Dave ChaffeySportsShoes.com gives a good example of a company that has created a compelling Online Value Proposition (OVP) evident from its website.
Company background
The company was founded by professional footballer Bruce Bannister in 1982 – the first sports store of its kind providing purely technical sports gear for sports people. Today SportsShoes.com, has a product range of 12,000 products and millions of loyal customers.
They highlight their commitment to content investment and developing an OVP when they say:
“We are proud to share the most comprehensive, most detailed product knowledge in the industry with you – and from video guides to live expert advice, we’re here to help you to make the most informed choices possible”.
The OVP is also highlighted on the home page with the differentiating Why Shop With Us message:
Within their home page different forms of content supporting the OVP are shown in this panel:
Consider the types of content gaps that can you identify from this home page example compared to a retailer who just has product pages. These can include:
- Community – Running Hubs with blogs and discussion
- Tools – Product finder tools and running analysis tools
- Buyers’s guides – recommendations for buying a particular types of tool
- Run of site featuring of content – either in a header or in a footer on every page.
The OVP is also evident on individual product pages through more detailed content and product videos.
Segmenting OVP by audience
An on OVP should also consider content types by audience, so see how these are referenced. For Sportshoes.com the broad breakdown is Run: Gym : Hike for male and female, then with niches within these like fellrunning or marathon running.
International marketing
Explaining the proposition will differ depending on country. SportShoes.com has worked on translation to show value in local countries. This localisation case study shows how SportsShoes commissioned Web-Translations to create 12 localised microsites.
IP geolocation technology was used to direct visitors from various countries to the target microsites. Visitors with a Turkish IP address, for example, are directed to the Turkish microsite.
Leveraging web technologies to reach an international customer base, SportsShoes saw increased traffic from the targeted countries, with Spanish, Greek and French shoppers, with for example, 2000+ visits from Spain in the first week after launch and bounce rate halved.
