Product information

All the e-commerce sites under investigation have separate pages for more detailed product information, which is generally considered good and user-friendly practice (Zil-liox, 2001, p. 68). The product pages have many similarities but also differences in terms of how they promote customer intimacy. E-commerce is more remote and colder than traditional selling which means that the quality of product information is even more important. Many of the sites have separated the most important details into a table or some kind of list so that they are easily recognized. For example, ABB Ability Marketplace™ has listed the benefits of the products so that they are highlighted (see image 8). This way the customer is quickly provided with the main product qualities and their time is saved by not needing to go through a long description. This can be interpreted as valuing customers’ time by providing the information fast and easily, which is linked to customer intimacy by giving customers a feeling that they have been taken into account.

Image 8. Product benefits on product pages at ABB Ability Marketplace™.

Amazon shows detailed information about the products and their price availability and inventory. The product inventory is in real-time and if the inventory is running low, it tells the exact number of products that are left. This is likely to help customers in their pur-chasing decision-making by allowing them to foresee if a product they are considering is about to run out. The price information is transparent and if the item is on sale, Amazon shows both the original price and the deal price but also counts how much the customer would be able to save with the deal. If available, Amazon also shows different pricing options for used products. The site also gives straight away an estimate on how fast the product will be delivered, and options for faster delivery if they are available.

In order to present detailed product information, Amazon provides clear product de-scriptions with a lot of pictures, questions & answers section, reviews, and similar prod-uct recommendations. The latter are presented and analyzed in other chapters, but they are crucial to the whole. Pictures play a huge role at Amazon, and they are using both marketing pictures, adverts, user pictures, and technical illustrations to present the products. The product pages include also ready-made tables to compare different prod-ucts or models. This helps the customer to make a purchasing decision by showing the differences between the products at a glance. Product comparisons are possible also at Honeywell Marketplace and PTC Marketplace, which have very similar platforms for product catalogs. Both of them allow the customer to pick 2-4 products that he or she wants to compare. The comparisons include basic information about the features, prices,

categories, developers, editions, and ratings if there are any (see image 9). This gives the customer a good overview of the relevant products and their qualities. A conclusion can be drawn that helping the customer with the purchase decision develops customer inti-macy, since customer intimacy is based on value-generating relationship (Brock & Zhou, 2012, p. 371), and these qualities generate value by making the process easier for the customer.

Image 9. Product comparisons at Honeywell Marketplace.

All the product pages are presented in similar ways at Honeywell Marketplace, and each include the same elements (see image 10). There are keywords right under the headline so that the visitors quickly get the main information about the product. Keywords are such as productivity, communication/collaboration, security, and quality. Product pages have a contact us button clearly visible at the top of the page, which makes contacting seem easily accessible and approachable. This creates intimacy by showing that if needed, the customer can have contact with actual salespeople and is not alone even

though it is an e-commerce platform. Product details are collected in a table, which makes it easy to detect the main qualities. The details include solution, industry, lan-guage, technology, value proposition, developed by, app group, developer, and pricing information. The product pages have systematic appearances and they are divided into six subcategories. The first page is an overview of the product and its features and ben-efits, then there is more detailed information about the features, possible reviews and questions, policies and support – including a direct phone number for support –, addi-tional resources, and lastly editions and pricing information.

Image 10. Product page at Honeywell Marketplace.

The product pages of the e-commerce sites under investigation have additional infor-mation on the products, such as screenshots, videos, and downloadable documents.

Honeywell and ABB have for example screenshots of the products and systems, and Sie-mens MindSphere and Schneider Electric Exchange screenshots and videos on some of their products. Screenshots of the products bring them closer to the customers and they can see how the system looks like – so that they know what they are buying. Amazon sells different types of products but has as well many pictures of the products. However, Amazon presents all the information on the product page or links to a different page instead of providing downloadable documents. Amazon’s questions and answers section was discussed in the previous chapter about communality because that feature allows customers to discuss with each other. But it is also worth mentioning here since it pro-vides important product information as well.