May 4th, 2008 by Stephane Lagrange
(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)
(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)
eCommerce websites of leading online retailers are usually a great example of how to empower customers and how to generate higher conversion rates (from browser to buyer) and lower shopping cart abandonment.
Here is a list of the 20 most successful Web features addressing all aspects of the eCommerce life cycle.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
11. Ratings & comments
Empower your customers by letting them rate and leave a review on products. This is a great way to collect feedback, get qualitative information, and measure this information against the merchandise sales performance. You might not want to reorder an under-performing product that your customers don’t like.
Empower your customers by letting them rate and leave a review on products. This is a great way to collect feedback, get qualitative information, and measure this information against the merchandise sales performance. You might not want to reorder an under-performing product that your customers don’t like.
12. What other customers look at and buy
Encourage product discovery by sharing information on what other customers have bought or looked at in the context of a given product. Amazon opened the way a while ago and now even goes to the extent of giving percentage ratings on what related books were bought.
Encourage product discovery by sharing information on what other customers have bought or looked at in the context of a given product. Amazon opened the way a while ago and now even goes to the extent of giving percentage ratings on what related books were bought.
SHOPPING CART
13. Clever shopping cart
Your shopping cart should stay alive as long as your customer hasn’t checked out. Facilitate your shoppers’ experience by enabling them to save their cart and then send them a reminder later on to bring them back to your site. Throw in a discount or a promotion related to what they had in the cart and you’ll be sure to convert the abandoned shopping cart into a buy.
Your shopping cart should stay alive as long as your customer hasn’t checked out. Facilitate your shoppers’ experience by enabling them to save their cart and then send them a reminder later on to bring them back to your site. Throw in a discount or a promotion related to what they had in the cart and you’ll be sure to convert the abandoned shopping cart into a buy.
14. Streamlined checkout
Make it easy easy for your customer to buy! Minimize the user registration process, make it optional to have to create an account on your website. They will have to fill in their email, postal address and payment info anyway at the end of the process. If your shoppers become regular customers they will see the value of having an account on your website but if they’re random buyers you will turn a significant number of them down by forcing them to register.
Make it easy easy for your customer to buy! Minimize the user registration process, make it optional to have to create an account on your website. They will have to fill in their email, postal address and payment info anyway at the end of the process. If your shoppers become regular customers they will see the value of having an account on your website but if they’re random buyers you will turn a significant number of them down by forcing them to register.
15. Shipping costs and delivery to different addresses
Display shipping costs up front! Don’t you just hate it when you’re disappointed because the product is a deal but then you discover after 5 checkout steps that the shipping costs make the purchase not worth it?
Enable your customers to ship different products they purchase to different addresses. This is a feature shoppers love especially around the holiday season. Display the different shipping costs depending on the different destinations.
Enable your customers to ship different products they purchase to different addresses. This is a feature shoppers love especially around the holiday season. Display the different shipping costs depending on the different destinations.
GIFTING
16. Gift certificates
Offer online gift certificates that shoppers can redeem on your website and in stores. This is a great way to maximize multi-channel sales and is a very popular gift product.
Offer online gift certificates that shoppers can redeem on your website and in stores. This is a great way to maximize multi-channel sales and is a very popular gift product.
17. Gift & wedding registries
Gift and occasions’ registries enable your customers to create wish lists (and let you know what their purchase intentions are) and to invite other shoppers to your website. Your gift registry customers become ambassadors of your brand and of your services. They enable you to then market to their “guests” and keep them as returning customers.
Gift and occasions’ registries enable your customers to create wish lists (and let you know what their purchase intentions are) and to invite other shoppers to your website. Your gift registry customers become ambassadors of your brand and of your services. They enable you to then market to their “guests” and keep them as returning customers.
18. Wish lists
Wish lists are a great tool for your customers to list merchandise they’d like to buy and give you the opportunity to tease them with promotions and product bundles. It also gives you insights on what products your customers like (by gender, age, demographic, etc.).
Wish lists are a great tool for your customers to list merchandise they’d like to buy and give you the opportunity to tease them with promotions and product bundles. It also gives you insights on what products your customers like (by gender, age, demographic, etc.).
THE BASICS
19. Make searching and finding relevant
Search results on generic words are often overwhelming and not always relevant to the online shopper. One way to address this is to enable filtering the search results by price, by size, by rating, by colour, etc.
By analyzing your web statistics on how your customers find products on your website, find ways to improve the user experience search and navigation experience. What do your shoppers primarily use to find products? If it is through search, than your focus should be on making product search intuitive and efficient.
Search results on generic words are often overwhelming and not always relevant to the online shopper. One way to address this is to enable filtering the search results by price, by size, by rating, by colour, etc.
By analyzing your web statistics on how your customers find products on your website, find ways to improve the user experience search and navigation experience. What do your shoppers primarily use to find products? If it is through search, than your focus should be on making product search intuitive and efficient.
20. Store locator
Store location is one of the most popular content sections on a multi-channel retailer eCommerce website and offers many marketing opportunities.
Enable your shoppers to find the nearest store by asking them for their postal code and showing them the nearest store they can go to. This give you information on where you customers live and maybe where you could open your next store if the demand in that area is high.
You can also target localized promotional ads and newly available merchandise, on the Store Locator result page.
Store location is one of the most popular content sections on a multi-channel retailer eCommerce website and offers many marketing opportunities.
Enable your shoppers to find the nearest store by asking them for their postal code and showing them the nearest store they can go to. This give you information on where you customers live and maybe where you could open your next store if the demand in that area is high.
You can also target localized promotional ads and newly available merchandise, on the Store Locator result page.
