Tuesday 30 April 2013

The Power of eCommerce


The retail landscape has seen dramatic changes over the past two decades. Businesses that have not been able to keep up with technology and move with the times have fallen away. There is an ever-increasing focus on the online world, which has seemingly broken down all geographical boundaries that once existed.

Considering how many people are not only searching for information about products online, but actually purchasing online, it seems like pure common sense to have an online component to your physical store – especially considering how cheap they can be.

But what makes a successful online store? Over the next 3 updates, we will be giving you an insight into how to create an effective eCommerce website, to provide a great return on your investments.

Design


The best eCommerce stores are the best for a reason. They know their consumer, they know what they want, and they cater to their needs. In almost all cases, it comes down to easy navigation, and a simple purchasing process.

It also has to be clean, with space for the eye to navigate easily around the site and find what they are looking for as quick as possible. If there are too many steps or too much wrong navigation the consumer will leave your site very quickly – and it’s hard to re-capture a lost client (don’t believe me? Just ask Nokia).

The best and clearest form or navigation is through a series or buttons, easy clicking from step to step with prominent, well labelled buttons. A logical and easy-to-follow structure, with limited steps and a streamlined process, will result in a higher conversion rate.

A Few Easy Tips

  1. A sense of comfort and surety stems from creating goodwill. Great ways to do this include: Free shipping, Spend over $X and receive a gift or discount, Returns and refunds welcome. These all instil confidence and credibility. They are most definitely a worthy investment. All these things convince customers to go nowhere else.
  2. Promote links to your social media. Online stores often find it much easier to get people to Like their page and share their pictures through competitions. This is largely due to consumers being more receptive to eCommerce Social Media offerings than other business sectors, as most do some sort of online shopping anyway.
  3. Product reviews by peers and multiple images from different angles are a great way to boost consumer confidence and brand credibility.
  4. Make Contact Numbers and Security Badges prominent to help ease any stress or hesitation from the consumer.

Just think of reasons why people would hesitate to buy online, and fix those issues. The lack of overheads and increased reach and exposure could make the world of difference for your business.