When I was asked by Blue Water Design to write an article on creating effective e-Commerce sites I found myself daunted by the task. The subject area is so large that it would be hard to cover it comprehensively in a book let alone in a few pages. There are no sure fire ways to guarantee a high yield site - that depends on more than just your web presence. It also requires quality products, SEO techniques, effective marketing on and off line and high levels of customer service.
However, there are some basic guidelines that can be followed by any company wanting to provide a good foundation for success. These standards have been well researched and covered by experts in the field such as Jacob Neilsen and Bruce Tognazzini of the Nielsen Norman Group, who specialise in website usability.
They have identified a number of areas, which can dramatically affect sales.
1 Credit card entry
An issue for users is the ease with which they can enter their credit card details. It is also one of the easiest fixes. The box for entry should separate the four elements of the credit card number so as to be clearly readable. This is to enable the customers to check for mistakes, reducing the possibility of incorrect entries. It has been shown that if a number is entered incorrectly and a user has to re-enter there is a chance they will not try again.
2 Forgiving search entry
Tognazzini has observed that when users misspell product search entries there should be some form of results thrown back for the user to choose from. If you fail to recognise that users could misspell words then you will lose customers. This issue can be dealt with by a number of different technologies which can make suggestions or substitutes for misspelt words. An example of this would be Google’s search engine. Use as a preference the “and” method rather than the “or” method, e.g. “blue and t-shirt” rather than “blue or t-shirt”, this makes the search results far more meaningful to the customer’s requirements.
3 Easy to use forms
It has been recommended by Tognazzini that “Staged Obligation” is a good technique to use when encouraging customers to fill in forms. The premise of this technique is to coax the user into filling out the forms bit by bit. If presented with large quantity of boxes to fill out the customer is likely to give up and go somewhere else, stage the forms to be completed a bit at a time. If the user has logged in fill out the form automatically with as much existing data as possible so as to minimise the amount for the customer to complete.
4 Concise email follow up
It is required under the Distance Selling Regulations for e-Commerce websites to provide prompt electronic confirmation of a sale. This is a mandatory process but is often over complicated. Response emails that are full of advertising, and not the information your customer requires are the worst sort and bound to annoy your customer to the point of non-return. Best to keep it to one page in length with just the pertinent information on it, the email should also be formatted for maximum cross-compatibility, so use plain text not HTML based emails for this purpose.
5 Cart functions
The number one annoyance with shopping carts has to be the experience of trawling through a site to buy numerous different products and experience a machine or browser crash; then when you return to purchase your goods the cart is empty. It is worth the extra money and time to make sure that when a crash happens, a user may return to the site and find their shopping cart intact. Amazon for example saves the information you enter for days after you leave the site. I have often gone back and been presented with something that I have forgotten I even wanted, only to consequently go through with the purchase then.
6 Quick download times
Broadband uptake is increasing rapidly but has still not reached the majority of users especially in the UK therefore download times are of great importance. It is best to set a limit and stick to it, either page size in bytes or download time. This would mean typically for a modem connection file sizes should be below 50kb. If this is not suitable for your site, focus on the products not on the surrounding eye candy. Allow users to click on an image for a more detailed enlargement and maximise the use of HTML text to reduce download times.
7 Correct Branding
Make sure your brand image reflects your product placement. This is to say that if your site sells budget items don’t make it look like a high value site as people will expect high prices. It is best to have a clean inviting look with clearly defined calls to action on each page.
8 Use of information
There are 3 major mistakes made here; information is lacking, unclear or far worse incorrect. The main disadvantage that online stores have over bricks & mortar is that a minimal amount of information is available to the customer online in comparison to a store. For example, stores have real people to solve your problems as well as displays, manuals and phone numbers. Websites need to provide the same sort of quality information in order to satisfy customer needs. It is critical that the information displayed is clear, concise and provides the user with accurate up to date information. Anything less and you will start to see a decline in sales. Allow users to feedback when the information they find is lacking or outdated, although time-consuming for you this will demonstrate the company’s commitment to customer service.
9 Delivery Times
Tognazzini also observes that many companies seem to exaggerate their delivery times to the point of absurdity. Take Dell for example they will consistently over estimate the delivery time thus when making delivery critical decisions you may choose another supplier over them. Jigsaw, a Mac supplier will by default deliver the next day, although this costs more due to the demographic of the customer base this seems to be of benefit. Their users want it and want it now. You must address the issues of delivery times to suit your customer’s needs and requirements however, if your product is price sensitive then the increase in cost due to quick delivery times may be unacceptable. On the other hand we now live in a fast paced economy and the need for goods to be delivered yesterday is in growing demand even at premium prices.
10 Customer services
Any successful e-Commerce site requires repeat custom and quality customer service goes hand in hand with customer retention. Say 90% of your transactions go through without a hitch, that leaves 10% with some kind of problem. This 10%, if not satisfied with the quality of service even if you get the goods to them, will not return and more it’s than likely that they will tell every one they know not to use you either. It’s widely recognised that bad news travels a lot faster than good and if your customer base is closely knit then this will quickly reduce your market penetration as your poor reputation grows. Conversely good customer service such as promptly living up to your money back guarantees without questions will be expensive, but will guarantee return custom. The use of community forms although costly in terms of time and commitment can increase you customer satisfaction by allowing customers to service other customer’s problems, this must of course be monitored carefully and any issues raised answered quickly.
11 Speed of transactions
Although patented by Amazon the best way of capturing those impulse buyers is though one click purchasing. That is why it is vital that the purchase route be as quick as possible for all customers, even if not registered. Though the use of clever and well thought out forms and registration pages you can make it easy for the first time customer to buy something. Only collect the bare minimum of information you need to process their order, ask after they have purchased about any personalisation or preferences for online marketing after the sale. They are far more likely to be agreeable to those suggestions if their buying experience has been favourable
12 Value for money
With the ease at which information can be accessed since the advent of search engines one of the main factors of a purchase online is price. A customer can check literally hundreds of sites in seconds, this means the onus is on the company to make sure that their prices are competitive. This does not just mean on the day you put the product live but continuously. For example I frequently used a site called Blackstar to buy DVDs, when I first started they seemed to be the cheapest around. Being a lazy shopper I would just assume that they where the cheapest but after a while I began to check around and found that in fact, other competitors were cheaper. Consequently Blackstar lost my custom.
13 Personalisation
Try to treat your customers as individuals. As you gather more information about them use this to tweak and customise their experience throughout the site. Suggest other products and if you have a discount voucher box on your purchase page make sure that your loyal customer occasionally receives a voucher. This will make the users feel that they are part of a community that cares about them, each and every one. This should not cost you much but greatly increase the stickiness of your site and provide the retention of valued customers.
It has been shown in studies that 50% of consumers that shop online show loyalty to a particular store - but do not take that for granted. If you break any one of the above guidelines that figure will rapidly drop.
About the Author
Steve has been working in the realm of internet and ecommerce for 10 years and is now working for Blue Water Design after graduating with a 2:1 honor in visual art & communication he went on to complete a MSc in Advanced Computing at distinction level focusing of Semantic e-Bussiness. He has worked with many blue chip clients such as Barclaycard, MBNA, Liverpool Victoria and the RNLI on e-commerce and online marketing strategies, covering issues such as SEO, Email Marketing and Usability issues including the disabilities discriminations act.
References & Further Reading
Jakob Nielsen, “Designing Web Usability”, New Riders Press, Dec 1999
Jakob Nielsen, “Homepage Usability”, New Riders Press, Nov 2001
Tognazzini B, “Top 10 Reasons to not shop online”, asktog.com, Jan 2004
Maguire J, “Site Design tips to improve your sales”, ecommerce-guide.com, Aug 2004
Keir. R, “Building eCommerce Website that work”, ezinearticles.com, May, 2005
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