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Figure 4-3. Powell’s Books main home page

Note

The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is not the same as the value proposition. The USP refers to what is unique and attractive about a specific product, whereas the value proposition is the overall benefit and value a customer will derive from purchasing from your company. Although they are different, they do work hand in hand: the USP for varying advertisements and landing pages will be aligned with the value proposition.

During your initial conversion analysis of a client’s website, determine whether the site’s value proposition is unique. If it is not, work with the client to come up with a value proposition based on their offerings and their customers’ expectations and needs. If the client has a value proposition but it is not clearly stated on the site, focus your efforts on amplifying that value throughout the site.

For example, Zappos.com is one of the few companies that is able to differentiate itself from its competition through excellence in customer service. It is one of the few large ecommerce sites that displays the customer service phone number in the header inviting visitors to call 24/7 if they have any issues. When shopping for shoes online, customers are worried that once the shoes arrive they will not fit correctly or will not be comfortable. Zappos’ unique value proposition addresses these concerns head-on: you can return an item within 365 days, and you get free shipping both ways.

Figures Figure 4-4 through Figure 4-6 show how Zappos reiterates its excellent customer service. Figure 4-7 shows the home page of Endless.com, a direct competitor of Zappos.com. This site lets you know immediately what it is: a “shoes and handbags” site, which is stated in the tagline. The name “Endless” refers to the fact that the company sells anything and everything that falls under the umbrella of shoes and handbags. So, how does Endless deal with the Zappos value proposition? Endless offers:

The free overnight shipping from Endless.com beats the free shipping from Zappos.com. However, the caveat is that overnight shipping is only available on new styles. Overnight shipping appeals to several personas, but it resonates very well with the spontaneous persona. Both sites offer free return shipping. Endless.com offers a 100% price match, which Zappos.com does not offer. Figure 4-8 shows the value propositions of the two sites against each other.