Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1-10. The mystery of the missing t-shirts.
Later, I asked the men's merchandiser about this tricky taxonomy. She told me they are encour-
aged to experiment, so a year ago she'd moved t-shirts up a level. It boosted t-shirt sales, so it
was a win. I explained that while the uptick was likely due to SEO - moving tees to a landing
page made them more findable via Google - they were now less findable for users on the site. I
asked why she didn't list them at both levels. “That's a good idea” she said, and the next day t-
shirts were in two places. I'm sure I earned my keep with that one small change.
But this story isn't just about t-shirts. It's an illustration of the link between code and culture. In
keeping with the time-tested model of bricks-and-mortar retail, this online business is divided
into departments with merchandisers responsible for sales in their sections. This model has real
strengths. Each merchandiser has great freedom to experiment with product selection, promo-
tions, page layout, and navigation; and every change is subject to metrics such as conversion
rate, average order value, and net profit per customer.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search