5 signs your online store needs a product advisor

Not every online store needs a product advisor. If you sell a handful of simple products, good photos and a clear description do the job. But for specialist stores there are clear signs that shoppers need help choosing, and that you are losing sales every day they don't get it.

1. The same question keeps landing in your inbox

Which one should I get? Will this work for my situation? If you or your team answer these every week, your customers are telling you they can't decide alone. Every shopper who emails is one of many who didn't bother and simply left.

2. Your products look alike online

In the store, the difference between two models is obvious once someone explains it. Online, they are two similar photos and two spec sheets. If a shopper can't see the difference, they can't choose, and a choice they can't make becomes a sale you don't get.

3. Your best sales happen when someone talks to the customer

Think about what happens on the shop floor. Someone asks what the job is, how often, and what matters most, then points to the right product. If that conversation is what sells for you in person, your website is missing the most important part of your sales process.

4. Your catalog keeps growing

More products means more choice, and more choice makes deciding harder. Filters help shoppers narrow down by size or price, but they don't tell anyone which product fits their situation. The bigger the catalog, the more shoppers need a guide.

5. A lot of your visitors come when you are closed

Evenings and weekends are when many people browse and compare. That is exactly when nobody is there to answer a question. A shopper with a question at 11 at night won't wait until you open. They will buy wherever someone helped them first.

What to do if you recognise these

If two or more of these sound familiar, your website needs to do what your staff do in the store: ask a few questions and point to the right product. That is what a product advisor does. It asks what your best salesperson would ask, then gives three picks from your catalog, Budget, Best choice and Premium, each with a plain reason why it fits.

At WoltersWorks we build the advisor from your catalog, install it on your store and keep tuning it, so you never touch a dashboard. Send me your store and I'll show you what it would say to your shoppers.