Ecommerce Success
Friday afternoon’s were made for reflection… on the week gone by… on future possibilities… and on how successful your e-commerce website is. Are you missing out simple techniques that could drastically improve the usability and sales of your store? I’m not writing a full how-to guide, but I do have a few thoughts…
It has become clear to me over recent weeks just how important the marketing of your ecommerce website is. I’m not talking about marketing externally, but internally. I’m talking about making the best use of your homepage, to tell customers that this is where they need to be. Websites have come on leaps and bounds over the last 10 years and e-commerce (along with the rise and rise of Web 2.0) is at the forefront of advanced web technology. So what I’m saying is make the most of it. Let’s look at a good e-commerce website design:
The homepage doesn’t contain any flash or text, things which very good on a normal website… but this is ecommerce. Promote your products on your homepage. Boast to your customers about your bestsellers, your special offers and if you have the ability recommend products to your customers. This is particularly effective when you can attribute your recommendations directly to your customers based on their recently viewed or searched for items.
The navigation should be clear, but not obtrusive. Take a leaf out of Amazon’s book and make it vertical so that you can add as many categories as you want at a later date. You don’t really need a miniature cart anywhere on the page, a clear link to it will do. Make sure there’s a basket icon next to it so that non-English speaking visitors can understand it. The products that you display on your homepage must always display a price. You’re telling people why you’re showing this item by scoring out the old price and highlighting the new, lower one. Use a bold colour to make these prices stand out.
Have new items? Get them somewhere on the homepage too otherwise no-one will find them. You need to keep this up-to-date so you can tell your customers that you’re stocking the latest, coolest stuff. Don’t underestimate the power of your search bar either. It should be noticeable and easy-to-use, located above the fold of the page, preferably just below the header – this is where people look…
These things have made stores like Amazon truly successful, multi-million dollar businesses. By helping to staple these usability and point of sale features as common e-commerce standards, it makes sense to keep using them. Customer’s like e-commerce sites to be familiar and easy-to-follow. Combine this with good promotion on your homepage, you’ll give yourself the best starting point for a successful e-commerce website.
Keep checking back at the Magento Blog for more ecommerce advice.
