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Ecommerce sites have a unique challenge – they must be usable while also pushing visitors to buy something. Getting traffic to the site is only half the battle; once users arrive, you have just seconds to make a good impression and keep their interest. Usability is defined as:
Usability – The extent to which a product can be used by specific users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use. (International Organization for Standardization)
The web has been called “the great equalizer”, meaning that any size business can compete side-by-side with the giants of retail. A local sporting goods store can have better search rankings than Dick’s Sporting Goods or The Sports Authority. The office supply company on Main St. can be listed on comparison shopping engines right next to Staples and Office Max. A small clothing boutique can build a website that makes it look as grand in scale as Macy’s or Neiman Marcus.
By the same token, a well-established online retailer can alienate visitors and hurt their brand by having a poorly designed website. Bad design and clunkiness on the front end, to a user, can mean that the brand is unorganized and careless behind the scenes. In the end, that user is not likely to trust you with their personal information and will shop elsewhere.
So how can you ensure that your visitors trust in you and are willing to give you their hard-earned money?
1. Be consistent.
A good ecommerce site should be consistent not only with itself but with the web in general. Don’t reinvent the wheel! There are thousands of online stores out there, and they all typically follow the same structure:
- A homepage with featured content and call-outs
- A list of categories or departments along the top or down the left side
- A header containing the company logo, search box, account and shopping cart, and possibly a few other customer service links
- A footer with other important links to aid in the shopping process or to provide more information about the company
- Search results and product categories with sorting and filtering options
- Product pages with product details, specs, user reviews and alternate images
There’s really no reason why you shouldn’t mimic what the majority of other retailers are doing online. You want the visitor thinking about what products or services they’re going to purchase, not trying to learn how to move around your site.
Also be sure that the site itself is delivering a consistent experience. A user shouldn’t feel like they’re on a different website when they’re in site search results or the checkout process. Keep a consistent look and feel no matter how a visitor interacts.
 
Office Depot Canada provides users with a similar experience whether they're using the navigation or the search box to browse their site.
2. Eliminate distractions.
This seems self-explanatory, but busy businesses sometimes forget that the primary goal of an ecommerce site is to sell stuff! Great content, low prices and beautiful graphics are meaningless if the site doesn’t work towards pushing the visitor to convert. Eliminate things that may distract visitors from the purchasing process. Reduce clutter and unnecessary links to keep the user focused on the task at hand.
A place often overlooked for reducing clutter is the checkout process. Once a user has added items to cart and clicked “Checkout”, they are mere seconds away from making a purchase. However, many retailers get in their own way during the checkout screens and inadvertently prevent people from completing the transaction. For starters, always give the user the option to checkout as a guest up front, as Beehive Style does:
Also, once in checkout, eliminate any unnecessary links that don’t aid in the checkout process. Remove the navigation and search box; after all, the user’s already shopped around and found items they’d like to purchase. Don’t give them a reason to leave checkout as they may not come back and complete the purchase later.
Amazon completely removes its traditional header and footer, locking the user in the checkout process until they've completed the purchase.
3. Establish trust and confidence.
Alternate pay methods and security logos go a long way in establishing trust and confidence, especially for companies who aren’t as well known as the major retailers. Giving users the option to checkout via PayPal or Checkout by Amazon puts their mind at ease and lets them focus on your products and services. Adding any security logos that are applicable to your site, especially in the cart and checkout areas, let potential customers know they can trust you with their personal information.
Loehmann's displays security logos from Verisign and others right up front, on their homepage.
4. Provide clear calls to action.
It’s dangerous to assume that users can “figure things out” without direction. As a business owner and a web marketer, you have a certain familiarity with your site and how it functions, which is something most visitors don’t have. Plainly state what you’d like for your users to do, whether it’s through section headers, buttons, or link text.
If you present refinement options on the left of search or browse results, add a “Refine your search” or “Narrow your search” heading at the top. Add buttons or arrows to banners directing a user to click, like Bambeco does:
By simply focusing on these four areas, you can greatly improve the user experience on your site and turn more of your visitors into customers.
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Low conversion rates got you down?
Are you bringing in the visitors but not the profits?
It’s time to take a long hard look at your site from the buyer’s point of view. If the average buyer abandons a site after four clicks, it’s likely that they are just not finding the item they’re looking for. In today’s ecommerce driven world, they’re probably leaving your site for another. We spoke with ShopVisible client MovieMars.com, the #1 entertainment media provider on both Amazon Marketplace and eBay, to discuss how they make a 800,000 SKU inventory easily searchable for buyers.
Appeal To Their Interests
MovieMars.com recognizes that its visitors have varying interests. Some of them are searching for the latest new release, some are looking for a DVD of a classic, and others are looking for something kid friendly. Using filtering and tagging, MovieMars.com easily creates category filters. They can then create homepage banners that direct customers to those categories, like the Disney example below.
Appeal To Their Senses
Part of capturing a customer’s eye is all in the visuals. While text filled product descriptions are necessary, MovieMars.com knows that a picture is worth a thousand words when a buyer is searching their massive inventory. But how do you manage all of those images without dragging your site load time down? MovieMars.com cached those 800,000 images to a content delivery network (CDN). By creating a cache of these images, they’re quickly loaded when searching for your favorite Ryan Gosling movie.
Appeal To Their Time Crunch
Let’s face it, your buyers are busy people. They want to find the item they’re looking for, add it to the cart, and get it to their door quickly and easily. Proper filtering and tagging of your inventory is critical to minimize the amount of time it takes to locate a product. MovieMars.com implemented filtering and search capabilities to do so. As a buyer, you can filter by genre, DVD or Blu-ray, release date, title, or price.
By adding a quick-view option to each title, the customer no longer has to visit individual product pages to examine the description and add the item to their cart.
By putting yourself in your visitors’ shoes, you can closely examine areas of your site where you are losing potential buyers. Reducing page load times, faster filtering, and intuitive navigation will boost your conversion rates. For more information on MovieMars.com, read our latest case study.
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"Buy this!"
"50% off!"
"Limited time offer!"
"Free shipping!"
Not long ago, these promotions and emails would flood your site with buyers, eager to take advantage of discounts and special offers. Have you put a promotion out there lately, expecting to reap the rewards, only to find yourself, well....disappointed?
On a daily basis, the typical connected consumer is exposed to an average of 3,000 marketing messages. (Deloitte) However, more than 50% of adults said they were likely to open emails containing promotions and coupons. (Experian) While consumers may be open to receiving discounts from you, it takes more than just the promise of saving a few dollars to keep them coming back. Here are our three best practice tips for keeping their attention, whether you're offering a discount or not:
(1) Be Timely
Promotions should be relevant to the consumer if you expect to grab their attention. Take this recent email from Case-Mate, sent right after the holidays:
With four million Kindles (MSBNC) and an estimated thirteen million iPads (ZDNet) sold during the month of December, it's highly likely that a good portion of their subscriber base received one during the holidays. Case-Mate's email is both timely and relevant, reminding their customers that they have an extensive tablet case selection. The offer of free shipping captures a buyer who might otherwise visit a brick and mortar store to save money.
(2) Make It Easy
Want to capture the buyer that's in a rush? Offer them a way to quickly find what they're looking for on your website. Loehmann's offers a trend spotlight on their front page where consumers can find the season's top trends at discounts they're used to seeing in store. Showing both the normal retail price and the current price allows shoppers to see the value in purchasing directly from the site.
 
(3) Go Where They Are
With 40% of US mobile users owning smartphones (Nielsen), it certainly makes sense for you to have a mobile optimized presence. Implementing best practices like a persistent cart, consistent pricing and inventory allows your customer to have the best experience possible.
Wahoo Fitness knows that their customers are already using smartphones because their products are built to work with smartphones. It's a natural progression to take their web presence directly to a mobile site, easily navigated with one finger:
 
Remember, it's not always about providing the promise of a discount to your customer, but providing added value. Giving your shopper a reason to buy from you fosters loyalty, and will bring your customers back again and again.
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ShopVisible is pleased to announce that our CTO, Josh Lloyd, along with our CEO, Sean Cook, are to be recognized by Business Leader and Business to Business Magazine as part of their annual "Top 25 Entrepreneurs" awards. Each year, Business Leader selects the entrepreneurs that have created innovative, high achieving companies that contribute to their industries and business communities.
The awards banquet will be held on November 3rd, 2011 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. The evening's program will recognize Business Leader's "Ones to Watch" and feature a countdown of the Top 25 Entrepreneurs. To register for the event, please click here.
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 Catch This? is ShopVisible's weekly roundup of critical reading on the web. We know you're busy, but these are articles you simply can't miss. ShopVisible To Be Featured at Digital Atlanta's Technology ShowcaseCome here our own Kendrick Woolford speak at the 2011 Digital Atlanta Technology Showcase featuring the hottest tech companies in Georgia. We'll be presenting a case study of a legendary brand that's just started selling direct to consumer. The event will be held on November 8th at 10:00 AM, at 22Squared. For tickets, click here. For Early Shoppers, It's A WrapThink you've got until Black Friday to get shoppers' attention? Think again. This study in the Wall Street Journal finds that 39% of Americans have already started their holiday shopping, and many are finished. Four Out of Five Luxury Brands Now Have EcommerceWhile many luxury retailers came to the ecommerce game late, they've caught up quickly. Those that have shopping on their site nab 98% of all luxury ecommerce traffic. What's On Holiday Shoppers' Wishlists?Answer: quick cart totals, free shipping offers, and discount coupons, just to name a few. Social & Mobile App Shopping On The Rise
Gartner predicts that commerce through social & mobile applications will be responsible for 50% of all transactions by 2015.
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Catch This? is ShopVisible's weekly roundup of critical reading on the web. We know you're busy, but these are articles you simply can't miss. Shoppers In Australia Demand More Payment OptionsIf you're expanding internationally, consider exploring the payment options buyers in each country prefer. How Online Shoppers Plan To Spend This Holiday SeasonGreat statistics from NRF highlighting how shoppers plan to spend their money online this year. Some of the highlights? Almost half plan to do a portion of their shopping online, and plan to spend an average of $857.59. Following Brands On Twitter Increases Purchase IntentConstant Contact finds that people who follow brands on Twitter are more likely to recommend your brand to others and purchase from you. Back In Stock Emails Bring Huge ConversionsDo you let customers know an item they want is back in stock? Study finds alert emails generate 22% conversion rate. Self-Gifting On The Rise
Eager to strike a deal while it's hot, this survey finds that shoppers plan to treat themselves even better this year, and will spend an average of $130.43 on purchases for themselves.
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Catch This? is ShopVisible's weekly roundup of critical reading on the web. We know you're busy, but these are articles you simply can't miss. Online Coupon Users Prove Valuable CustomersThis study finds that visitors to coupon websites spend 13% more, on average, than other online shoppers. Bottom line: coupon codes close the deal. Flash Sale Emails More Successful In Late AfternoonInternet Retailer finds that emails advertising flash sales have a higher purchase rate when sent after 3PM versus emails traditionally sent mid morning. Understanding The Shift To Online ShoppingDespite a "doom & gloom" outlook for most sectors of the economy, online shopping revenue continues to increase. How Online Retailers Can Ride The Exports Growth WaveLooking to grow your sales? Consider opening up international shopping to Brazil, Spain, Russia, China, and Mexico. NRF Predicts Holiday Shopping Revenue Will Increase 2.8% Over Last Year
The NRF speculates this holiday shopping season will be a profitable one for retailers, with total sales expect to increase to $465.6 billion, a 2.8% increase over last holiday season.
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The case for social shopping became even more clear last Thursday with the introduction of Facebook's new open graph capabilities for developers. By implementing the ticker, the new timeline, and the ability to use verbs such as "want" and "own" in place of like, Facebook has fueled the social shopping machine.
Since January, we've offered our clients the capability to create a full storefront on their Facebook pages, with a seamless integration to their existing commerce operations. With this enhancement, shoppers could "like" a product and the action would populate their newsfeed for their friends to see. At the time, we believed this action would generate new sales and customers for our clients. We were correct - we saw sales increase and fan numbers dramatically increase.
Now, with the new open graph features, we expect unparalleled growth. Let's say you're looking to purchase a new laptop case. Previously, you could "like" the product and post a few of these in a row, asking your friends which one they liked best. Your post might generate a few comments, and if you were lucky, someone might say they own one of them, and they highly recommend it. The new era of social shopping will allow you to browse products on commerce sites and within Facebook, but you will immediately be able to see what your friends own. The personal endorsement will give you an idea of who you can immediately contact, knowing they own the product, to see if they are happy with their purchase. Now imagine your significant other's birthday is coming up. You have no idea what to get them. Previously, you might solicit recommendations privately through their friends or family. Now, you can visit their Facebook timeline, to view all the products they "want." The "want" action creates an instant wish list, right on your Facebook timeline. No more sending people an email with your Christmas list, or returning gifts that just aren't right. Your friends and family will always know the products that have caught your eye.
Additionally, the new Facebook ticker will become a product discovery engine. While now you can use it to see what music your friends are listening to, the food they're making, or the news stories they're reading, you'll eventually be able to see what they're buying, wanting, or reviewing. We've always said the best recommendations are personal ones - it's what drove us to create the ability for our clients to push a select number of products to Facebook, to improve our offering to a full storefront, and what is fueling us to implement these new open graph capabilities. Welcome to the era of social shopping, it's here to stay.
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Catch This? is ShopVisible's weekly roundup of critical reading on the web. We know you're busy, but these are articles you simply can't miss. Online Retail Is A Bright Spot In BusinessWatch the keynote from Shop.Org with National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay as he discusses how online retail is a force to be reckoned with. Forrester's Sucharita Mulpuru Discusses State of Mobile RetailIn this video, Mulpuru shares how retailers are investing in mobile, which retailers are getting mobile “right,” and outlines the differences between smartphones and tablets (and why that should matter to retailers). Experts Offer Tips On Cart AbandonmentContinuing our Shop.Org coverage, here are highlights from "The Science of Shopping Cart Optimization." How To Optimize Facebook PostsMarketing Charts finds that overnight posts between the hours of 8PM and 7AM drive the most engagement. Read on for additional tips to receive the most comments, likes, and feedback on your posts. Australians Are The Most Frequent Online Shoppers
Time to analyze your international expansion strategy? We think so. According to a recent study, while there are more people shopping online in the US, Australians shop more frequently.
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Catch This? is ShopVisible's weekly roundup of critical reading on the web. We know you're busy, but these are articles you simply can't miss. Consumers Growing More Comfortable with Mobile PurchasesThe average mobile transaction amount has increased 43% since 2011 as consumers become more familiar with buying and shopping from their mobile devices. Zara Launches Ecommerce in the USZara is leading the pack for fast fashion reatilers finally selling their goods online. We predict more retailers who've never sold online will soon follow suit. Ecommerce Secrets that Increase ConversionsThis great infographic shares some of the top best practices for increasing conversions at checkout: design, buying elements, social proof, and follow up emails. Should Your Sales Team Be Tweeting?Absolutely! This new report released by Altimeter Group shows a significant opportunity for your client facing employees to increase sales and traffic by networking on Twitter. 15% of Searches on Black Friday Will Be MobileGoogle projects that 15% of all searches on Black Friday will be from mobile devices. Additionally, Google forecasts that 44% of all searches for last minute gifts and store locations will be mobile.
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