names/titles also tend to include the main keywords keeping SEO in mind, while the category descriptions also become more relevant and keyword rich.

The thumb-rule when splitting your inventory into multiple stores is that it should be done from the customer point of view. You have to see your inventory how your customers would view it and go with where there is a natural split.

What is highly dangerous and must be avoided is the temptation of putting the same products in two stores. This will only ensure that search engines downgrade one of your stores for “duplicate content” which defeats the purpose of having multiple stores.

By establishing a brand (your main website) you can also have a common set of terms and conditions, a common returns policy, a common guarantee etc. But, again, the common pages have to be so managed that search engines do not consider that your web sites have duplicate content.

Though, theoretically, there is no limit to the number of stores you can add on. There is however a practical limit, because although you are using a single instance of a platform service, additional stores do add to the overheads.

A multi-store strategy comes with its pros and cons, which you need to weigh, but it offers an option that allows large format e-tailers to mimic the niche websites in terms of design and merchandising,and thus attract more customers for a particular category.

TCL offers independent testing services for e-commerce websites, new or existing, and helps to improve the overall performance of your website.

To Know more about our ecommerce testing solutions contact:

Arun Kumar
arun.Kumar@tcl-asia.com

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