01 Sep E-commerce and User Experience
If you have an online, e-commerce site or section to your site, there are things you can do to make it really work for you and generate more income than it currently is. Online shopping is all about a great UX (user experience). It must be super-easy, answer questions up front and make the check out experience should be flawless.
Great photography of products is crucial. Don’t use your own photography if it looks amateur. It is affordable to hire professionals for this. You should have up-close shots of some items so shoppers can get a close look at things like fabric.
The written descriptions are very important as well. Don’t count on your shoppers to get all of their information from a photograph. A full description, including dimensions when appropriate, helps them make their decision and answers questions up front.
There should be a variety of categories and they should be clearly defined and intuitive. Sizes and colors should be obvious. If a size or color isn’t available, it should be absent as a choice or in gray tones so you can clearly see it is unavailable. It is helpful if an alternative is offered.
Allowing customers to rate products is very useful and has helped make Amazon.com what it is today. It may seem like this could hurt sales, but overall it provides both you and the customer information into the perceived value and quality of a product. Poor reviews can help you determine what products to discontinue.
Sales should be announced boldly on your main page and on the appropriate individual product page, as well as being accurately given at check out. And the check out process should be seamless. DO NOT require customers to fill out a profile before purchasing. You can encourage it but do not make it a requirement. Anything you put in their way can be a deterrent to purchasing.
Ratio7 can help you set up an e-commerce site, or improve your existing one. We offer professional photography, design, copy writing and tech support! Call us for a free consultation.