This is the first in a continuing series that explain product attributes, their importance to e-commerce success, and how CyberSiteSearch supports them. Today's post focuses on the fundamental concept of product attributes.

A product attribute is anything that you might use to describe a product.

Some attributes are common across all products. For example, price is something you would typically use to help describe any product for sale.

However, most attributes are specific to the type of product being sold. Some examples:

* for a battery we might use voltage, type (AAA, D, etc.)
* for a boat we would use hull width, length, horsepower, etc.
* for perfume we would use scent, size, etc.
* for coffee we would use caffeination, roast, grind, flavor, etc.
* for a pair of men's slacks we would use waist size, length, etc,

Think about the importance of these attributes to each type of product. Can you imagine trying to shop for a battery without specifying the required voltage? Or how about shopping for a perfume without considering the scent?

Also, notice how mutually exclusive they can be. You would never think about using voltage to describe a coffee, nor would you scent to describe a boat.

So we can say that attributes comprise the vocabulary that we use to describe products and that vocabulary differs significantly by product type, much like the vocabulary words in a language vary from language to language.

So why do we care about this? Because product attributes are important. In fact, they are so very, very important that we don't even consciously think about using them. We just do it. And we do it all the time.

Product Attributes In The Real World

Imagine standing in a gourmet store and overhearing a customer speaking to a sales clerk and saying this:

?I'd like a caffeinated, whole bean, dark roast, full bodied coffee, for my morning brew. I don't drink too much, so a smaller package would be great. Oh by the way, I try to be socially responsible and purchase only Fair Trade certified coffee. What would you recommend??

Now imagine overhearing this at the cosmetics counter at a department store:

?I'm interested in a nice body cream or perfume for my wife. She really likes honeysuckle. What do you have??

Then imagine listening to this at you local drug store:

?I'm looking for the replacement cleaning cartridge for the Braun model 7550 shaver; the two pack would be great if you carry them.?

In each of these examples, the customer stated his desires using the vocabulary that was appropriate for the type of product. For coffee, the customer spoke in terms of caffeination, grind, roast, size, and special certification. The cosmetics customer spoke in terms of format (cream or perfume), scent, and audience gender. The cleaning cartridge shaver customer spoke in terms of product type, manufacturer, model number, and packaging.

In each example, the sales clerk would respond by showing the customer the subset of all products that met the customers stated desires.

The first important point here is that each customer used a vocabulary comprised of product attributes to clearly express interest in products and that resulted in the narrowing of his attention to the products that fit those attributes.

The second and more important point is that it's likely that you would not give a second thought to overhearing any of these conversations, since they are all very natural interactions well within our experience. This is the more important point because it illustrates the fact that in the real offline world we naturally use product attributes in commerce every single day and don't give it a second thought.