Usable Shopping Carts Increase Sales E-commerce has been around since 1993 under many different names,but one thing remains constant; shoppers want usable web sites.
Without a usable shopping cart the sites typically fail from poorperformance.
To succeed in the world of e-commerce and on theInternet web sites must be developed to be usable by patrons aswell as search engines.
The most successful sites have been turning to web analyticsoftware to tell them how people use their site.
When they noticea break in their site they go in to determine the problem.
Marketers tend to think the words on the site are the breakingpoints; while this may, in part be true, it is more often how thesite operates and makes shopping easier for the customer.
Elements of a Usable Shopping Cart Before a usable shopping cart can be developed several elementsmust be realized and controlled.
Not all things can be overcome,but all things can be controlled.
Understanding human nature andhow people use new tools can help in controlling the mostchallenging situations.
Site Navigation Site navigation must be as easy as possible.
Without making thenavigation as easy as possible customers will become confused andfrustrated which encourages them to leave without purchasing.
Breadcrumbs Breadcrumbs are the links found in web sites that show thehierarchical path of the page.
Not everyone enters a site throughthe front page and breadcrumbs make it much easier to reachrelated products without having to dig around the site.
Adding Items to the Cart Shoppers want to see some visual confirmation that the actionthey take works.
Sites that fail to provide visual cues losecustomers due to confusion and the thought that the site doesn'twork.
JavaScript JavaScript requires the browser to support JavaScript.
Withoutthe ability to support JavaScript or with JavaScript turned off,functions that require JavaScript can't work.
Vital shopping cartfunctions should not be developed in such a way that JavaScriptis required.
Flash Flash requires the shopper to support the version of Flash beingused.
People that support Flash 4 can't support Flash MX withoutupgrading.
Customers will leave for another store if they arerequired to upgrade their plug-ins.
At the very least, it willrequire that they have to download the plug-in and start theshopping experience from the very beginning.
Checkout Process The checkout process should be as short as possible.
The faster aperson can checkout the faster the customer can be on their wayto other things.
Checkout Progress Each step of the checkout progress should indicate the currentstep and the total number of steps.
This helps the customer knowwhere they are in the process and the number of steps remaining.
Ask for Information in the Proper Order Credit card information should never be asked for until after allthe charges have been calculated and presented to the customer.
Asking for this information prior to disclosing the full chargeswill cause the shopper to abandon the cart.
Advantages of Usable Shopping Carts Usable shopping carts open the market to the consumer.
By makinga shopping cart usable to the consumer the process of shoppingonline is less threatening and actually becomes more inviting.
NetIQ, the developers of WebTrends, has developed a successfulsystem that helps web site owners, marketing specialists and webdevelopment teams make more usable and helpful web sites.
Understanding how shoppers use one's site and shopping cart canhelp turn more visitors into purchasing customers.
The nationalaverage for shopping cart conversion is two percent; however thatconversion rate can be increased through having more usable websites and shopping carts.
Multiple paths to the products andeasier checkout processes can help greatly.
Without a usable shopping cart the sites typically fail from poorperformance.
To succeed in the world of e-commerce and on theInternet web sites must be developed to be usable by patrons aswell as search engines.
The most successful sites have been turning to web analyticsoftware to tell them how people use their site.
When they noticea break in their site they go in to determine the problem.
Marketers tend to think the words on the site are the breakingpoints; while this may, in part be true, it is more often how thesite operates and makes shopping easier for the customer.
Elements of a Usable Shopping Cart Before a usable shopping cart can be developed several elementsmust be realized and controlled.
Not all things can be overcome,but all things can be controlled.
Understanding human nature andhow people use new tools can help in controlling the mostchallenging situations.
Site Navigation Site navigation must be as easy as possible.
Without making thenavigation as easy as possible customers will become confused andfrustrated which encourages them to leave without purchasing.
Breadcrumbs Breadcrumbs are the links found in web sites that show thehierarchical path of the page.
Not everyone enters a site throughthe front page and breadcrumbs make it much easier to reachrelated products without having to dig around the site.
Adding Items to the Cart Shoppers want to see some visual confirmation that the actionthey take works.
Sites that fail to provide visual cues losecustomers due to confusion and the thought that the site doesn'twork.
JavaScript JavaScript requires the browser to support JavaScript.
Withoutthe ability to support JavaScript or with JavaScript turned off,functions that require JavaScript can't work.
Vital shopping cartfunctions should not be developed in such a way that JavaScriptis required.
Flash Flash requires the shopper to support the version of Flash beingused.
People that support Flash 4 can't support Flash MX withoutupgrading.
Customers will leave for another store if they arerequired to upgrade their plug-ins.
At the very least, it willrequire that they have to download the plug-in and start theshopping experience from the very beginning.
Checkout Process The checkout process should be as short as possible.
The faster aperson can checkout the faster the customer can be on their wayto other things.
Checkout Progress Each step of the checkout progress should indicate the currentstep and the total number of steps.
This helps the customer knowwhere they are in the process and the number of steps remaining.
Ask for Information in the Proper Order Credit card information should never be asked for until after allthe charges have been calculated and presented to the customer.
Asking for this information prior to disclosing the full chargeswill cause the shopper to abandon the cart.
Advantages of Usable Shopping Carts Usable shopping carts open the market to the consumer.
By makinga shopping cart usable to the consumer the process of shoppingonline is less threatening and actually becomes more inviting.
NetIQ, the developers of WebTrends, has developed a successfulsystem that helps web site owners, marketing specialists and webdevelopment teams make more usable and helpful web sites.
Understanding how shoppers use one's site and shopping cart canhelp turn more visitors into purchasing customers.
The nationalaverage for shopping cart conversion is two percent; however thatconversion rate can be increased through having more usable websites and shopping carts.
Multiple paths to the products andeasier checkout processes can help greatly.
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