tl;dr

Add-to-cart rate is an excellent means of tracking product effectiveness.An easy way to connect with customers is through live content.Consider a live content strategy to better connect with your customers.

Meet Devon

Ecommerce product manager at… Chubbies!If you haven’t heard of Chubbies, and you live in the US, you are in for a treat. This company is a different take on clothing. They started with men’s shorts and have branched out. But it’s how that makes the difference. And that’s what we are talking about today.Devon takes responsibility for much of Chubbies presentation on their website.

Another clothing company? What’s the difference?

The number of fashion brands online today is staggering. Everyone from Walmart to Amazon Basics to Levi’s to American Eagle to Neiman Marcus to Gucci sells apparel. If you’re in the market for men’s shorts, most of the above still applies (check out this pair of Gucci shorts for $950USD).

The first question I posed to Devon was: what sets Chubbies apart from all others in the category?

They are trendsetters. They brought back short shorts. As a result, they have become widely known and almost a household name. Even better, men’s “short shorts” are fairly synonymous with Chubbies. That’s a great place to be.They connect with their customers. Chubbies is social. Chubbies is visual. Chubbies is audible. Remember, people love to connect with online brands, and Chubbies has nailed it. This is part of Chubbies DNA, and it shows.

What’s Chubbies thoughts on product line expansion?

They started with men’s short shorts (including swim trunks and casual wear). They have expanded into outerwear, pull-overs, Hawaiian shirts (love it!), and even packable windbreakers that turn into fannypacks! All over Chubbies website is the idea of Friday at 5:00pm and weekend vibes.

What’s the common thread that binds these together? It’s what their customers want. Chubbies deeply integrates customer feedback into their product development process. This sounds cliche, of course. But, it is made easier because they are their own audience. They live similar to their customers, so this is a very authentic brand.

Devon said that while innovation is part of the budget, the important part is measuring to understand its effectiveness. And then, being willing to cut your losses if something doesn’t stand up to the test of time (and sales).

Measuring product effectiveness

I asked Devon what are his favorite metrics to determine how well a product is received by the Chubbies audience.

Sell-through rate. How fast are you moving through product? This is especially helpful when segmenting by channel—which platform is resulting in the majority of sales?

Add-to-cart rate. Many merchants track conversion rate, but few that I have seen track the add-to-cart rate. Here’s the fascinating point: tracking the add-to-cart rate means you trust your checkout process. In other words, the product’s performance is not muddied or enhanced based on what people think of the checkout. Instead, the add-to-cart rate indicates immediate impact of a product on a person. Does this resonate? If they add to the cart, and then don’t finalize the order, you could be looking at process improvements on the checkout page.

If you take one thing away from this podcast, consider monitoring your add-to-cart rate.

A different take on website navigation

Note: I always recommend embracing the process behind optimization. Don’t take this section as what YOU need to do to improve your navigation. Rather, listen to how Devon and Chubbies arrived at this idea.

The Chubbies online experience is quite similar to other websites, but with one exception—navigation.

Notice that there is no mega-menu. Instead, Chubbies has embraced the “F” browsing pattern.