Set Your Goals

Mobile commerce should generate revenue either directly by allowing customers to purchase items or indirectly by creating a positive experience for consumers. A mobile presence can engage consumers and provide valuable information with a simple and unique design. Before deciding to move forward with mobile commerce, retailers have to clearly define what they hope to get out of it.

While many retailers are going mobile or developing a mobile strategy, others are simply choosing the “do nothing” approach. Mobile commerce is still in its infancy and the value of a mobile presence is still uncertain. While the number of mobile consumers is small it’s growing fast. According to ATG Commerce, “27% of all consumers used their mobiles to browse and research products at least four times over a 12 month period. For the 18-34 age group, this figure is 41%“. Potential buyers seem to be testing mobile commerce and if a company is willing to give mobile the time and resources required, their business could be at the forefront of a booming trend.

Website or Application?

Once a company sets their goals for going mobile, they’ll have a better idea of what approach to take. Retailers can create a mobile presence two different ways: optimizing the retailers site for mobile devices or creating a mobile application or “app“. The best option depends on the retailer’s goals for going mobile. Apps may be best if a company wants to create interactive features and keep loyal customers happy. However, a mobile website is a simpler design that could attract more potential buyers. Here are a few things to consider before deciding on which direction to go.

Not All Phones Are Created Equal

Once a business decides to go mobile with either a site or an app, the next and most complex step is the design. Retailers need to target the right devices and highlight the most important features in a simple and attractive way. A mobile site or app has to have a balance of providing enough information to satisfy consumers without overwhelming the connection. Mobile devices are still evolving and nothing will turn a potential buyer away faster than an overly-complicated or slow running site/feature. A simple layout with large text and easy-to-touch links and buttons will provide the best experience for consumers and regularly updated information will keep them coming back for more.

Conclusion

Going mobile is complicated business for any retailer. However, many leading retailers believe mobile commerce may be on the verge of taking over. Retailers that start planning now will most likely be the first to attract loyal, tech-savvy customers. Ryan Peterson, mobile strategist for Ubermind puts it best: “If nothing else, look ahead two years and assume everyone you care about – customers, suppliers, and employees – will have a powerful, always-connected, GPS-enabled mobile computer in their pocket… plan accordingly.”

Basic User Experience

Design Is Not Added Value, Design Is Value.
- Gui Bonsiepe

There are as many different theories to design as there are styles of art – all of which have their merits. However, as we discussed in Beginning UX Part 1, a website proprietor must never lose track of their customers. And although this sometimes comes at the expense of one’s own ego, the small business owner attempting to design their own website needs to remember that, it is more important to make a good website than to capture a “feel.” This is not to say a website can’t do both (in fact, the very best websites do exactly that – capture a feel while retaining functionality), but since most people don’t have the time to study art history, technique, and principles of advanced design on top of running their own business, but also can’t afford a full design firm, lets focus on what it takes to make a user experience pleasant enough to keep customers coming back.

Towards that goal, there are a few things every website should strive to do:

• Look Professional
• Be Easy To Navigate
• Give The Customer What They Want
• Be Honest With The Customer

Now, let’s take a look at how even the most basic business owner can accomplish these goals.

Designing your Website

Despite sounding difficult, creating a professional looking website and making it easy to navigate are almost identical issues. Simple things, like making menu bars visible without being obtrusive by choosing simple colors that stand out against the background, and using easy to read fonts instead of “cool” ones that may be illegible or ugly. In general, when first designing for usability, it is better to favor function over form. Think of building a website like building a car – the chassis has to be solid before you can add the fancy bodywork. And also, to keep with the car metaphor, remember to add a place for the customer to put gas in – so make your shopping cart obvious. While it seems like this might seem pushy or scare customers away, remember that the people who want to buy your product don’t want it to be a hassle, and they’re your customers.

And if you’ve gotten ambitious and feel like adding an element of social media, remember not to force someone to sign up for an account (even if it’s free), to browse or buy the goods. However, after they’ve paid, then ask them to join in order to leave comments, or for an easier shopping experience next time. Make joining a convenience, and many more people will choose to do it.

Thinking Of The Customers

Continuing on of this idea of convenience, the savvy eBusiness owner should always keep in mind that they aren’t running a brick-and-mortar store. To that end, remember to show pictures of the items, or even full panoramic rotations if you can. While it is always advisable to have a good copy and written descriptions, humans are very much visual beings. And while you can’t offer a tactile sensation of the product, it’s important to let the customer see what they’re buying. This creates a feeling of trust (remember how we talked about be you becoming their 24 hour “local” store), and establishes that you have nothing to hide. And who doesn’t want to trust their local businessperson?

And on the issue of honesty and transparency: If you’re asking someone to join your website, don’t hide the delete button after they do. While this seems illogical in the short term, you have to remember that you’re relying on a certain level of curiosity to draw them to your site in the first place. Ignoring the fact that many of your first customers with have an inquisitive nature, will lead to trouble, particularly if the lack of a delete button makes them search one out. It’s best to make them not think about the delete button any more than they have to, and to that end, we should all take a lesson from The Purloined Letter about hiding in plain sight. You don’t have to outline it in a flashing neon marquee, but make it visible enough they don’t have to hunt for it- and by doing so, display your confidence they won’t be clicking on it any time soon.

As you can see, it’s relatively simple to design a good user experience – and while basic attempts may not meet the level of the professionals (they have put a lot more time and thought into this after all), hopefully you can take these tips and build a website that is functional and easy to navigate without excessive discretionary funds. I look forward to seeing new, professional looking eCommerce sites springing up all over the web any day now, so good luck, and see you next week.

User experience, also known as UX, is the art of creating a website that makes your customers want to come back. It’s that simple. Although misunderstood today, the old adage “the customer is always right” was the brick-and-mortar equivalent of good user experience – in that by creating an atmosphere wherein the customer felt like they were in control, they would return to your business. The customer felt empowered, you got paid, and it all worked out fine for everyone, since you had the best products on the market anyway, whether you ran a restaurant, a hotel or a general store.

Enter the internet; and with it, the world of eCommerce.

Benefits of a Well-Crafted User Experience

What kind of subtle changes could you make to your product/website/application/service/business that would discretely help your customers succeed, thereby feeling better about themselves, and in turn, your brand?
- Alex Rainert (everyday UX)

There are many benefits to a well crafted user experience:

• Easier site navigation
• Viral marketing potential
• Happier customers

These are all key points, especially when you remember that, while eCommerce is a wonderful thing, it has an essential problem that brick-and-mortar stores don’t have – double blind anonymity. When you sell things online, you will meet almost none of your customers, and will get only the barest glimpse of those who contact you through email and such. This is a far cry from the days where you could know the name of your local butcher, baker, and curio seller, and while the novelty of being able to shop 24/7 was enough to sustain eCommerce in the early days, the market has become so flooded that customers can choose to shop where ever they want.

Why is UX Important?

This is where UX comes in. After all, if the customer is looking for something that sets your product above the rest, a website that makes them feel like they’re buying from more than an anonymous person on the internet can help a great deal. In particular, those who have managed to work the principles of social media into their websites are doing rather well, by allowing their customers to create an online word of mouth through Facebook and Google. A well crafted UX can turn your website (and by extension, your ad campaign, all of your hard SEO work, etc) from the traveling salesman hawking his wares on the street corner, into that village shop that all of a person’s friends like, and they just haven’t gotten around to visiting yet.

Except your store is open all day, every day – so the odds are much greater they’re going to make it in eventually.

“But,” you may wonder, “I already have a good product. Better than anyone else’s on the market in fact. Why do I need to worry about UX? Won’t a good product sell itself?”

And you’re absolutely right. Good products do sell themselves, but being the logical businessperson you are, can you deny the free advertising that comes with winning something like The FWA, or having millions of fans on Facebook? If you already have a good product, isn’t it worth the effort of putting in that time to make sure the website selling it looks as good as the product works? First impressions can be important, especially with the double edged sword that is the internet. All the metrics and web analytics in the world won’t save a website that is hard to navigate – especially if you make it hard for customers to buy your products.

But most importantly, keep this in mind as you ponder redesigning that website you made ten years ago: The internet is in constant evolution. A decade ago there was no Facebook, no YouTube, no Myspace. File sharing was in its infancy, and download rates measured in MBPs were astonishing to contemplate, much less hard drive space in terabytes. The world of computers simply moves faster than the world of brick-and-mortar, and businesses that fall too far behind are in danger of dropping out of the race. Even slow and steady progress is still progress – and remember, the hare didn’t lose because he moved too fast, he lost because he fell asleep. So ask yourself: Is your business’s website moving forward with the times? Or are you napping by the side of the information highway, letting all of those UX wielding tortoises pass you by.

Either way, it never hurts to learn a few ways to improve your website – which is why you should tune in next time for “Beginning UX (Part 2): Crafting Your User Experience” where we’ll explore improving your UX. See you then!

I came upon an interesting new service for Online sellers the other day and I wanted to share it with all our readers as an eCommerce Idea article. It’s really unique, useful and right in line with current eCommerce trends.

Before we get into the new service I wanted to briefly mention our last eCommerce Ideas article on Using Creative Linkbait and Engaging Customers At The Same Time. It featured another really creative eCommerce idea that at least one merchant is using. This idea article has the same concept, in that it’s a unique or creative idea that eCommerce merchants can use to improve or enhance their stores, however it’s not related to linkbait and customer features as much as it is related to eCommerce video content and store usability. Same concept, different topic basically.

Finally, on to the new service by interactive video design company FlipSeek, who has recently released a very unique application which allows eCommerce store shoppers to click on items displayed within video content or catalog demos as a way to make product purchases directly from the interactive video. The product is called Live Link Video, it allows merchants to develop and implement videos in which users can click on hyperlink ‘hot spots’ to either get product information or buy certain items highlighted within the video content (sort of similar to the transactional banners and shopping gadgets article we published).

Here’s what Adam Marino, Flipseek President, had to say about Live Link Video…

They send us the electronic video and we convert it by layering over the hyperlinks and adding the captions to it, and then saving it as a Flash file so it’s compatible for everybody on the web to see it.

Flipseek apparently released Live Link Video on January 2nd after about two months in beta. Their specialty is not creating the videos, or implementing them into a merchants site, it is more about converting a typical Web video into an interactive video capable of displaying the hyperlink hot spots (although they will work with merchants either using their own in-house video specialist or another third party ad agency). Once the merchant has submitted their video content to be converted, whether it be for a commercial, video tour, product demo or any other video presentation, the converted files are then returned in order to be implement into the site design and content. Currently, the following video formats can be converted into a Live Link Video; mpeg, mpg, flv, mov, avi, or wmv. The videos will then be converted to a standard Flash SWF file. Their standard delivery time to convert files is about 3-5 business days, however more complex projects can take longer. Contact a representative to see if your project fits within the standard time frame.

Here are some other video uses suggested by Live Link Video…

• TV Show Product Placement
• Online Store Tours
• Commercials
• Online Infomercials
• New Product Showcases
• Movie Trailers
• Fashion Shows
• Cooking Shows
• Training Videos
• How-To Demonstrations
• Business Proposals

Here are some Live Link Video Samples (click images to watch)…

(Click image to watch, video is not embedded so you will be taken to a different site)

(Click image to watch, video is not embedded so you will be taken to a different site)

(Click image to watch, video is not embedded so you will be taken to a different site)

I am really impressed with how this feature works and all the potential uses it has within the eCommerce space, especially if video marketing on the Web is already part of your strategy and you already have the content developed on your end. Video is already being implemented by several Hot 100 retailers and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. Unique ideas such as interactive shopping links are setting new trends and are sure to become a standard in eCommerce before too long.

Take an interactive video for a spin on your site, see how it converts and determine if there’s potential for it for your products, brand or store. You never know what will work and what won’t unless you try it out, but please, be sure to have the necessary tools in place to track ROI. That’s one thing I think a feature like this is lacking, a great way to track which videos are being clicked and how many purchases are coming from those clicks. Something to think about maybe. Let me know if anyone here knows of a good way to track these things through the checkout process, I am not very familiar with multi media files and the potential uses for them.

Why eCommerce & Shopping Cart Usability Matter:

eCommerce and shopping cart usability matter mostly due to the fact that if a store is not easy to use, and simple to buy from, it can greatly affect it’s ability to generate regular sales or increase those sales over time, which makes it more difficult for merchants to grow their stores to the next level. Many of the most successful merchants got that way by following strict usability guidelines, search engines guidelines and by abiding by other Online selling best practices. It’s no accident that the best eTailers got where they are by doing what works and continuing to try to improve, although little bits of luck here and there certainly help and may sometimes also contribute to many of the big named companies success.

Online store usability and eCommerce shopping cart usability are extremely important factors for all online sellers, especially for the ones who hope to improve over time and are serious about increasing online sales to their potential. Many merchants forget that even the most simple changes can dramatically effect how their stores perform, both for users and search engines. In this article I will be mentioning 21 different factors that can dramatically increase results for nearly any type of Online store, especially ones that focus on an industry niche or cater to mass amounts of shoppers.

21 Usability Best Practices:

01. Use Headlines, Subheadings and Breadcrumb navigation to show shoppers where they are.

• Page elements like large text headings and subheadings can help customers establish which page they are on and what the topic of the page they are viewing is. Breadcrumb navigation helps customers establish how deep they are within the site structure and what is available to view before and after the page they are on within the site structure. Breadcrumbs and page headings are also beneficial from a search engine standpoint, since they use those kinds of page elements to classify a site and to understand what words you target.

  

  By showing your visitors where they are on the site and giving them headings and subheadings which are easy to read, you will be effectively making your site more usable to each visitor and are aiding them in being able to find what they are looking for. It should help make the shopping experience faster and gets shoppers to the products they want so they can add it to their cart and buy it with ease. It also aids search engines who crawl your site for more information on what you sell and who your target market is.

02. Make sure contact information and a phone number are visible above the fold and easy for shoppers to see.

• eCommerce sites make it easy for customers to find items and buy them Online, however it is also a great way to obtain leads and establish new customer relationships from individuals who may alternately call or email rather than place an order through the Online checkout process. By keeping contact information prominent and including it on each page, you are effectively making your site more usable to each visitor who may wish to do business with you over the phone or by email rather than electronically Online.

  

  Many of your orders will be made through the site, but a majority will also be made through alternative means like phone or email. If you do not have this information in an easy to find location on the site, you may be missing out on new business and establishing new customers who prefer phone ordering or inquire via a Web form or email address. Above the fold means a place which can be accessed with limited or no scrolling down the page by the visitor. Typically, eCommerce site owners will display their contact information in the top right or top left or each page. Where ever you decide put it, be sure it is consistently in the same place, not in a different place on each page.

03. Keep the site search function above the fold and in plain view so shoppers can query the catalog anytime.

• All sites should have a search function of some sort. eCommerce stores with many products must have a search function so customers can easily find what they are shopping for within a particular site or section of the site. In addition, the search function must be within the customers reach and easy for them to spot and use in order for it to properly work within your site. Site searches are typically near the top or middle of each page, but can be included on a sidebar. It is a good idea to put your site search above the fold and make it easy to see.

  

  Some newer eCommerce sites have utilized state of the art site search technology and even have smart search bars that finish typing your phrase for you or even suggest words that are close to what you are typing, as you are typing them in. Anytime, any page, for any reason a customer may wish to perform a search instead of using alternate navigation or sorting options. By keeping your search function within reach and by making it easy to use you are making the site more usable to each visitor that enters your store and hopes to find something to buy. It should help shoppers find what they are looking for easily and makes the whole shopping process much more simple.

04. Consider adding a search by category refinement into the site search for easier access to site sections.

• We have already explained why site search functions should be placed above the fold in an easy to find area on the site. Having a site search is only the basic form of searching eCommerce sites. As we mentioned, there are new site search technologies, but there are also less complicated more common improvements that can be made to site search functions. Many eCommerce stores are now using category search refinements and sorting options within the search area so visitors and shoppers can search for certain keywords within particular categories from any page any time they choose.

  

  It is kind of like an advanced search option that shoppers can use without going to a separate page altogether. By offering a search function with a keyword field, category refinement and catalog sorting capabilities you are effectively making the site more usable. It should help visitors find what they are looking for quickly and easily no matter what page they are on. It is also a great way to display the category offerings and show visitors which categories they can shop within (similar to breadcrumb navigation, but in the search area).

05. Allow shoppers to refine product results by color, shape, size etc. and allow them to clear those refinements anytime.

• A customer must be able to find the products they are looking for quickly and easily. Another great way to keep items within reach for customers is to implement refinement features that allow visitors to sort products by color, shape, size, brand and more. Many eCommerce sites do not have the capability to use refinement features, others are more flexible in their designs and allow for such customizations.

  

  If you have the resources available, it is something I highly recommend you consider adding into your store functionality. Some customers are looking for a particular size, some may be interested in items that are available in only certain colors or available through particular brands. By adding product refinement and sorting options into your eCommerce site, you are effectively making your site more usable. Allowing customers to refine and sort will help them find the perfect item and makes the shopping process fun at the same time. It should help customers find what they are looking for in a fast, efficient manner so they can proceed to the next step in the buying process. It also helps increase conversions, sales, order amounts and raises customer retention.

06. Allow shoppers to show a designated number of items per page anytime with a “show per page” sort option.

• We have already covered refinement and sorting options, but there are other display options that can also assist shoppers in finding the items they hope to purchase. Besides product refinements and sorting options, you may also wish to implement features that allow customers to sort and refine the product results that are displayed within categories, sorted searches, brand searches and more. Display sorting may include a grid layout, list layout or hybrid (uses a combination of both). You are essentially giving shoppers different ways to view lists of items once they are displayed on a results page.

  

  It creates a more custom shopping experience and gives customers the ability to view lists they way they prefer. Offering a way for customers to customize their display will help with usability by making the site more user friendly, easier to use and gives off the impression that they are able to customize what results they see, how many are shown and what type of view to display items in (list, grid, both). By making it easy for visitors to refine item results you are effectively making your site more usable. It should help shoppers to remember their experience with you, come back again in the future and makes their shopping time on your site an exciting, semi-custom and usable experience. It may also increase conversions and raise user registrations or retention.

07. Show related products and cross sell before the checkout process and after items have been added to the cart.

• Grouping products, showing related items and cross selling is important for customers and helps lower shopping cart abandonment rates. Many eCommerce stores show related items on each page or for each product rather than showing items directly related to a product that has already been added to the cart. Make it easy for shoppers to add items related to what they have in their cart and don’t take them back to the index page or make it difficult to edit the cart contents. A lot of carts get abandoned when a customer finds that they cannot easily edit the cart or that they get redirected back to the index page once they add an item to the cart.

  

  Some merchants have found that by directing their customers back to the page they were previously on, or by allowing them to add accessories or similar items that may accompany the product they are buying to the cart during checkout, has improved their abandonment rates. This strategy works particularly well if the customer sees the item groupings or option to add similar items right before they login to pay or enter their payment information. Be sure the carts seamlessly adds the item and updates the price in the cart without them having to click an “update cart” button. By grouping items and cross selling related products you are effectively making your store more usable. It should help to retain users, lower cart abandonment and increases overall sales, even average order amounts.

08. Use product page copy that answers shoppers questions about products they may be interested in buying.

• Page and product copy (text headings and descriptions) is an important aspect of usability for both shoppers and search engines. The headlines you choose for product pages as well as the home page copy, messages, buttons and calls to action can all influence whether a customer buys, add something to a wishlist, clicks through, subscribes, or whether they move along to another site. Ideally, the headlines and other page copy should be the first thing your customers see upon landing on a specific section. Keep the headlines simple and direct, making sure to clearly state that customers will be able to complete a purchase or find an item they seek from that page. Use keywords that describe the item on that page within your headings and elsewhere within the copy.

  

  Make the point of the page clear and be sure to include main points or highlights within your main message. Include a small area with copy that is designed to sell your product and persuades the customer to move along to the next step in your conversion process. Use informative descriptions with product specifications, details, sizes, colors and anything the customer would possible ask about the item. By writing compelling copy and including it in all the right places you are effectively making your store more usable for both search engines and customers. It should help you to convert more visits, convey a particular message or inform visitors about the page they are viewing. It may also help with search engine keyword classification and can potentially increase sales or average order amounts.

09. Allow shoppers to add items to their cart before making them register for an account.

• Many eCommerce sites will not allow customers to add items to the shopping cart until they have registered for a site account. This means the customers have to take an extra step in the buying process and could cause them to leave the site before they buy. It is important to allow guests or window shoppers to add items to their cart and checkout before registering as a customer. We all know how great custom accounts can be, but it doesn’t make sense to collect user information when buyers will already enter in much of the same information upon ordering (info that can also be used to create a customer account for future visits).

  

  Some merchants have found that by allowing guests to add items first and giving them the option to register AFTER the order, that it increased sales, helped to retain users and lowered cart abandonment rates. Keep the account process after the order or give shoppers the option to register for an account once they but. Do not make someone register before they enter in payment and billing information. By allowing shoppers to add items to their cart and view the contents before registering for an account you are effectively making your site more usable. It should help speed up the ordering process, makes it easier for a custom to buy and also removes an extra, unnecessary step in the order process. It can also help with customer retention when otherwise there wouldn’t be a customer to retain.

10. Make sure shoppers can easily access their cart contents and that it can easily be modified or adjusted.

• Keeping the contents of shoppers’ carts in an accessible, easy to find location on each page will help increase conversions and assist shoppers in finding what they are looking for and makes it easy for them to check out quickly. I see many eCommerce sites that have the contents of the cart on a separate page altogether and not in the sidebar or near the top right corner, where shoppers expect it to be. Not only should you keep the contents of shopping carts accessible, you should also make it easy for shoppers to edit the contents of their carts during each phase of the checkout and anytime before they enter the checkout process.

  

  Shoppers often times change their minds after adding one item to their cart and may wish to replace it with another item they found while shopping deeper into the site. Remember to make the cart accessible and be sure your shoppers can easily modify the contents, you will find that you’ll get less support calls, less abandoned carts and more orders. If you have a good cross-sell platform, you may even increase your average order amount. By keeping the cart in an easy to reach location and allowing easy editing you are effectively making your site more usable which also helps to retain your buying customers and may attract better brand awareness, which may lead to increased new registrations and first time orders.

11. Use “add to cart buttons” with larger font, that are easy to see and consider different wording like “proceed to checkout.”

• The “add to cart buttons” you choose can make or break a store, especially new eCommerce sites. If the checkout buttons are not visible to the shoppers or they do not stand out in some way from the rest of the page, you will have a difficult time converting many of your shoppers to buyers. The smallest changes in color, font, size and wording have been proven to increase conversions, increase sales, raise average order amounts and helps direct shoppers towards the next step in the buying process. Keep your checkout and cart buttons within reach on each product page and anywhere else you display cart buttons.

  

  Make them easy to spot and use larger fonts and bold colors like reds, blues, yellows and greens so they stand out from the rest of the content on the page. Choose wording like “proceed to checkout,” “add to bag,” “add to cart” and “add to basket” rather than wording like “buy now,” “order now” or “buy.” The word “buy” and “order” may scare a shopper from adding the item to their cart, since they may not be ready to buy. Of course savvy shoppers already know that “buy” and “order” is usually the first step, but non-savvy shoppers may get confused and think they are going to be taken directly to the billing and payment page if they click it. Some sites actually take shoppers to the billing and payment page, so be sure you know the process your shoppers take through checkout and plan accordingly. By making checkout and cart button with larger fonts, bolder colors and the right wording you are effectively making your site more usable which helps to increase conversions, increase sales, increase order amounts and much more.

12. Make sure other page items are visually appealing to shoppers and keep unnecessary elements off checkout pages.

• Part of making an eCommerce site more accessible and easier for shoppers to use involves keeping the checkout process or path clear and simple. Shoppers will not buy from sites they do not trust and generally sites that don’t take certain “best practices” into consideration (on purpose or by accident) will have a harder time becoming successful right away. Part of those best practices are how landing pages are displayed and what is on them. It is best to keep checkout pages (product pages, add to cart pages, landing pages) as clutter free as possible (limited to no navigation and few graphics), but obviously there will still be some graphics, shopping cart contents and possibly a link to the main page or back to the page they were previously viewing.

  

  Be sure that any of the elements that are left on checkout pages are visually appealing and serve a purpose on those pages. If possible, try to use page that are distinct and make it easy to move along to the next step in the checkout process. Keep anything that is not needed off checkout pages and keep anything that must be there attractive and appealing to shoppers. By making a checkout page with visually appealing elements and keeping unnecessary clutter off of them you are effectively making your eCommerce store more usable which helps increase conversions, increase sales, raises order amounts and keeps customers coming back. Additionally, you may gain more word-of-mouth exposure and create a pleasant feeling around your brand.

13. Allow shoppers to add items to a wishlist using appropriate wording like “add to wishlist” rather than “buy now.”

• Many merchants (even shoppers) get confused when eCommerce site they use do not have a clear distinction between adding an item to a wishlist and adding an item to their cart for purchase. I have seen many sites that allow shoppers to add items to their cart and then from the cart to a wishlist. This, in my opinion is the wrong way to do things. I think it is far better to have two separate options for shoppers when viewing the product page or similar pages with checkout options on them. Instead, use a distinct add to cart button and somewhere near it have another option for shoppers who would rather add the item to a wishlist.

  

  I recommend making the add to wishlist link or button less obvious, but in a place where shoppers still look. It is also a good idea to have the wishlist contents displayed somewhere on the site from each page. Many sites use a space below the shopping cart content since customers will generally look there for items they have added to either their cart or wishlist. If you keep the wishlist contents next to the cart contents, make sure there is a clear distinction between the two areas either by changing background color or adding appropriate wording above each. By making a clear distinction between purchase options and wishlist options you are effectively making your site more usable which will help increase conversions, increase registered users, increase repeat buyers and first time orders.

14. Make sure shoppers can easily see the items in their cart or wishlist and that they appear above the fold rather than another page.

• We have already discussed why you need to separate wishlist contents from cart contents and we briefly brushed on keeping cart contents accessible, but we haven’t discussed sites that keep cart contents on their own pages. Some eCommerce sites only display the content of a shoppers’ cart on a separate page altogether rather than on the sidebar or up towards the top right are of the header section. In my opinion, it is wrong to keep cart contents on page that has to be navigated to each time a shopper wants to see whats in their cart and what the total purchase amount is. It is still OK to have a page that they can navigate to if they choose to, but the idea is to make the checkout and buying process simple and easy.

  

  If you keep cart content somewhere in the sidebar or near the top right of your pages, you are taking away extra steps in the checkout process and make it easier for shoppers to move throughout the site and keep track of items and order totals the whole time. It is not a good idea to just add the cart contents anywhere, it should be displayed above the fold on each page rather than making the shopper scroll down to view it. By keeping cart and wishlist contents above the fold and displaying it on every page rather than a separate page that shoppers have to navigate to, you are effectively making your site more usable. It can help to increase conversions, increase sales, raises order amounts and even helps shoppers get through the checkout process more efficiently.

15. Keep important page elements like update cart, display refinements and cross sell items within reach and easy to spot.

• The most important elements like cart contents, contact information, wishlists and add to cart buttons should all be on your checkout pages and should be in areas on the page that are within shoppers reach and easy for them to spot (near the header or above the fold on the sidebar). A few of the other important elements on a checkout page may include an update cart feature, product or catalog display refinements and group or cross sell items. All of these elements are things that shoppers may need or want to see before entering the checkout process or before completing their order.

  

  Generally, you will see all of these items above the fold on checkout pages, but they can be anywhere as long as they are within reach and you make shoppers aware that they are available if they need them. Keeping these items within reach also assures shoppers that they can use them anytime and makes it easier for them to add similar items to the cart, update it and proceed to the next step. By keeping other important elements such as update cart features, cart refinements and cross sell items on the page within reach and easy to spot you are effectively making your store more usable. It can help to increase conversions, overall sales, raise order amounts and even helps to retain more loyal shoppers.

16. Show the price of the item, amount saved and any applicable shipping or taxes as early in the process as possible.

• Some eCommerce stores, like wholesale sites, choose not to show prices of their items, but generally all other eCommerce sellers should make an effort to display product or item prices, applicable taxes, any money saved and cost of shipping as early in the buying process as possible. Shoppers want to see how much they are spending and what their total is up to after each item is added to a cart. Online shoppers are usually looking for a deal, are on a budget and have searched other sites before entering yours.

  

  They want to know what they are up to, what they are getting charged for shipping and any amount they have saved along the way. eCommerce merchants should make an effort to put into place the proper tools so that their shoppers can easily spot the order total, shipping calculations and any taxes that may be charged during their order. By keeping an easy to view cart contents area on your site you are effectively making your store more usable. It will reduce cart abandonment, makes for good customer service and may even help to increase overall orders or sales.

17. Show stock and availability of products as early as possible within the checkout and order process.

• As we stated previously with order totals and shipping amounts, it’s also a good idea to show product inventory and item availability as early in the buying process as possible. The best place, in my opinion is on the individual product pages, before the shopper adds the item to their cart. Many merchants choose to make their inventory visible to shoppers upon entering the site or within product descriptions and from category pages. No matter which areas of your site you choose to display stock and availability, be sure it is before the checkout process.

  

  As long as the inventory is available before the shopper adds the product to checkout, you are effectively making your store more usable. If the inventory appears after the item has been added, you’ll find that you get more abandoned carts and more calls into your customer service line inquiring about product availability. Showing stock and availability as early in buying process as possible should help reduce abandoned carts and will make the job of customer service easier in the long run.

18. Keep security badges, trust certificates and an updated SSL certificate in place so shoppers can tell your site is secure.

• It is important to portray to your shoppers that they are buying from a secure store and that you make an effort to protect their privacy, personal information, billing information and any other private information shared during a transaction. Many eCommerce merchants use security badges and trust certificates from places like Hacker Safe, VeriSign or STruste to show shoppers that they are buying from a secure store or brand. It is also necessary to have an updated SSL certificate so the appropriate “lock icon” appears in the lower right hand corner of shoppers’ browsers when they enter a secure section of your store or a secure checkout page.

  

  Many merchants choose SSL certificates from places like GeoTrust, VeriSign, Network Solutions or DigiCert. By implementing the appropriate security badges trust certificates, SSL certificate and any other applicable privacy, store or checkout policies you are effectively making your store more usable. Implementing badges and certificates should help to reduce cart abandonment and may even help to increase overall orders or store sales.

19. Offer a variety of payment and shipping options so shoppers can pick the one they have an account with or most often use.

• Many eCommerce merchants have found that shoppers will hesitate to checkout when buying from certain stores that do not offer the customers payment method or shipping method of choice. Shoppers are picky and some of them will only use certain payment methods or shipping companies when making purchases online. I know people who prefer PayPal over their credit card and vice versa. Likewise, i know others who can only accept shipments at thier location from UPS or USPS and not FedEx.

  

  It would be a shame to loose out on sales simply due to not offering a variety of options to your shoppers that is why many of the most successful eTailers use numerous payment methods (Credit, PayPal, Google Checkout, eCheck, Bill Me Later) and a variety of shipping options (USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHS). By offering a variety of options for shoppers to use when buying you are effectively making your store more usable. Having a variety of payment and shipping options will help to increase overall sales, average order amounts and may even help to reduce cart abandonment rates (since many shoppers will leave the cart once they notice you do not offer their method of choice).

20. Include as many of the important order details as possible within a checkout confirmation page and confirmation email.

• If you have ever purchased something online, you know how important it is to get the details of your order emailed or confirmed to you right away upon completing a purchase. This is why many merchants choose to include all important order details and confirmation information at the end of the checkout process within a checkout confirmation page and accompanying order confirmation email. The information in the confirmation page and email should tell the customer everything they could ever want to know about the order they just made. The most important thing to include is a shipping tracking number or date of expected delivery, but it should also include things like their address, payment type, shipping method, item details or price, itemized tax or discounts and anything else you find yourself having to answer for customers after orders are complete.

  

  This is a huge time saver and will decrease the volume of calls to your support staff and at the same time will create a pleasant buying experience for the customer. By including as many of the important order details as possible within a checkout or email confirmation you are effectively making your store more usable. It will help by creating a more friendly experience for your customer, answers any questions they may have about the order and will generally help reduce the volum of calls you receive after orders are complete.

21. Test different combinations of best practices to see which ones produce the best results for your store and shopping cart.

• So far we have covered 20 eCommerce and shopping cart usability best practices. There are many more things that can be done to improve specific processes within any eCommerce store, however I believe that these 20 best practices are the most commonly discussed and/or used within different merchant strategies today. It is nearly impossible for smaller merchants to implement all of these best practices and it is not always necessary to use everything on this list. I have found that by using a few of these main rules and by testing different combinations of each best practice that a good majority of merchants are able to find something that works well for them and is capable of improving how their stores perform. Use different strategies and tools to test how changing things within your store effect how shoppers interact while using it.

  

  Almost all merchants who use these best practices are surprised to find that sometimes even the smallest changes can dramatically effect how their stores perform. If you don’t use them you will never know, so test all these things out and find out the best combination of usability rules for you. By testing different strategies and making the most out of your store you are effectively making it more usable. It will increase and benefit the store across the board, including sales, orders and shopper/customer satisfaction.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

If followed, these best practices will help improve many of the most common processes and issues faced by online sellers and improve things like cart abandonment, sales, orders, customer service, branding, trust and much more. I find that many eCommerce stores I buy from are lacking the majority of the best practice rules discussed in this article. I think these rules will make a better experience for everyone from manufacturers and merchants to shoppers and customer service agents. It also helps establish a new best practice strategy for other merchants to follow for years to come. We all help each other do better by sharing what works and what doesn’t, these are just 21 of the things that I have found that work great for nearly any type of eCommerce seller.

Network Solutions recently released a new whitepaper with information about how merchants can better plan and prepare their sites for the upcoming holiday season. The whitepaper is called, “7 Steps to Improve Your Online Holiday Sales” (link goes to the form you need to fill out in order to download the PDF). The paper uses data and statistics from other trusted industry sources such as Internet Retailer, eMarketer, Vertical Web Media and Practical eCommerce.

The whitepaper provides pretty good insights into eCommerce holiday shopping preparedness and also includes some hidden gems of information within it, however I thought they could have done a lot better job on the document length, topics covered and release date timing. Overall, I still enjoyed reading the PDF and recommend others read it, but in my opinion the topics and tips they provided were things that all merchants should practice, not only before the holidays, but year round.

Before I get into why I thought the paper could have been better planned and written, I will briefly mention what the paper’s 7 holiday tips are, then I will provide a little of my personal opinion as to why many of the tips should be practiced all the time, not just before or during the holiday shopping season.

In short, the 7 tips mentioned in the paper are as follows …

• Update your product catalog and inventory
• Make it easy for your customers to shop for gifts
• Enhance your site design with holiday flair
• Make potential buyers comfortable about your business
• Provide specific delivery lead times
• Use pay per click advertising to drive traffic to your site
• Use holiday specials to convert shoppers to buyers

First, let me start off by saying that I completely agree that these tips, if practiced, will lead to better performance for nearly any type of eCommerce enabled site. These are rules I personally recommend and they are things I personally practice with my own eCommerce stores, however there is one main difference, I try to do all the things mentioned above year round, not just during certain times of the year. I agree that there are times of the year where marketing and site performance factors need to be “bulked up” or improved on a large scale, but I think the most successful Online sellers use these rules all the time within their marketing strategies or design/usability goals. I think that the 7 rules are a necessity for any merchant who plans to take the next step or attempts to grow their business from small to large.

In my opinion, this paper is nothing more than a reminder to merchants who wait for the last minute to prepare for upcoming seasons or events that require design changes or process upgrades, including anything related to the catalog management or inventory. The paper is barely in time for the holidays itself as it probably should have been released two weeks ago, near the beginning of October, rather than the middle of the month. Now it’s going to be a lot harder for merchants to implement all the things mentioned in the paper BEFORE the holidays are upon us. We are almost two months from Christmas and Online sellers should already be doing many of the things mentioned in the paper. Personally, I like to have all my additional holiday campaigns and design changes in place before Labor Day, but certainly Halloween is the very latest that these changes should be implemented. If you are just now thinking about bulking things up for the holidays, you had better hurry, Halloween is just around the corner.

I will give my own little spin on each tip mentioned in the paper, keep in mind that not every merchant, especially smaller sellers, are going to be able to accomplish these rules during the entire year due to time, knowledge, support or budget restrictions. The following tips are meant to be an ideal way of doing things, I understand budgets and time do not always allow for ideal circumstances. Each business should always consider their own individual circumstances before attempting any or all of the following recommendations at once.

Network Solutions says to Update your product catalog and inventory in order to prepare for the holidays.

• I say you should be updating your catalog and inventory all the time, but especially before upcoming seasons or the busiest times of the year. The holidays aren’t always the busiest time of the year for Online sellers. For some it is the summer months, for others it is around Christmas. No matter what time of the year it is for your business, try to plan for the time of year it is and always make sure you are updating catalog prices, descriptions and information. Always try to make sure you have enough inventory to match consumer demand based on past years sales or shopping market trends.

Network Solutions says to Make it easy for your customers to shop for gifts in order to prepare for the holidays.

• I say merchants, especially those with gift sites, should always be adding features to make it easy for shoppers to find gifts by occasion (birthday, marriage, special occasion, etc) or by the type of relationship you have with the person (sister, mother, greeting, etc). Many sites have implemented cool product refinements and sorting options that allow shoppers to narrow results by topic or theme. I recommend always allowing shoppers to find gifts, whether it by a specific gift section of the site or whether it be a sorting option in the sidebar. Ideally, it’s best to offer a gift section that updates depending on the time of year and occasions that commonly warrant gift purchases during those times of the year. Walmart does a good job of this with their promotions for back-to-school followed by Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas and finally New Years gift ideas.

Network Solutions says to Enhance your site design with holiday flair in order to prepare for the holidays.

• This is a great tip that many Online sellers forget to implement. I think a lot of merchants underestimate the power of quality graphics and the placement of those graphics in order to reap the highest return on each campaign. I say that you should always be adding in fun, exciting, new graphics that change up the look and feel of your eCommerce site depending on the time of year or the occasions that come during those times. Fresh graphics are appealing to shoppers and act as excellent promotional tools on an eCommerce site. Ideally, every eCommerce business should have an in-house graphic designer that works on upcoming graphics for the site year round.

Network Solutions says to Make potential buyers comfortable about your business in order to prepare for the holidays.

• This is definitely something merchants should be doing year round and not just during upcoming busy seasons. I say that every eCommerce enabled site should have the proper security certificates, trust badges and banners in place so that shoppers/buyers feel comfortable about the business all the time, not just special occasions, or when merchants expect higher volumes of traffic. Why would this be done in preparation for the holidays and not all the time? Who knows. To me, this is one of the first steps new merchants should address and implement before attempting to enter any niche in the Online selling space.

Network Solutions says to Provide specific delivery lead times in order to prepare for the holidays.

• Again, this is something that should ideally be practiced year round. Of course, the lead times change depending on the seasons and we know how hectic things get with delivery companies around the holidays, but if merchants had the system in place to begin with, the only thing that should change would be the actual time or days it takes to deliver shipments. You should always have a system in place that presents the delivery time to the customer, followed by a tracking number for them to use. Don’t wait until the holidays to implement this system, it should be something that is addressed right away, maybe even before you consider going live for the first time.

Network Solutions says to Use pay per click advertising to drive traffic to your site in order to prepare for the holidays.

• Pay per click is a form of advertising offered by major search engines and comparison shopping engines. Many merchants who currently use pay per click bulk up their PPC ad budget around the holidays (not always by choice, many CSE’s and search engines will increase ad costs during the busiest shopping seasons each year, especially around Christmas). I say that PPC is always something that should be used, whether it is the simplest form or a large campaign across multiple channels. It works great when done right and can really help round out a search marketing campaign and has the potential to increase sales across the board, no matter what time of year it is. PPC works great for new product releases as well. To me, it is something that should be considered all the time, whether you use it to promote a new item, a new feature or as a part of your regular marketing.

Network Solutions says to Use holiday specials to convert shoppers to buyers in order to prepare for the holidays.

• Again, another great tip, but not necessarily something that should only be considered during the holidays. Specials and promotions are a part of eTailing and retailing. They always will be as far as I can see and, in my opinion, the most successful sellers use them all the time, year in and year out. Companies like Macy’s run new promotions and specials nearly every week and have their largest promotions two times a year. One during the holidays and one for back to school, generally. Even though they spend a little more money or come up with something extra special during the holidays, they do not limit their specials and promotions to that time of the year, they do it year round. Specials are great and they work. Why not use them all the time?

Basically, I agree with the points Network Solutions has made, but I think these are great tips for any merchant no matter what time of year it is. To me, all these tips and suggestions fall under the classifications of eCommerce best practices or site design and usability. Tomorrow I plan on releasing This caused me to release my own list of 21 eCommerce Usability Best Practices that can be used all the time on nearly any type of store.

Great tips Network Solutions, next time maybe come up with some more holiday specific ones and try to get the document out sooner in the month. You did provide a great recap of data and stats from other industry sources over the past year and for that I liked the pdf. ]]> http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/articles/improving-ecommerce-holiday-sales-whitepaper-is-really-a-general-best-practice-list/feed/ 3 http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/articles/yahoo-shopping-adds-shop-by-color-feature-into-cse/ http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/articles/yahoo-shopping-adds-shop-by-color-feature-into-cse/#comments Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:23:32 +0000 eCopt http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/articles/yahoo-shopping-adds-shop-by-color-feature-into-cse/

Just when you thought Online shopping couldn’t get any better, Yahoo Shopping rolls out a few new features and shows us just how to make comparison shopping easier and more usable. Last week, Yahoo Shopping announced a brand new feature into their comparison shopping engine, Shop-by-Color. the new shop-by-color feature allows Yahoo Shopping users to browse for clothing and other items based on 56 different popular colors.

The new feature was first introduced during Yahoo Hack Days, a program where Yahoo invites developers to participate in creating new applications to be used within Yahoo powered products and services. Several innovative applications are due to emerge from Hack Days and programs like it, but the Shop-by-Color feature is one of the first to be included within Yahoo Shopping.

Here’s what Yahoo’s Bradley Horowitz, Vice President of Advanced Development, had to say:

We have a very healthy hack program and that spirit has continued even as the company is rethinking its place in the universe and all those metaphysical questions. You can click on a color and say show me shoes in this color for under $100. It’s a no-brainer feature and I don’t think anyone has applied this technology at this scale; to 10 million products.

Yahoo Shopping isn’t the first comparison engine to add this feature, however it seems like it is as advanced as the rest.

Here are some other CSE’s with their own Shop-by-Color features:

• Shopwiki.com
• Become.com
• Smarter.com
• TheFind.com

I look forward to more applications and innovative ideas from Hack Days and Yahoo Shopping. If you haven’t tried the Yahoo Shopping color feature, you should go there now and give it a whirl. The accuracy is right on and the variety of items that can be narrowed using color as an option are growing all the time. Let me know if you find any bugs or what you think about these new sorting and refinement features within Yahoo Shopping.

Yahoo! Shopping is Featured as one of the comparison shopping engines on our Product Listing Guide!

Shop.com has recently introduced several new features to their shopping portal and platform including a new shopping lifestyle blog (The Shopping Vine), a Facebook shopping application and gift registries for multiple stores. Shop.com hopes the new features will give customers more ways to shop and exchange information Online.

Shop.com’s new lifestyle blog features affordable apparel, fun gadgets, household items, recipes and simple tips to make running any household easier for homemakers and families. Shop.com experts contribute new blog posts 5 times per week which also features an inspirational quote, a Shopping Pick of the Week and the soon to launch, guest expert bloggers, surveys and polls.

The Shopping Vine is a lifestyle blog brought to you by Shop.com. We combine the ruminations from our dedicated staff of adroit shoppers with the expert commentary from guest bloggers to provide you with an online forum where you can read and share shopping tips for you and your family, vote on fashion trends, and more – with other readers.

Shop.com also developed a new Facebook shopping application, SHOP.COMpanion. It makes it easy for Facebook users to search Shop.com, add products to their wish lists, view their friends Shop.com wish lists and gives users the ability to share additional product information.

Here’s how to add SHOP.COMpanion to your Facebook profile once you have an account:

1. Click this link to go to the application.
2. Follow the standard Facebook application installation process per the instructions on your screen.

Adding SHOP.COMpanion to your desktop is as simple as two quick steps:

1. Go to Yahoo! Widgets and click on the Yahoo! Widgets 4 button. After downloading, follow the instructions on your screen, and the widget framework will automatically be installed to your computer.
2. Once the framework is installed, then download and install SHOP.COMpanion by going to this link.

In addition, Shop.com rolled out upgraded gift registries for its shoppers so they can find, create and manage their own gift registries by selecting products from hundreds of name brand retailers, the company says. Now, shoppers can sort by price, store, and name as well as locate other registries by name and state. Users can manage their own registries through filtered views such as seeing only what items have been purchased.

Here’s what Shop.com’s Mondy Beller, Senior Vice President of Marketing, had to say:

As online shoppers are becoming increasingly more efficient in communicating, connecting, and sharing online, we are constantly reviewing and updating our existing offerings as well as developing and testing new features to help our customers shop more efficiently and more enjoyably. We’re excited about our blog, our new desktop widget and enhanced gift registries and how these elements over time will help build communities for our shoppers.

Wow, with all these new gadgets, widgets and applications it’s shaping up to be a great year for both Online shoppers and sellers. We have seen at least two new shopping applications like the Shop.COMpanion and by the looks of the trend, it’s doesn’t appear that these will be the last. It’s becoming a more social Internet everyday. I can’t wait to see what developers and shopping data providers have in store for the rest of us next.

What do you think will become the next big thing in Online Shopping?

Shop.com is Featured as one of the comparison shopping portals on our Product Listing Guide!

You can purchase Expression Studio for $599.00 or you can upgrade any of the individual Expression tools to the complete Studio for $349.00. A complete set of Studio FAQ’s and Individual Expression Program FAQ’s are available here.

Microsoft Expression Web:

Microsoft Expression Web, formerly called Microsoft FrontPage, has been live since September 2006, and is a new standards-based Web-editor that’s part of the Microsoft Expression Studio. It hasn’t gotten much attention with designers, that I have seen, but I wanted to take a moment to discuss two of the Expression Web add-ins for merchants thinking of using Expression Web to build an eCommerce storefront or accept payments through Expression Web powered sites. You can purchase Expression Web for $299.00 or you can upgrade from FrontPage for $99.00 and there is also a free trial download.

To see a few sites built using Microsoft Expression Web click here.

System Requirements:

Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration operating system.

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2
• PC with Pentium 700 or faster processor
• 512 MB of RAM or more
• 1.5 GB of available harddisk space; a portion this disk space will be freed after installation the original download package is removed from the hard drive CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
• 1024 × 768 or higher resolution monitor
• Internet functionality requires Internet access (fees may apply); Network access required
• Broadband connection, 128 kilobits per second (Kbps) or greater, for download and activation of products

Expression Web Feature Highlights:

• Standards-based Web sites
• Sophisticated CSS-based layouts
• Extensive CSS formatting and management
• Rich data presentation
• Powerful ASP.NET 2.0-based technology

Standards-based Web sites:

Create CSS-based, XHTML 1.0 Transitional-conforming Web sites by default. Work better across browsers, simplifying deployment and maintenance. Configure flexible schema settings to support all combinations of HTML, XHTML, Strict, Transitional, Frameset and CSS 1.0, 2.0, and 2.1 plus browser-specific schemas. Validate your site with compatibility and accessibility reporting and against Section 508 and W3C Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Sophisticated CSS-based layouts, formatting and management:

Generate elegant, modern CSS layouts with state-of-the-art surface design tools. Directly manipulate positioning, sizing, margins and padding. A sophisticated CSS rendering engine inside gives you the confidence to make design decisions on the fly. Try out CSS styles on the page with drag-and-drop style management, and migrate them to a central repository. Typing aids and IntelliSense in the Code View make your process efficient and fast.

Rich data presentation:

Build and format views of industry-standard XML data using drag-and-drop tools for quick visualization. An XPath Expression Builder allows you to create complex queries, and XSL Transform (XSLT) support gives you the flexibility to present data any way you want. XML data can be retrieved and presented via live RSS feeds that match your site’s formatting.

Powerful ASP.NET 2.0-based technology:

Harness the power of ASP.NET 2.0 to transform your sites into dynamic, interactive Web applications. No code data binding required with integrated support for server and user controls. Inserting and configuring ASP.NET controls is a snap with the controls toolbox, properties grid, and on-control “action menus.” ASP.NET Master Pages make site-wide changes quick and easy.

Expression Web eCommerce Add-in’s:

SalesCart Express:

Since 1995, the original shopping cart built into Microsoft FrontPage, now integrates directly into your Microsoft Expression-based Web sites. This easy-to-use full eCommerce service-based solution can operate statically or with a large dynamic catalog of thousands of products. SalesCart Express is a one-stop storefront shop that supports automatic tax calculations, real-time shipping, discounting, search engine optimization, a merchant account, and real-time credit card processing via AuthorizeNet.

SalesCart NET:

This professional eCommerce development for merchants that require unlimited customizations and extensibility includes open-source access or options to purchase ASP.NET script-based source code for the creation of unlimited e-commerce websites. Unlike SalesCart Express, SalesCart NET is a software-based solution that can be hosted on any ISP that supports ASP.NET and developers can use the product to create multiple merchant websites using Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL database shopping cart websites.

PayPal eCommerce Toolkit:

Discover the quickest and easiest way to add shopping to your Microsoft Expression Web site. Easily create payment buttons and basic shopping cart functionality with an easy-to-use wizard. Set up recurring payments with the Subscription button or take set or open-amount contributions using the Donation button. Include product options for any item—Toolkit Recipes show you how.

Expression Web SEO Macro Kit:

The SEO Macro Kit for Expression Web helps Expression authors get their sites ready for the Internet’s biggest search engines. The Kit includes a search engine sitemap.xml generator, a title/description/keywords count window and an image text review window. With these easy-to-setup macros, authors can add several time saving and useful tools to their Microsoft Expression Web toolbox.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

So, there you have it. Microsoft is really bulking up their software and tool offerings, not to mention the add-ins and new features constantly being added. I am personally not a huge fan of .NET or the Micrsoft framework, but the tools and programs outlined in this article are a great way for newer merchants to get a program for site design from a reputable name with all the basic functionality and ability to add more if needed.

The eCommerce add-in’s and SEO Macro Kit are just a few of the available add-in’s for Expression Web including a nifty navigation maker, Template Monster themes, slide show maker, mp3 player maker, flash browser, InstandFX case changer and more. The Expression Studio comes with everything you could possibly need.

Microsoft isn’t the only choice, feel free to check out our Shopping Cart Solutions page for more ideas of who to use for your site, SEO and shopping cart provider.

There was a post the other day on eCommerce Cache about custom 404 pages that featured 26 different examples of top merchant 404 page designs and features. It features 404 pages from big names like Walmart, GAP, Netflix and more and includes ‘essential elements’ of a 404 page alongside the ‘things you should avoid’ using on your 404′s. The post is in depth and interesting, however I recommend using a different method to direct users who manage to land on a 404 page.

In the EC article, Shannon discusses several rules of thumb for 404′s which includes things like a matching theme to the rest of your site, company name/logo, message about the page, links to important site sections, search function, link to contact page or email and more. She also discussed things merchants should avoid using within their 404′s which include not leaving an explanation, misleading the users, messy or cluttered design and giving users too many options, which may become overwhelming.

I agree with Shannon on all her points and any merchants that currently use 404′s within their design (that don’t already follow those tips) should certainly take her advice. Custom 404′s do work and will help your users to stay on the site longer and gives them another chance to navigate if they happen to land on a 404 page (whether it’s a linking flaw or user error). In my opinion, it’s always better to show users a custom page rather than the default browser 404 page. It’s not that I disagree with Shannon’s points, it’s that I think there’s a better way than remembering all those custom 404 pages rules and spending all that time basically building another landing page.

I prefer using an htaccess redirect back to the index page over building a custom 404 page that explains to users that they are on a 404 page.

As the trend of custom 404′s has spread around the Web, it surprises me to see that so many Webmasters have forgotten about the good old htaccess file, which can be used to redirect users back to index or any other page on the site. With an htaccess redirect, you don’t have to worry about elements of the page to include or leave out, you don’t have to design and perfect another page on your site and it can even be easier to implement than a custom 404 (depending on your platform, hosting and file flexibility).

htaccess File Overview:

First, you will need to know that htaccess files can be used for far more than just errordocument redirecting. You can also use them for url rewriting and redirection, among other things. Before you create a brand new htaccess file be sure that you are not already using one within your file system as two htaccess files within the same directory will not work correctly (they can typically be found in the root directory, but may also be within sub-directories). If you are already using an htaccess you will need to edit the current file rather than creating a brand new file for handling errordocument redirecting.

In order to upload or edit an htaccess file, you will need to use an FTP program and a text editor like notepad. Your host may provide you the ability to upload files other than FTP, but you will still need to be able to edit files and upload them to the root directory.

Editing an Existing htacess File:

To edit an existing htaccess file, simply access the file on your server, open it to view, copy the code that’s in your current htaccess file and paste it onto a new notepad document. This will ensure that the code you are already using gets included into your new htaccess file. Once you have the code copied, proceed to the section below that discusses creating errordocument redirects for 404′s.

Creating a New htaccess File:

To create a new htaccess file, simply open a new notepad document and save it as .htaccess (be sure you include the dot before the letter H). Once the dicument is saved to your computer, you are ready to include the code and upload it to your server. Proceed to the following step.

How to Create an htaccess Redirect For 404 Errors:

Once you have the ability to edit your current htaccess file or have created one for the first time, you are ready to begin adding the code that will redirect users who land on a 404 page back to the site index page (typically the home page). There is a special command line for htaccess files that is meant to help Webmasters handle errordocuments and what users see who happen to land on any errordocument pages.

The command line will follow the following format…

ErrorDocument 404 /filename.ext or ErrorDocument 404 /directory/filename.ext

The command line is added to the htaccess file (ON ONE LINE ONLY) and depending on what directory, filename and file extension is assigned, it will redirect users to the corresponding page on your site rather than showing them the default browser 404 page. You can also use the same method to redirect users to a custom 404 page, or any other page on your site.

An example errordocument redirect to the index page would probably look like one of the following examples, depending on file extensions…

ErrorDocument 404 /index.html
ErrorDocument 404 /index.htm
ErrorDocument 404 /index.shtml
ErrorDocument 404 /index.php

An example errordocument redirect to a custom page would probably look like one of the following examples, depending on directory structure and file extensions…

ErrorDocument 404 /404.html
ErrorDocument 404 /404.htm
ErrorDocument 404 /404.shtml
ErrorDocument 404 /404.php

ErrorDocument 404 /errors/custom.html
ErrorDocument 404 /errors/custom.htm
ErrorDocument 404 /custom.shtml
ErrorDocument 404 /custom.php

Uploading & Testing Your New htaccess File:

Once you have created the file or edited the existing code it is time to save the file and upload to your server. It is always a good idea to backup your existing file before you overwrite it or save over the top of it. You can usually rename the old htaccess file to something like .htaccess1 so that it remains on the server and is easy to name back if something is wrong with the new htaccess file.

Once you have renamed the od file, save your new htaccess notepad as .htaccess (don’t forget the dot before the letter H). Use you FTP program or hosting provider to upload the new htaccess file to the root directory. You should see the new file once it has been uploaded to the server. After you have the file uploaded, open a Web browser and visit your site homepage. In the address bar, after the .com/, add a filename and extension you know doesn’t exist on your server (example would be .com/non-existent-page.html). See what page comes up once you attempt to visit the non-existent page. If you end up on the same page as you included within the htaccess errordocument command, you have successfully created a 404 redirect back to the homepage. If you end up on a default browser 404 page, check the code you have and be sure everything is correct. Common problems may include having multiple htaccess files (causes a conflict), command code on two lines instead of one or you may have failed to include a trailing slash or correct file extension.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

Whether you choose to use a custom page or not for 404′s is ultimately your choice. I believe that if you have taken the time initially to create a good homepage design that you probably don’t need to include a custom 404 page and that it would be best to redirect your users back to the index page. It seems like an extra step in the process to me and is certainly a good idea, but just creates extra work and landing page design considerations.

Remember, it is better to have one rather than none at all, so be sure to consider how you handle 404′s when building your eCommerce site.

Today, via the Yahoo! Store Blog, I was pleased to see that Yahoo has re-launched their former Yahoo! Gear store and re-named it Yahoo! Company Store. And guess what? They are using Yahoo! eCommerce Store technology to power it (I would have been worried had they not). The new design is compliments of FastPivot, Inc. (formerly Ydesigns).

Let’s take a look at the brand spankin’ new look and functionality of the Yahoo! Company Store…

Yahoo Store Homepage:

(Click thumbnail to enlarge)

Yahoo Store Checkout:

(Click thumbnail to enlarge)

Yup, there you have it. Nothing too spectacular to note. The design is a normal run of the mill Yahoo template and theme. I like the color scheme and layout. Navigation bar on the left is pretty plain. I do like that they include breadcrumbs, show all and pagination for usability purposes. The main page has links to purchase gift certificates and a link to their frequently asked store questions.

I don’t know, maybe I was expecting more. Just seems pretty normal to me for a search giant like Yahoo. It beats their old design, that’s for sure.

I guess if they continue to improve, add functionality, products and promote it a little more there may be something to it. We have seen in the past with Google’s eCommerce Store (powered by osCommerce) that major search engines, don’t seem to really put a lot of time and effort into their own companies merchandise stores. Maybe they would all sell more gear if they had some unique aspects and features, maybe they don’t care due to their company size, either way all of them should consider rethinking their gear selling strategies.

User reviews are good for eCommerce enabled sites for many reasons but mostly due to the fact that a large majority of online shoppers are beginning to trust what other consumers think about the products and services they buy and the customer experience they had with the merchants who sell those items. In the past, online buyers have sought out more traditional ways of conducting product research and weren’t as likely to search online for user reviews before actually buying.

eCommerce Product Reviews Overview:

I have managed several eCommerce sites with features that allow customers to rate or review products they have purchased. One of the sites I work with regularly has several incentives and contests over the course of year to get their new and existing customers to review their products or the shopping experience. They then post those reviews alongside related items in their catalog so other users can see them while shopping. When a potential customer adds an item to their cart and sees there are reviews on that item, they will generally read at least one of them. If the review is positive it may reinforce the impulse to buy that items right then and there, if the review is negative the sale is less likely.

Reviews generated by store users also helps to reinforce your marketing strategy within search engines and should be considered as a part of your catalog design and layout, depending on the products you sell or the customers you target. Allowing customers to review items can increase conversions, keeps content fresh and updated on landing pages and adds additional textual content relevant to what you sell. The reviews might also include keywords that you haven’t targeted before that suddenly you end up ranking for on Google. In addition, there are several bonus benefits of adding reviews into your eCommerce buying and check out processes.

User reviews might not be the newest trend in eCommerce usability and design, but it certainly is making a comeback lately and is quickly being implemented by many of the top 500 merchant retailers. Now the only thing we have to worry about is controlling what users write in their reviews. It’s getting more difficult to determine whether some are actual user reviews or just regular spam similar to blog comment spam.

eCommerce Product Review Success Stories:

JC Whitney – Aftermarket Auto Parts & Accessories

JC Whitney took some time to share how implementing user reviews into their online store affected sales, mew customers, repeat buyers and rankings. Geoffrey Robertson, eCommerce VP at JC Whitney, reported that it takes hard work through contests, prizes, email campaigns and other creative means to get quality user reviews for the majority of the items in their catalog. The reviews apparently had little or no affect on user retention, repeat customer purchases or organic search rankings (they didn’t move up or down drastically in the organic search listings).

JC Whitney’s Rating Scale is 1-5 Stars

• Items rated 5 stars saw 16% revenue increase
• Items rated 4 stars saw 8% revenue increase
• Items rated 3 stars saw 10% sales decrease
• Items rated 2 stars saw 23% sales decrease
• Items rated 1 star saw 31% sales decrease
• There was no data for items with 0 stars

This tells me that JC Whitney’s customers really trust what the other store users think. The items with the highest star ratings were purchased more and the items with the fewest stars were purchased less. Merchants would have to be careful with this. I am not sure if they expected them to decrease sales for any of their products. Even though sales on some items decreased, the reviews can greatly help them choose which items to concentrate on in their marketing campaigns and which products to cross promote on their catalog. It also got their most popular products to sell better. With time they may even be able to remove products that would have otherwise cluttered up their catalog and site pages.

JC Whitney reviews stats and information via Marketing Pilgrim

PetCo – Animal Supplies & Pet Products

PetCo recently reported that the implementation of customer reviews into their eCommerce store in 2005 has now helped cut back drastically on the number of products that customers return (lowered product return rate). Nearly all the items offered in PetCo’s online catalog, that are reviewed by their customers, have a 20% lower return rate, on average than items with no reviews. The interesting statistic is that as the user reviews continued to increase per item, the average return rate decreased even more. PetCo credits the ratings and reviews as being one of the most influential tools that affect buying decisions (similar to word of mouth).

• Items with 50+ reviews decreased returns 65% than for items with no reviews
• Cost savings attributable to the lower return rates have been considerable
• Increased email click-through rate by a factor of five when reviews were included
• Items rated 4 or 5 stars saw 49% higher conversion rate than items without reviews
• Searches sorted by review spent 41% more than other site search sorting options

These numbers look promising for the pet supplies giant. Not only is return rate typically hard to track, it’s extremely difficult to lower without disrupting any daily application processes. Learn a lesson from PetCo, if you find yourself with high product return rates try adding a review feature into your store and see if it makes a difference. Other than decreasing the return rate for items purchased online, they have been able to reap additional benefits from using product reviews in their catalog. It’s apparent that customers are using reviews more and more before deciding to make a purchase.

PetCo reviews stats and information via Internet Retailer

NetShops – Large Selection of Specialty eRetail Stores & Shops

NetShops, in conjuncture with researchers from University of Nebraska, reported that after implementing product user reviews last fall that overall product unit sales increased from past years. Apparently, NetShops believes that by offering user reviews in their network it helps to create a more trustworthy environment and gives customers a confortable feeling while buying from one of their 156 different eShops.

Back in November, NetShops partnered with two researchers from College of Information Science & Technology at University of Nebraska, Omaha, to study the impacts, changes and improvements, if any, that product user reviews might have on sales. The researchers and NetShops staff then compared store unit sales of 546 products in May 2007 to sales of the same items a year earlier. By May, the total number of reviews on NetShops sites totaled 19,500, or about 3 reviews per product.

• 26% increase in product unit sales across 546 items
• Earned back the cost of implementing the reviews within a few weeks
• Gained customer credibility by offering reviews generated by users

NetShops used PowerReviews to help them implement the system within their current platform structure. At this time, NetShops has already made a return on the investment they made to implement the review system and no longer pay and fees to PowerReviews for ongoing support. It pleases me to see sites and bigger networks like NetShops embrace the new era of social media, user generated content and Web 2.0 type thinking. If more eCommerce merchants thought along these lines the Web as we know it would be a whole different place, for the better.

NetShops reviews stats and information via Internet Retailer

Video Product Reviews & User Generated Streaming Content:

Video reviews, A new, more useful and trusted form of user-generated content. Recent study shows that 36% of consumers surveyed validated that video product reviews enhance other forms of product information.

In addition, according to a recent report by Telephia Inc, the number of consumers that subscribe to videos via mobile phones has increased from 3.3 million in early 2006 to 8.4 million in early 2007. Not only that, but revenue generated from mobile video nearly tripled to $146 million from a mere $49 million one year ago.

Streaming video sites have made it easier to turn anything on the Web that used to be strictly text based into something that users can either listen to through an iPod or watch through their personal media player on a computer or other hand held device. The mixture between user generated reviews and streaming media, especially video, was bound to happen sooner or later. Let’s take a look at who’s currently doing video product reviews in the eCommerce world and what impacts they have had on the sites that use them regularly. The important thing to remember when attempting to launch a successful video review or video content campaign where users are supplying the videos is that you plan well and analyze the strategy from all angels. Recently, there have been some attempts made by major brands that have ended up backfiring.

Smarter.com Video Product Reviews – Comparison Pricing, Read Reviews & Buy Online

Smarter launched their video reviews in February 2007 by including thousands of product reviews syndicated from ExpoTV.com Videopinion.

• Video Example 1 (Note: Click icon to watch video) – Apple iPod Video MP3 Player
• Video Example 2 (Note: Click “Cell Phones” to watch video) – Camera Phone in Cell Phones
• Video Example 3 (Note: Click “Compact Digital Cameras” to watch video) – Compact Digital Cameras

Millions of Smarter.com consumers will now be able to see products in action and hear from real consumers about their personal product experiences,” said Daphne Kwon, CEO of Expo Communications. “ExpoTV’s turn-key syndication process allowed Smarter.com to seamlessly integrate our highly-targeted Videopinion product reviews for thousands of products at launch. The video catalog will constantly be refreshed and expanded by ExpoTV’s army of smart, focused consumer creators.

Shopwiki Video Product Reviews – Comparison Shopping With Wiki Buying Guides

Shopwiki launched their video reviews in June 2006 by asking wiki editors to contribute video reviews for cash incentives.

• Video Sample 1 (Note: There are several videos on this page) – Valentines Day Videos
• Video Sample 2 (Note: Click “watch video review” from results) Trilite Bicycle
• Video Sample 3 (Note: Click “watch video review” from results) Hair Dryer

ShopWiki video reviews are a way to duplicate the experience of having a friend guide you through the buying process. This person shows you the features, demonstrates the product and gives you practical advice to assist you in determining whether a product is for you. ShopWiki video reviews also aim to act like a friend (in the form of real users) helping users through the shopping process. These are NOT commercials for products, personal videos or funny skits. Videos should give a focused, objective and informative description of a product or category and they should be of products that benefit from a video review. For example, a video of an individual piece of clothing is not helpful, but a roundup comparing the hottest jeans on the market is.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts

With all the things going on in eCommerce today it’s hard to imagine that there are still eBusinesses functioning properly out there that are managed by just one or two individuals instead of whole teams. There is so much that needs to be monitored and implemented if you hope to be as successful as you possibly can be selling online.

If you haven’t yet looked into a feature that allows you to leverage the power of user reviews I highly recommend you start shopping for something. Since selling online can get so saturated in some markets I wouldn’t want to have one of my competitors be the first to offer product reviews from their customers before I had a chance to. Don’t expect this trend to go away anytime soon, look for it to evolve into more streaming media type reviews.

Update: There is a great list of facts about ratings, reviews and user generated content over at Marketing Pilgrim that I couldn’t help but link to. Greg Howlett has been writing some really good articles on this lately and his latest post on this subject is no different. It’s called “Five More Important Facts About User Reviews In E-tail.” I urge you to take some time to read through these facts. He definitely understands what it takes to make user reviews work for eCommerce store owners and online merchants.