| Make Your Online Store Easy To Use |
|
|
|
|
By Ana Rincon, of about.com
When creating an online storefront, remember that “useability” will greatly affect your sales. In this context, usability refers to the ease with which customers can accomplish a task on your site -- for example, finding a product, filling out an order form, checking shipping costs, etc. If everything else is equal, the site with better usability will sell more products. I’ve experienced this myself; if a site is hard to navigate or the check-out process is clumsy, I may leave without buying. I certainly won’t bookmark the site for a future purchase. So, how do you make an e-commerce site usable? There is an entire field of study on usability which involves testing groups of users - even including the filming of eye movements to see which Web page elements are noticed first. For more in-depth information, I will provide some additional references. But for an introduction, the following is the listing of some elements that most usability experts agree are essential:* Let your customer begin the checkout process or continue shopping at any time. * Let your customers buy without registering. If possible, make registration optional. Registration creates an unnecessary barrier for first-time and one-time customers. Instead, provide incentives to register.* Allow users to change quantities and remove items from the shopping cart. * Provide a visual cue or confirmation when adding items to the cart. Shoppers want to know that the action they take works.* Provide links to information the user may wish to see before purchasing (return policy, guarantees, shipping and delivery information, product details). * Explain/show each step of the checkout process.* Make the button navigating to the next step visually prominent and distinct from all other page elements. * Preserve entered information. If a customer decides to change an entry during the order process and navigates to an earlier page, don’t make him enter everything again. A more advanced site will even allow a customer to leave the process in the middle and come back at a later time to complete the order.* Provide an order summary before completing a purchase. Display all entered information and ask the user to review and confirm the entries. * Show shipping charges early. Many people don’t feel comfortable providing personal information before they fully commit to a purchase - which they can only do after knowing all costs and details. Ask for minimal information necessary to show shipping/tax: e.g. Postal code or Province/State.* Provide clear feedback on entry errors in forms. Prominently display a message that a problem exists, explain clearly which field(s) had the problem and what information was expected or how to fix the error.
When evaluating a shopping cart (custom-made, off-the-shelf, or online), order several items yourself to test usability. Ask your mother or neighbor to do the same. Notice where they hesitate, and what questions they ask. Look at the shopping cart functions that your competition has in place. Do they help make it easier for customers? Time spent looking at the usability aspect of your online business will be well spent. Need help implementing a new sales or marketing program? We've got two suggestions:
a)
Check out our free marketing templates and tools on this site. There's
ton's of them. You might want to bookmark the site now, you could be
here awhile.
Just become a registered member (it's free) of the myMarketingGuide.com website and you can download hundreds of other articles, templates and more. Don't worry, we respect your privacy. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
