Selling Focus of E-Commerce Sites
Shopping via the web has developed into a multi-billion dollar industry. People crave the convenience of pushing a few buttons then seeing their purchases magically appear at their door within a few days. E-commerce has come a long way since the early days, although it still has room for improvement. In his recent post, Randfish, owner of Seattle based SEOmoz, suggested the following rules for businesses engaging in e-commerce. A full explanation of each can be found in his post. I generally agree with his list but have added three additional rules for your consideration.
1. Tell Me Where I Am
2. Let Me Remove Narrowing Options
3. Allow Me to Sort Every Which Way
4. Show Me the Products
5. Refining Options Bring Joy
6. The More Specifics, the Better
7. Tell Me What it Costs & What I'm Saving
8. Keep the Search Bar in Easy Reach
9. Give Me Search Refinement Options
10. Get as Close As You Can Get (while staying relevant)
11. Share the Critical "Fit" Information
12. Tell Me If You've Got It
13. You Can Never Have Too Many Photos
14. Let Me See Delivery Options
15. If You Won't Send it To Me, Tell Me Who Will
16. Reassure Me With Email
17. Give All the Order Details ASAP
Please consider these as well:
18. Humanize. Put a face on your site. Furnish an introduction to your business, pictures and brief biographies of staff and a welcome letter from you, the owner.
19. Thank me for coming to your store and buying from you.
20. Ask me about my visit and the whole buying experience. Thank me again. Encourage me to come back.
Whether your storefront is online, brick and mortar or your van, similar rules will apply. Remember who it is we serve; It's our customer. The bottom line is that customers want to have their needs met by people who care. They want to be assured, comforted, appreciated and thanked. Customers want "warm fuzzies," those elated feelings of pleasure derived from their purchase decision. The better you know your customers, the better you can serve them. Your guidance and assurance will eliminate the occasion of buyers remorse. Your kind follow-up and appreciation for their business will keep them coming back.
At times, we ourselves are customers too. Remember what you look for as a customer and give that back to your customers as well. We all want the same things. Make certain that your customers are more than just satisfied and they will share their experience with everyone they know. These customer evangelists are far more valuable than any form of purchased advertising.
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Daniel Sitter
Author
LearningForProfit.com
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