So, what makes a solid customer review/ratings system?

January 28, 2009
  1. Ability to add comments and explanations for customer reviews. Add notes to customer reviews to answer questions and clear up confusion. 
    ecommerce-customer-review-reply
  2. Ability to monitor reviews prior to publishing.  A combination of manually removing inappropriate content and automatically filtering for offensive language will help to keep your site clean. 
    ecommerce-customer-reviews-management
  3. Customizable questions make the review process easier.  Base questions on the features and categories that your shoppers find truly important.  
    ecommerce-customer-review-customize1
  4. A picture is worth a thousand words.  Give your customers the option to upload pictures and share how they use your products. 
    ecommerce-customer-review-images1
  5. Discussion groups build community and keep shoppers coming back for added information.  This is a great way to find out what is on the minds of your shoppers and then deliver.
    ecommerce-customer-review-forum

All these features are designed to give you the opportunity to interact with your customers on a more personal level – very Web 2.0!

Leave a Comment » | General eCommerce, Social Media, eCommerce Usability, eMerchandising | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter

Help the Lost Ecommerce Shoppers

January 20, 2009

Even if you have the best designed and most clearly organized website on the internet, you’re bound to run into some customers who just can’t find what they need on your ecommerce website. 

Maybe the words they are using to search for products are different than the ones you (and the majority of your other shoppers) use.  Maybe they have a question that your product page didn’t address to their satisfaction.  Maybe they just haven’t had their coffee yet. 

So what do you do?

  1. Put your customer service number in the header of every page, and make it really easy to see.  Don’t make shoppers hunt for it – if they have to search for contact information, they are much more likely to leave and go to one of your competitor’s sites instead. 
  2. Give your customers the option to connect with a live customer service rep via Chat.  For shoppers who don’t want to pick up their phone, Chat can be a great way to reduce site abandonment.  Customer service reps can use Chat to “push” the exact pages to your shoppers are trying to find or transfer to shoppers to product specialists for technical information.   

The simple fact is this – no ecommerce website can predict and address every single question your online shoppers have.  That’s why other contact options are so important.

2 Comments | Call Center, General eCommerce, MulitChannel Retail, eCommerce Usability | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter

Singular & Plural Search Terms

January 13, 2009

If people can’t find what they want, they can’t buy it.  That’s why internal site search is so important.  It’s one of the fastest and easiest ways for shoppers to find products on your ecommerce website. 

If your search works, that is. 

If you can’t adjust your search results based on the terms shoppers actually use to find products, you’ve got big trouble. 

Case in point…plural vs. singular terms.  

Look at this example from shopkitchenaid.com.  I searched for “blenders” and was told they didn’t have them.  (They did when I searched for “blender.”) 

internal-search-plural

Obviously, none of their product descriptions had the plural term in them, and why would they?  That would have made for all kinds of readability issues for users. 

That’s why you need to have ecommerce software that allows you to adjust your search results for plural terms, common misspelling, synonyms, and slang.  If you don’t, you could lose out on sales.

2 Comments | eCommerce Usability, eMerchandising | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter

eMarketing Tip – A New Twist on Forums

January 5, 2009

Many sites offer forums (online discussion groups) that are centered on their customers’ interests.  Social networking groups like this have been around for a while, but have gotten increasingly popular with both shoppers and search engines for their informative and fresh content. 

Forums can be tricky though – getting people to post to a new or recently revived forum can be challenging to say the least. 

One way to combat that problem is to give different status levels that users can earn depending on the number of posts they have made to the forum.   The titles can be customized to fit with each industry. 

For example, Mack’s Prairie Wings, a waterfowl hunting supplier uses “Novice Hunter,” “Pro Hunter,” and “Guide.” 

novice  pro1  guide

The status levels worked like a charm for them. In only 6 months, they had more than 400 active users, many having reached the upper echelons of “Pro Hunter” and “Guide.” 

The status levels added a twist that made the forums more fun and encouraged participation.  It’s a great way to give your social media a boost.

What other great ideas have you seen for getting forums started or reviving stale ones?

Leave a Comment » | General eCommerce, Online Marketing, Social Media | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter

Turn that Frown Upside-Down! Use Negative Customer Reviews in a Positive Way.

January 2, 2009

Customer reviews and ratings work.  It’s estimated that more than half of all web shoppers use customer-generated content, like reviews, to make buying decisions. Reported conversion rate increases of 5% to 50% have been seen. 

But wait!  What if shoppers say something…bad?  Then people won’t buy our products!

That’s true; a bad set of reviews on a product can deter a shopper from putting an item in his cart.  However, the benefits of reviews far outweigh the risks if you have a solid customer review/ratings system in place. 

Here are 5 tips for maximizing those ‘bad’ reviews:

  1. Look at negative reviews as a great way to quickly and easily gain product insights.  You know what features make or break an item.  You can get ideas for what new products people may be interested in. 
  2. Address questions and concerns right on your site.  If there seems to be a miscommunication or lack of knowledge to your products, add a little note to the review to clarify.  Just a few lines can clear up big issues.
  3. Search engine optimization.  You can use customer reviews to see the actual language that your customers use when talking about your products.  Use that information to boost your keyword optimization for organic and paid listings.  Additionally, all that fresh, keyword-rich content tells the search engines that your site has new, relevant information to share.
  4. Brand experience. Research suggests people tell 10 others when they have a negative experience with a business.  By providing the information customers need to make informed decisions, you can avoid this backlash of negative hype. Even if a customer chooses not to make an immediate purchase, they walk away from your site with a higher trust level than if they bought something they were disappointed with. 
  5. Grow your customer marketing team. Shoppers like to know their opinions matter and reviews give them the format to express their views.  Additionally, many people will send a link from a product they reviewed to other people they know.  Those folks could easily be like-minded people who may also be interested in your products.

How are you using Customer Reviews to increase ecommerce conversions?

Leave a Comment » | General eCommerce, Social Media, eCommerce Usability, eMerchandising | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter