April 27, 2009
Jakob Nielson had a great usability article in his April 27 edition of Alertbox. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/headlines-bbc.html To summarize, he discussed the importance of really good headlines for news sites. He recommended they be:
- “short (because people don’t read much online);
- rich in information scent, clearly summarizing the target article;
- front-loaded with the most important keywords (because users often scan only the beginning of list items);
- understandable out of context (because headlines often appear without articles, as in search engine results); and
- predictable, so users know whether they’ll like the full article before they click (because people don’t return to sites that promise more than they deliver).”
It got me thinking about what makes a really good headline for products on the category pages of an ecommerce website. I think all 5 of Mr. Nielson’s qualifications for headlines work for your ecommerce category pages too.
- Short. An ecommerce store is no different from a news site when it comes to how much people will read online.
- Rich in information scent. Product descriptions on category pages need to clearly explain the products with enough information to get shoppers interested enough to click to the product page or add to cart.
- Front-loaded with keywords. Again, I totally agree, users will only scan so much on your pages, make it easy for them to see the terms they are searching for. Additionally, it helps search engines to judge how relevant your page is for those keywords.
- Understandable out of context. Your product descriptions may be automatically generated for meta tags. Don’t fill them with SKU’s or product numbers, unless shoppers use those exact numbers to perform searches, as they may see these in search engine results pages.
- Predictable. Make sure you give shoppers what they expect when they click on your category pages. If they feel they hit a “bait and switch” they just might shop somewhere else instead.
What do you think – what other ‘rules’ for news can we apply to our ecommerce world?
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General eCommerce, Online Marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), eCommerce Usability, eMerchandising | 
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Posted by Anna Slyter
April 23, 2009
Your ecommerce plan probably includes a goal to increase online sales – and that is a metric you might use to judge how much budget to allocate to your ecommerce efforts. Online sales alone, however, only give you part of the picture.
Your ecommerce website has value beyond direct online sales. Customers often start researching products online before they make an offline purchase.
A recent article in Internet Retailer gave the following quote:
“Although direct online sales account for only 6% of total retail sales, 75% of consumers routinely research products on retail web sites before making offline purchases, and by 2013, 40% of total retail sales will be initiated on the web, Forrester predicts.”
It’s yet another reason why your ecommerce website has to provide all the information your customers want, in addition to a consistent brand experience across channels. Earlier this year we did a post with 5 ways to make your ecommerce site a better salesperson.
Information is important for your shoppers. You can (and should) have a great deal of information on your site, but it has to be organized for customers to easily view it. Here are a few points to consider about how to display information on your ecommerce website for maximum readability.
- Layout matters. People will leave ecommerce websites that are confusing or difficult to scan. Keep your layout clean to make sure your online shoppers can easily see the information most important to them.
- Options are important. Make sure it’s easy for shoppers to see the options for your products. Do you have different colors, finishes, sizes, or other options? If you have only a few options to show, consider a “list display” like the one from American Musical Supply. It’s clear they have some color choices on this guitar, and it’s easy for me to see all options and then choose the one I want.
- Make it easy. If you have a lot of options, and shoppers may choose multiple items from one product page, try a “grid display”. Options are clearly displayed, and shoppers can choose multiple options/products from one page. Macy’s gives the customer control over which items in a set they want to add to their carts – from a single page.
- Clutter won’t cut it. Pop-up information lets you provide a wealth of information on one page, but only display minimal information until the shopper hovers over or clicks a link. Just make sure you test features like this so you don’t overwhelm visitors by showing pop-ups every time they move their mouse (to avoid usability problems.) Hancock’s of Paducah uses pop-up to give their shoppers a quick way to see larger images without making their shoppers click to another product page.
- Brands have power. Display brands to encourage brand-loyal shoppers. You can also give them the choice to navigate by brand into the products they most want, making it a snap for them to get what they want. Overstock.com makes it easy for their shoppers to sort by brand.
- Online shoppers scan, not read. You can use icons to give a fast, visual source of information to shoppers. Just make sure the icons make sense to your ecommerce shoppers, or the impact is lost. American Musical Supply uses icons on their site to clarify free shipping and extended warranties.
Your ecommerce software should make it easy to display the most important information to your shoppers. If it doesn’t, you might want to check out another ecommerce solution that gives you additional creative freedom.
Leave a Comment » | MulitChannel Retail, Online Marketing, eCommerce Usability, eMerchandising | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter
April 15, 2009
Internet Retailer had a great article about a recent survey of online spending by Opinion Research Corp.
According to the article, 22% of online shoppers plan to buy more on the internet this year, even though 45% say they are cutting spending. Additionally, 36% said they bought more online last year.
That leaves a great big opportunity for etailers, but it’s important to remember that expectations of online shopping have gotten higher too. To get – and keep – valuable customers, you need to make sure your site is up to their standards.
The survey also revealed some of the top frustrations that online shoppers have.
“Here are the top frustrations with online shopping mentioned by those responding to the Ouch Point survey, with the percentage of respondents citing each one in 2009 and 2008:
- Not being able to speak to anyone who can answer questions: 25%, 21%
- Learning that items are back-ordered or out of stock after they are in the shopping cart: 11%, 17%
- Receiving an item that doesn’t look anything like it did on the Internet: 11%, 21%
- Web sites that malfunction as the payment is being processed: 9%, 14%
- Not being able to find an item: 8%, 13%
- Unclear shipping information: 5%, 5%
- An uncertain return policy: 5%, 7%
- Not receiving an acknowledgement after an order has been placed: 2%, 5%”
I think it’s really interesting to see that the vast majority of shopper frustrations have improved from 2008 to 2009. All improved or held steady, except the biggest complaint: not being able to speak to anyone who can answer questions.
Since this is the main frustration of online shoppers (at least in this study) wouldn’t it make sense to improve this area as soon as possible? Wouldn’t that give you the biggest impact for the most shoppers? I’d venture to say yes – especially since the fixes can be pretty easy.
A ProfitABILITY Blog post from January of this year talks about the importance of making sure you have alternative communication options for online shoppers.
Prominently displayed customer service numbers and Chat options can help to reduce shopper frustration and keep your shoppers from going elsewhere. Shopping online doesn’t mean that your customers no longer need service.
Leave a Comment » | Call Center, General eCommerce, eCommerce Usability | Tagged: eCommerce Usability, online shopping, shopper frustrations | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter
April 8, 2009
With the rising number of emails consumers get every day, it’s no wonder that getting subscribers to open your emails is getting tougher all the time.
So how do you get your subscribers to open your emails? You’ve got to give them something that sets you apart from the hundreds of other emails they see each day and makes them WANT to open your emails.
We all like a good sale, but let’s face it, deleting one of a dozen “sale” emails is pretty easy to do. Another one will come along in 5 minutes.
American Musical Supply recently updated their weekend email newsletter to include new features that are less about selling and more about creating a user experience. The new “Weekend Warrior” emails have had great success.
What did they add?
A musician inspired comic strip and a rock-and-roll trivia question designed around the musicians and bands their customers like best. (In only 3 weeks, the trivia question has earned the highest click-through rate in the weekend email.)
They’re also making sure that their readers can find them at the social media sites they most like to use. They’re doing their best to meet their ecommerce customers on the customer’s terms.
Additionally, they added a “Tech Tip” to the email, providing more information that is centered on information their shoppers want to know.
The new “Weekend Warrior” emails worked – why did they work?
- Because they are FUN – not just a same-old sales pitch.
- They were designed around AMS’s shoppers, with information RELEVANT to musicians.
What other creative email ideas have you seen?
Leave a Comment » | General eCommerce, Online Marketing, Social Media, eMerchandising | Tagged: ecommerce, email marketing, enewsletters, Online Marketing, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Anna Slyter
