Read on to find out what my sleuthing turned up, or for more information on this topic check out our blog posts on six things to consider when writing product descriptions and where to place 30 elements on your ecommerce page

Debenhams

Though there were eight bullet points lower down the page which gave the product details, Debenhams’ description was rather brief.

Debenhams should really put more effort into writing an interesting, informative description in order to edge customers towards making a purchase.

Topman

Topman’s ecommerce team has put in even less effort than Debenhams’. This is literally all the information that customers are given about the jeans.

USC

USC offers a detailed description alongside bullet points outlining the most important details.

It’s easy to see why this product description is more effective for informing the customer and driving conversions, however it is still listing the specific details rather than upselling the product benefits.

John Lewis

Department store John Lewis strikes an excellent balance between listing the product details and describing the benefits of buying these jeans.

The copywriters describe the ‘comfortable fit’ of the material as well as the occasions on which the jeans might be worn. 

It gives the shopper a bit more information about the product and helps to answer common doubts that people might have when buying jeans online.

Kohl’s

Another minimalist effort from Kohl’s, with just two sentences followed by bullet points listing the details.

In fairness the product video is excellent, but then not everybody is going to click on the video so more should be done to improve the copywriting.

Selfridges

Selfridges calls these Levi’s a ‘stylish yet wearable investment piece’ which is a succinct but persuasive bit of copywriting.

There is further information listed in bullet points beneath which give specific details about the product.

JC Penney

JC Penney’s description is just two sentences but it brings the product to life and acts as an effective sales pitch. It is far more potent to say that the elastane ‘keeps them comfortable and easy moving’ rather than just listing ‘2% elastane’ as a feature and expecting shoppers to know what it means.

Zappos

Zappos clearly favours bullet points over paragraphs as it offers a list of 16 product details to read through.

The result is a very informative list of details that should answer most customer queries, but it misses an opportunity to really sell the jeans.

ASOS

Clothing retailer ASOS has opted for a long description which goes into minute detail about the product’s features.

It’s actually a fairly functional description and this information might be better presented in bullet points rather than as one long paragraph. It doesn’t actually do much to sell the product benefits which, considering the amount of words used, is missing a trick.

In conclusion…

As these examples show, most of the retailers opt for simply describing the product features rather than taking the opportunity to upsell the benefits of buying the item.

Bullet points are a common tool for listing the details and for good reason, however I feel that there’s more scope to improve conversion rates by upselling the product benefits.

For example, John Lewis describes the occasions on which the jeans might be worn, thereby adding some useful context that aids the customer in their purchase decision.

Similarly JC Penney says that the elastane ensures that the jeans are ‘comfortable and easy moving’ whereas most of the other retailers simply list the inclusion of elastane as a product feature with no extra explanation. 

It’s a simple but effective piece of copywriting that again helps the customer when deciding whether or not to buy the item.