For an online store, the ratings and reviews customers leave across the web can sometimes make or break the business. That's why so many sites utilize third-party companies to handle post-order surveys. Unfortunately, the functionality of services themselves can wreak havoc, so it pays to research before making a final selection. Until this much-needed factor of post-sales … [Read more...]
PeC: Key Details for Effective Product Descriptions
When describing products and services, remember that consumers want to know why they need those items. Use bullet points and lists to present need-to-know information in an easy-to-read format. Furniture stores, for example, would use bullet points to display measurements, color and material. A site selling iPods would use bullet points to list storage capacity, included … [Read more...]
PeC: 10 Ecommerce Checkout Strategies
When we hear the word “conversion” we often think landing pages, category and product page layouts and overall navigation. Let’s not forget the final point of conversion: the checkout process. The checkout page(s) are your last chance to seal the deal and complete a sale. The process itself can make or break the transaction. Confused shoppers may contact you for assistance, … [Read more...]
PeC: Usability Report Card: Old Will Knott Scales
“Go ahead… hurt my feelings.” That was the subject of the message request by online store director Will Knott. He obviously understands my no-holds-barred approach, as his message concluded, “Punch me in the eye and bloody my nose…” His site sells all types of scales, from postal and food scales to devices that measure our dreaded body weight and mass index. Manual, … [Read more...]
PeC: Conversion: 10 Ways to Make Category Pages More Shopper-Friendly
Most conversion articles focus on a store’s product pages. After all, those pages are most visited by search engine spiders and internal search results. Customers who browse, however, use category pages, and those customers need buying nudges, too. Every store needs conversion-ready content on category pages. This means category pages should be built with both search engine … [Read more...]
Why It Pays to Ask Customers What They Want
Dedicated users of the story submission and rating site Digg.com are still revolting against the site’s new design and features. Adding insult to injury, they aren't just voicing their disapproval with comments and direct posts, either. Users are "digging" stories that are auto-submitted from Reddit - Digg's major competitor. Digg.com is a site that tracks popular web content … [Read more...]
Most eCommerce Sites Ignore the All-Important
I've been working in the world of ecommerce for more than a decade. I've watched technology change the rules, and rules change technology. One thing, however, has remained pretty consistent. Sadly, it's the reason so many online stores continue to struggle while, even in a crippling economy, others are meeting or exceeding previous years' sales totals. I'm talking about … [Read more...]
PeC: Usability Report Card: LiveOutThere.com
Each month I get the honor to tear apart an online store and provide a quick report card on usability (shopability). July/August 2010: LiveOutThere.com Read my report at Practical eCommerce … [Read more...]
PeC: Are Tabbed Browsers Bad for Business?
When tabbed browsing was introduced, life on the Internet got a whole lot easier. No more hunting around for the right browser window, and no more wasting time clicking 15 different Xs. Tabbed browsing is a feature in modern browsers. Instead of opening new web pages in separate windows, users click tabs to toggle between web sites. Using tabs is one of the most appreciated … [Read more...]
PeC: 9 Techniques to Improve Conversion Rates
With the ever-growing popularity of social media, online sweepstakes and contests, just how important is the actual conversion rate of an online store going to be in the future? In simple terms, the conversion rate is a measure of the number of unique visitors (potential customers) that actually make a purchase. The result is in percentage format - thus, if five of 100 … [Read more...]
PeC: Usability Report Card: How-To-Plans.com
Starting June 2010, each month I get the honor to tear apart an online store and provide a quick report card on usability (shopability). June 2010: How-To-Plans.com Read my report at Practical eCommerce … [Read more...]
Is the Future of eCommerce in the Palm of Our Hands?
There's great debate about the future of mobile commerce. Much of it takes place amongst store owners themselves, wondering if it's worth investing in mobile versions of online stores, or applications for smartphones. With consumers upgrading from regular cell phones to mobile devices running off webOS, Android and Apple's iPhone platform, the question shouldn't be if small … [Read more...]